I am an Indonesian that has been living abroad all over the world for years. I've heard about this movie but haven't been able to find a copy of it until today.
I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of work everyone has put into this movie. Though the story is very simple the final work left me feeling somewhat attached to this movie (some aspects from the book has been left behind to make it even more simple for the flow of the movie). Without giving spoilers, I can say that though the main theme of this movie is family and love, there are so much more plots inside such as intrigues, mystery, business rivalry, politics, etc.
The sets were beautiful and realistic. Being an avid collector of old 'Batavia' photographs of buildings and people, I can really feel that the movie was taken in those places that I have seen in old photographs... in reality, some sets have to be created from scratch because the original site, though still have intact buildings, are now full of neon signs, electricity poles and advertising posters, etc.
Some 600 pieces of costumes had been created for this movie - giving it a very accurate historical view. Some items used in the movie are real antiques (I knew a guy who owns one of the beds used in the movie!) One of the most interesting aspects is that the movie starts when the main character, Tinung is only a late teen - it ends much later through different period of Indonesian history (Dutch Colonialization, Japanese Invasion, Independence, and through flash back methods: Present times)
Both the main actor and actress (F. Salim and L. Amalia) are perfect for the character, though I think their acting still can be improved with training and experience. R. Tumewu actually shines pretty much as a very believe-able antagonist (he's not even Chinese!) If I'm not mistaken, neither the director, nor the two main actors, have experience in colossal movies such as this, therefore, I have to say that I'm really happy with the result...
I have longed to see a movie that can show the interesting aspect of Chinese heritage in our economy, culture and even some heredity background 'without reserve' (due to our political reasons in the past) and I am happy that this movie could be a start of a new generation of Indonesian-made movie! Thumbs up to Nia Danata (director) and Remy Sylado (author)!
I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of work everyone has put into this movie. Though the story is very simple the final work left me feeling somewhat attached to this movie (some aspects from the book has been left behind to make it even more simple for the flow of the movie). Without giving spoilers, I can say that though the main theme of this movie is family and love, there are so much more plots inside such as intrigues, mystery, business rivalry, politics, etc.
The sets were beautiful and realistic. Being an avid collector of old 'Batavia' photographs of buildings and people, I can really feel that the movie was taken in those places that I have seen in old photographs... in reality, some sets have to be created from scratch because the original site, though still have intact buildings, are now full of neon signs, electricity poles and advertising posters, etc.
Some 600 pieces of costumes had been created for this movie - giving it a very accurate historical view. Some items used in the movie are real antiques (I knew a guy who owns one of the beds used in the movie!) One of the most interesting aspects is that the movie starts when the main character, Tinung is only a late teen - it ends much later through different period of Indonesian history (Dutch Colonialization, Japanese Invasion, Independence, and through flash back methods: Present times)
Both the main actor and actress (F. Salim and L. Amalia) are perfect for the character, though I think their acting still can be improved with training and experience. R. Tumewu actually shines pretty much as a very believe-able antagonist (he's not even Chinese!) If I'm not mistaken, neither the director, nor the two main actors, have experience in colossal movies such as this, therefore, I have to say that I'm really happy with the result...
I have longed to see a movie that can show the interesting aspect of Chinese heritage in our economy, culture and even some heredity background 'without reserve' (due to our political reasons in the past) and I am happy that this movie could be a start of a new generation of Indonesian-made movie! Thumbs up to Nia Danata (director) and Remy Sylado (author)!