Merantau (2009)

Directed by

Gareth Evans

Genre

martial arts film

Country

Indonesia

Runtime

2h 14m

Rated

R

Rating

6.5 of 10 from 240 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

A martial arts instructor leaves his village to teach silat in Jakarta. He ends up getting involved with a fight to rescue a young woman from human traffickers.

visceralgrittyintenseathleticgroundedemotionalurgentraw

What happens

Merantau, released in some countries as Merantau Warrior, is a 2009 Indonesian martial arts action film written, directed and edited by Gareth Evans, and starring Iko Uwais. The film marked Uwais' debut as an actor and was the first collaboration between director Evans and star Uwais. It also marks the acting debut of Yayan Ruhian, who, along with Uwais, Evans met while shooting for a documentary in Indonesia. It was this documentary which introduced Evans to the martial art of pencak silat. The film showcases the Minangkabau tradition of "Merantau", a rite of passage where a man leaves his home to pursue a career or gain experience outside of the village, a culture where inheritance is largely matriarchal. It showcases Yuda who leaves his village in hopes of teaching silat in Jakarta, only to be sidetracked as he attempts to save a girl from being kidnapped. The film showcases a style of silat known as silek harimau (tiger silat). It also features actors Donny Alamsyah and Alex Abbad who, along with Uwais and Ruhiyan, would later appear in Evans' subsequent films in The Raid (2011) and The Raid 2 (2014). Merantau premiered at the Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival in South Korea on 23 July 2009, before being released theatrically on 6 August in Indonesia. It won the Jury Award for Best Film at the inaugural 2010 ActionFest in North Carolina. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

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