'Mengejar Matahari': No shining example of filmmaking

Mengejar Matahari (Chasing the Sun) (Drama, 120 minutes) Starring Winky Wiryawan, Udjo, Fauzi Baadilla, Fedi Nuril, Agni Arkadewi
Directed by Rudi Soedjarwo
A SinemArt and Kipas Communication production (Indonesian language)
** (out of ****)

Hera Diani , The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Old habits die hard.

For the harder local filmmakers try to resist producing the stereotypically bad Indonesian film -- histrionic, illogical and unrealistic -- the more their works fall into that very same trap.

Evidence of this is director Rudi Soedjarwo's latest movie, Mengejar Matahari (Chasing the Sun).

A coming of age tale of four teenage guys, the film wants to depict the transition to manhood, the masculine role play that goes on among adolescents and the bonds of friendship in rough surroundings.

The filmmakers were obviously shooting for something along the lines of The Outsiders and Stand By Me, but the result is not even close to Dawson's Creek.

The movie is saddled with a dull plot, lame dialog and a lack of attention to detail. There is no climax, and it is offensive to women as well.

This is despite (or because of) eight people being involved in the script's development, excluding scriptwriter Titin Wattimena.

Chasing the sun is a dusk ritual of friends and neighbors Ardi (Winky), Damar (Fauzi), Apin (Udjo) and Nino (Fedi), where they run around their packed housing complex following the setting sun.

The activity serves as escapism for the guys, who live in a modest, rather run-down apartment complex, and have to deal with their own problems at home.

Ardi's father is a harsh retired police officer who wants his son, an aspiring artist, to follow in his footsteps. Damar is an abandoned kid with a short fuse, which earns him lots of enemies.

The other two characters are left undeveloped, except for the throwaway information that Apin is a film director wannabe and Nino comes from a happy family.

Conflict arises when the punks with whom Damar got into trouble come after him, and when both Damar and Ardi fall for the same, dim-witted girl Rara (Agni).

However, these hardly rate as real conflicts because they are delivered with almost no emotional depth or dimension.

Rudi's fifth film, this is a setback from 2002's hit Ada Apa Dengan Cinta? (What's Up With Cinta?), an enjoyable teen flick with a plot that works.

But compared to Rudi's other films, which proved tortuous experiences for audiences, Mengejar actually shows progress in terms of the visual work.

Praise must be given to the nice shots and subdued tones of the images, which go some way to capturing the film's theme. But it still comes up short in evincing apartment life when compared to 1987's Cintaku Di Rumah Susun (My Love Grows in a Modest Apartment) by the late Nya' Abbas Acub.

The apartment interiors are way too fancy, and the angles are limited.

Despite the title, we never actually get to witness the full ritual and the sun never makes an appearance. Most off-putting of all, however, is the script, which can only be said to be a disaster, full of soap opera-speak.

It's a pity because the actors, except for Agni, give respectable and natural performances, even if all four of the men are too old for their parts.

Many other aspects of the film do not make sense.

It is hard to believe that teenage boys living in a slum area can afford to buy their friend a brand new videocam.

And while we expect some silly, macho stuff from testosterone- charged teenage boys, we instead get Ardi crying in his room after a row with his old man. We listen to sage words of wisdom that are so sentimental and mushy that nobody would believe a 16- year-old youth would say such things.

Worse still, the story abruptly stops every time Rara walks in.

The absurdities build to a climax as the film fast forwards to the future, with Ardi coming home smiling, wearing a police uniform.

Rudi must be credited for his enthusiasm and determination to become a great director. But he still needs to work on his craft so it matches that drive.

Otherwise, people may think that Ada Apa Dengan Cinta? was a fluke.