He’s one of the most daring, adrenalized, and efficacious filmmakers working today. Gareth Huw Evans seemed to explode out of nowhere with The Raid (Serbaun Maut) in 2011, but it wasn’t his first rodeo. The Raid was preceded by the generally well-regarded Merantau, and before entering the world of Indonesian action movies, Evans had previously written and directed a couple of Welsh films as well: the Kurosawa-inspired Japanese-language short Samurai Monogatari (2003), and his feature debut thriller Footsteps (2006).
How did a cuddly-looking Welshman end up making some of the most brutal and bone-crunching martial arts films to ever grace our screens? Lots of elements went into that concoction, including a youth spent watching kung fu and action movies, an interest in Asian cultures, a Japanese-Indonesian wife, and the right doors opening at the right time.
While researching and creating the documentary Land of Moving Shadows: The Mystic Arts of Indonesia, Pencak Silat, Evans became familiar with the martial art silat and its practitioners. It was during this time that he met Iko Uwais, who would become his star collaborator.
Evans would work with a number of repeat collaborators including producers, choreographers, stunt workers, and crew. But the most visible to the audiences, of course, are the cast. Besides Uwais, Donny Alamsyah and Yayan Ruhian have also appeared in all three of his Indonesian action films, in somewhat constantly defined roles. Alamsyah has played Uwais’ older brother in all three films, while Ruhian has unquestionably stolen the “likeable villain” crown by playing bad guys that you want to root for.
Merantau (2009)
Merantau is primarily thought of as the film which effectively introduced Gareth Evans and Iko Uwais, but its importance is even broader: it was the first Indonesian martial arts film in 15 years, and brought silat to the screen much in the same way that Thailand’s Tony Jaa made an impact with Muay Thai.
Uwais’ breakthrough is similar to that of Jaa, another Southeast Asian martial arts performer. Both have led the new wave of “realistic” martial arts stunt films with brutal stunts and amazingly convincing on-screen violence. It’s almost impossible not to compare them — they even look a bit like each other.
Structurally, Merantau is comparable to the Tony Jaa/Prachya Pinkaew collaborations Ong Bak and Tom Yum Goong (The Protector): a rural young man, highly skilled in martial arts, must journey to the big city on a mission. Jaa’s missions involved the retrieval of stolen goods; whereas Uwais’ character Yuda is setting out on his merantau. A merantau is comparable to the Australian concept of walkabout — a journey of self-discovery which serves as a rite of passage into manhood.
While in Jakarta, Yuda observes and becomes entangled in the struggle of a dancer named Astri and her kid brother, Adit. When she’s targeted by a human trafficking and prostitution ring, he kicks and punches his way to the top to take down the entire operation.
I first watched Merantau when the positive buzz and anticipation for The Raid was starting to pick up. Knowing it was the work of the same director and star, my good friends Scott and Ben joined me in watching it. I enjoyed it but there were some problems that kept me from feeling like it was an upper tier martial arts film. The highly saturated colors looked cheap and digital — warmer colors like pink and red pop off the screen, and not in a good way. This is especially distracting when bronze flesh tones come off as an ugly orange. The film also had a few weird little moments when suspension of belief just asks too much, such as a quite bothersome scene in which Astri and Adit are being chased on foot by thugs. She hides her brother and spends what feels like minutes saying goodbye with no sense of urgency. I mean, those guys were right behind her. There’s another such scene in which Yuda kicks a glass bottle and the shattered shards embed themselves into a villain’s face. The physics of how this is possible are best not considered.
The film also ends with a battle with two white European guys. This seems a bit anticlimactic, but I give it a pass since it’s probably a direct reference to the common theme of white European villains in nationalistic kung fu films.
My pals Ben and Scott both seemed to like it a lot more than I did, and my own opinion has improved somewhat on my second viewing. I’m aware of some negative points but there’s so much good as well, and I know my relaxed opinion was affected at least in part by recognizing Yayan Ruhian as the reluctant, conscientious henchman who serves as both Yuda’s ally and adversary.
Merantau was released on Blu-Ray by Magnolia/Magnet in 2010.
The Raid [Serbuan Maut] (2011)
(Also known as The Raid: Redemption but that’s an unnecessary subtitle only used in North America.)
After Merantau, Evans and his producing partners made plans to follow up with a large-scale action film, Berandal, but couldn’t secure the financing necessary to realize his vision. Stymied by budget constraints, they changed their approach to a smaller-scale prequel story set almost entirely in a single high-rise tower block overrun with gangsters.
Stylistically, The Raid diverts significantly from Merantau. Gone are the super-saturated colors in favor of a drearier, cooler palette, and whereas Merantau spent a lot of time setting up the plotting and dramatic elements to set the stage for the story, The Raid has a brief setup before dropping into a relentless tale of elite police officers raiding a heavily fortified apartment tower to take down the vicious gang that it houses. The film is structured something like a video game, complete with “levels” and “bosses”. The cops are smart and efficient (in part due to the actors’ being sent to a training camp together), but are still overrun by the hordes of vicious gangsters within the building.
Rama (Uwais) is the main cop that we follow, anchored by the knowledge that he is a good and honest man, and has a pregnant wife waiting for him on the outside. We soon discover he has an ulterior — though noble — reason for being on this mission.
The film’s main fight — and it is one of many — is a two-on-one battle pitting Rama with his brother Andi (Alamsyah), against the gangsters’ top enforcer Mad Dog (Ruhian). In Merantau, Ruhian’s villain was sympathetic due to his conscientious objection and hidden nobility. In The Raid, his likeability comes from his utter badassness. He often gives his opponents sporting chances — not because he’s noble, but because there’s more thrill and intimacy in hand-to-hand combat and more satisfaction in doing it with a disadvantage.
Amazingly, The Raid was reportedly made for a little over $1 million. Even if that’s a lowball estimate and we double or triple the figure, it’s an astounding accomplishment. The film is so highly expertly crafted and is such a creatively designed feat of human engineering that it feels like a much larger and more expensive production.
The US home release of The Raid has some truly tragic cover art; Unfortunately someone thought a crappy Photoshop collage and Rotten Tomatoes logo were somehow better than the awesome poster art. The Blu-Ray disc is rock solid though, with dual score options and plenty of features and video diaries packed in.
After The Raid, Evans was able to mobilize the resources he needed to make his more ambitious project Berandal come to life as The Raid 2: Berandal. I’ll cover the Blu-Ray release of that film in Part 2 of this discussion.
A/V Out.
Get ’em at Amazon:
Merantau — [Blu-ray] | [DVD] | [Amazon Video]
The Raid: Redemption — [Blu-ray] | [DVD] | [Amazon Video]
The Raid 1 & 2 — [Blu-ray]