'Homeland' confusing, but shows promise<\/p>\n
Tantri Yuliandini, Jakarta<\/p>\n
It is a simple concept that ran away with itself and got too
\nambitious. This was a shame, for in itself it was an ambitious
\nidea that had unexpectedly found the light of day.<\/p>\n
It is Homeland, Indonesia's first fully three-dimensional,
\nanimated, feature-length movie, created by Studio Kasatmata, a
\ngroup of university students and recent graduates from
\nYogyakarta.<\/p>\n
In essence, the story of Homeland is about a boy in search of
\na place to call home. That sounds like a lame story, which was
\nprobably what the writer, Gangsar Waskito, thought when he
\ninserted all that other stuff about sinking ships, four warring
\ncivilizations, and the \"whosoever pulleth out this sword from
\nthis stone\" Arthurian legend.<\/p>\n
Only, he put in too much, and with a running time of only 90
\nminutes, it was not long enough to explain all the disjointed
\nfragments in the story.<\/p>\n
The movie begins with a narration about four warring nations
\n-- Cougar Halmahera, Bobolonia, Artik, and Tiritonia -- which,
\nafter three days of intense fighting, decide to call a truce and
\nbuild the castle of peace, Castle Utopia.<\/p>\n
High atop the castle is a sword embedded in crystal, with the
\nlegend that says the next king of Utopia would be someone who
\ncould pull out the sword.<\/p>\n
The movie then cuts to the next scene, the sinking of Atlas --
\na state-of-the-art, high-tech trading ship in the middle of
\nnowhere.<\/p>\n
Like any good captain, Sal is forced to go down with his ship,
\nbut not before blasting away his only son, Bumi, on a pod to
\nsafety.<\/p>\n
The pod lands on a pristine beach, and Bumi -- his name
\nmeaning \"earth\" -- is left marooned with only his backpack and
\nviolin.<\/p>\n
After playing a tribute to the perished sailors, Bumi sets off
\nto find his father's legacy -- none other than Castle Utopia,
\nwhich Sal has bought for his planned retirement.<\/p>\n
An Alice in Wonderland moment ensues with Bumi falling down,
\nnot a rabbit hole, but a tree root. After which he witnesses a
\nfight between some black boars and a Diablo-like monster.<\/p>\n
During this time, the audience is forced to put up with Bumi
\ntalking and grunting to himself.<\/p>\n
There is a very good reason why the garrulous Donkey in Shrek
\nwas introduced at the beginning of the movie. It was the same
\nreason for having Dory the blue tang fish along in the quest for
\nFinding Nemo. The reason is that it is not fun watching a cartoon
\ncharacter talk or even think aloud to himself.<\/p>\n
In both Shrek and Finding Nemo, Donkey and Dory's chatty
\npersonalities allow the main characters an excuse for
\nconversation, as well as providing both movies with comic relief.<\/p>\n
In Homeland there is no such relief, because even when Bumi
\nfinally finds another character to interact with, the creators of
\nthe movie decided that it could only grunt and snort!<\/p>\n
After watching the fight that indicates an intention to save
\nthe monster when it falls over a cliff, Bumi sets out and finds
\nhimself in a field of monster mushrooms. The Diablo-like monster
\nsaves Bumi from the mushrooms and conveniently drops him atop
\nCastle Utopia, where Bumi names him after Sal's ship, Atlas.<\/p>\n
With no curiosity at all about the sword in the crystal, Bumi
\nmakes the castle his home and befriends the Bobolonians who are
\non a school excursion there. He later meets with a gypsy girl,
\nSerene, and her pet panda, Abraham.<\/p>\n
One of the highlights of the movie is the interaction between
\ncharacters of the gypsy tribe, Trinitas. Dubbed by three members
\nof the famed comedy group Project Pop, the banter between
\nTrinitas's leader -- coquettish hippopotamus Simione (voiced by
\nTika Panggabean) -- rocker dog Jimmo (Yossi), and tombstone ghost
\nDantes (Udjo) provide a fresh break for an otherwise slow-moving
\nstory.<\/p>\n
A year passes in a calm and oh-so-boring happy-happy
\natmosphere. Bumi is still not in the least curious about the
\nmagic sword embedded atop his castle (making me seriously
\nquestion his education and upbringing).<\/p>\n
On an excursion with Atlas, Bumi encounters General Nino, the
\nCougar Halmahera general with Bob Marley hair.<\/p>\n
The ease with which the characters in this movie befriend Bumi
\nis simply astounding. Even the cougar-riding General Nino, who is
\nthe antagonist in the movie.<\/p>\n
The friendly General Nino, however, has an ulterior motive. He
\nis there scouting the land to conquer Castle Utopia for the glory
\nof the Cougar Halmahera (probably because they cannot afford to
\nbuy it off Sal). Only, he believes that Bumi is the next king of
\nUtopia (because he is naive, trusting, innocent and gullible?).<\/p>\n
So the battle begins between the Cougars and the Castle Utopia
\nhousehold -- consisting of Bumi, the Bobs, Serene, the Trinitas
\nand Atlas. It ends with a showdown between General Nino and Bumi,
\nin true Matrix fashion.<\/p>\n
Homeland's animation is worth mentioning. It shows genuine
\ntalent and promise of what Studio Kasatmata has to offer.<\/p>\n
Landscapes are well thought out, and characters are unique and
\nconspicuous enough to be marketed as merchandise, particularly
\nthe trio Trinitas.<\/p>\n
Unlike the slapstick comedy shorts such as Kelolodhen (2002)
\nand Loud Me Loud (2002), which Studio Kasatmata was already
\nfamiliar with, a feature-length movie is new territory for the
\ngroup.<\/p>\n
Gangsar Waskito, Homeland's script writer and director,
\nadmitted that the original length of the movie was about two
\nhours. Due to time constraints, many of the movies' explanatory
\nelements were sacrificed, he said.<\/p>\n
Furnished with Rp 150 million (about US$17,241) in prize money
\nfrom the Visi Anak Bangsa Award they won last year, these 12
\nyouths successfully gave us a glimpse of what young Indonesians
\nare capable of when given an opportunity.<\/p>\n
Despite its shortcomings, Homeland is a laudable effort from
\nour own, homegrown young animators. We await Kasatmata's future
\nendeavors with bated breath.<\/p>\n
Homeland will tour 12 cities across Indonesia beginning May 7,
\nmainly in university campuses, and will be shown in Jakarta on
\nJune 19, 2004, at Pusat Perfilman Haji Usmar Ismail (PPHUI) on
\nJl. Rasuna Said, Kuningan, South Jakarta. For a complete schedule
\nplease visit http:\/\/homeland.kapanlagi.com.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/homeland-confusing-but-shows-promise-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}