Directed by: Affandi Abdul Rachman
Run Time: 120 min
I have to say that the book, literary-wise, is quite boring. There's nothing much going on except for the daily activities inside the pesantren (Islamic boarding school), no shocking conflicts and doesn't leave much for imagination since it is a straightforward story telling, which is kinda 'normal' from a journalist who tries to write a fiction.
With that I embrace myself going to the cinema to watch the film, since I like Indonesian films and to support it, one does simply watch it at the nearest cinema [insert Sean Bean meme here].
After seeing the film I can say that this is a rare case where the film is better than the book where some improvisation really adds to the ups and downs of a story and it is not as boring as the novel. It is nice to see a film which is not too preachy and not overly melodramatic.
The production value is something of a kind where we can see that the filmmaker is really serious to make things convincing, especially all the tidbits about the 80s era, from money that only available at that time into papers for writing mail that reminds me of my own paper mail at home.
However if you pay attention closely, especially for those native from Bandung (just like me) and familiar with the places in the scenes featuring Bandung you can tell that some locations aren't actually as what it seems in the 80s, for example the Asian African Conference museum has pavement tiles that only has been installed in 2005 not in 1989 and Salman mosque in the 80s aren't as colorful as of today. But the filmmaker has tried their best to make it as if it happened in 1989. For non Bandung native it doesn't even matter at all. It is just some small things that I notice.
The chemistry between Alif (Gaza Zubizareta), Baso (Billy Sandy), Atang (Rizki Ramdani), Said (Ernest Samudra), Raja (Jiofani Lubis), and Dulmajid (Aris Putra) is a nice thing to watch. As newcomers they really show their strength in action. To make it better, they are of age of portraying teenagers and this is a good choice since if the director chose some well known face and older that the character, it might ruin the mood.
These six teenagers are students at Pondok Madani, a modern Islamic boarding school (the setting is the real Gontor boarding school in Ponorogo, East Java) and the film follows their struggle to study and adapt to the discipline of the boarding school, also with their personal problems.
Run Time: 120 min
I have to say that the book, literary-wise, is quite boring. There's nothing much going on except for the daily activities inside the pesantren (Islamic boarding school), no shocking conflicts and doesn't leave much for imagination since it is a straightforward story telling, which is kinda 'normal' from a journalist who tries to write a fiction.
With that I embrace myself going to the cinema to watch the film, since I like Indonesian films and to support it, one does simply watch it at the nearest cinema [insert Sean Bean meme here].
After seeing the film I can say that this is a rare case where the film is better than the book where some improvisation really adds to the ups and downs of a story and it is not as boring as the novel. It is nice to see a film which is not too preachy and not overly melodramatic.
The production value is something of a kind where we can see that the filmmaker is really serious to make things convincing, especially all the tidbits about the 80s era, from money that only available at that time into papers for writing mail that reminds me of my own paper mail at home.
However if you pay attention closely, especially for those native from Bandung (just like me) and familiar with the places in the scenes featuring Bandung you can tell that some locations aren't actually as what it seems in the 80s, for example the Asian African Conference museum has pavement tiles that only has been installed in 2005 not in 1989 and Salman mosque in the 80s aren't as colorful as of today. But the filmmaker has tried their best to make it as if it happened in 1989. For non Bandung native it doesn't even matter at all. It is just some small things that I notice.
The chemistry between Alif (Gaza Zubizareta), Baso (Billy Sandy), Atang (Rizki Ramdani), Said (Ernest Samudra), Raja (Jiofani Lubis), and Dulmajid (Aris Putra) is a nice thing to watch. As newcomers they really show their strength in action. To make it better, they are of age of portraying teenagers and this is a good choice since if the director chose some well known face and older that the character, it might ruin the mood.
These six teenagers are students at Pondok Madani, a modern Islamic boarding school (the setting is the real Gontor boarding school in Ponorogo, East Java) and the film follows their struggle to study and adapt to the discipline of the boarding school, also with their personal problems.
The gang of six then gathers regularly under the mosque tower, thus the name Sahibul Menara (friends of the tower) surfaced, they promised to each other that one day they will be successful and have each picture of them with different famous towers in the world.
The ending is a bit choppy and people can be confused, why all the sudden the adult version of Alif is in Trafalgar square, London? Well that's the way it is in the book.
As of this review being published, this film has been watched by half a million viewers, something of a kind for an Indonesian film. I know it sounds weird, but I do like the establishing shot in this film, except for that aerial view of Trafalgar Square which I think it's a bit too much.
Having inserted Sean Bean into this review, I also wanted to say this, 9gag wise; I don't always watch Indonesian movies at the cinemas, but when I do I make sure it is good.
The ending is a bit choppy and people can be confused, why all the sudden the adult version of Alif is in Trafalgar square, London? Well that's the way it is in the book.
As of this review being published, this film has been watched by half a million viewers, something of a kind for an Indonesian film. I know it sounds weird, but I do like the establishing shot in this film, except for that aerial view of Trafalgar Square which I think it's a bit too much.
Having inserted Sean Bean into this review, I also wanted to say this, 9gag wise; I don't always watch Indonesian movies at the cinemas, but when I do I make sure it is good.
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