Rainbow Troops Movie Review

‘Laskar Pelangi': The audacity of hope Laskar Pelangi (The Rainbow Troops) is a 2008 Indonesian film adapted from the popular Indonesian novel by Andrea Hirata. The movie follows a group of 10 schoolboys and their two inspirational teachers as they struggle with poverty and develop hopes for the future in Gantong Village on the farming and tin mining island of Belitung off the east coast of Sumatra. The film is the highest grossing in Indonesian box office history[1] and won a number of local and international awards. The Rainbow Troops was a 2008 Indonesian film adapted from the popular Indonesian novel by Andrea Hirata. The movie is about an inspiring teacher and her 10 students in the poverty-stricken Kampung Gantong in Belitong. The poor condition of their school building does not dampen their high spirits and hopes for a better future. The movie, set in the 1970s, The Rainbow Troops, set on Belitong Island, Indonesia, tells the story of a tight-knit group of students and their teachers fighting for education and dignity, even as they face continual hardship. Fabulously rich in natural resources, Belitong is also home to chronic poverty and educational discrimination. This amazing story tells of a persistent young teacher and her tireless efforts to fight for her ten students† right to an education. Together, they take the reader on a journey through the beauty of childhood friendship, the inspiration of love, and the power of education. The students† magnetic personalities and unflagging determination are sure to inspire. Here is a movie adapted from a best-selling Indonesian novel. It took 40 days of filming on Belitong Island, Bangka-Belitung province, involving 12 local actors, and reportedly cost Rp 8 Billion. With all the efforts of transforming Laskar Pelangi (Rainbow Warrior) into a moving picture, will it satisfy readers' imaginations? Laskar Pelangi, the novel, was written by Andrea Hirata in 2005, based on the writer's own experiences. It is about an inspiring teacher and her 10 students in the poverty-stricken Kampung Gantong in Belitong. The poor condition of their school building does not dampen their high spirits and hopes for a better future. Two years later, the novel became a phenomenon in Indonesian literature. With its humanistic touch, Laskar Pelangi has sold more than 500,000 copies and has won the position of Must-Read Novel in every corner of the nation's bookshops and media review pages. It finally overcame the domination of teen-lit, chick-lit and even religious novels, the popular theme of today. Andrea entrusted the filming of the story to respected figures in the film industry, Mira Lesmana and Riri Reza, as producer and film director, respectively. â€Å"Mira and Riri are two people with high integrity in the movie-making industry in Indonesia. I believe they have a unique perspective in creating their work,† says Andrea. Mira, who made a record at the Indonesian box office with teen flick Ada Apa Dengan Cinta and children's adventure movie Petualangan Sherina, says â€Å"(After reading the novel) I felt like being slammed and was so ashamed of myself. How could I complain about our movie's poor condition, while far away in Belitong there are 10 children and a teacher whose lives are far worse than mine. But they still dare to have hopes and dreams. They struggle to overcome all obstacles with a smile. Riri makes a similar comment. â€Å"I think the novel is very interesting and it is important it be filmed. Interesting because it consists of many aspects such as educational, social and political issues. It is also important because it has an inspiring effect of hope and not giving up, while living a very hard life. † In July 2007, Mira and Riri started pre-production, which took a year to finish. Together wit h scriptwriter Salman Aristo they decided to create a different scenario for the film. â€Å"Novels and movies are two different things. Each has its own specialties and limits. It is very natural for the movie to have a slightly different content than the novel,† says Riri, who won a Citra film award for his movie Eliana Eliana in 2005. Mira admits she has no worries about the possibility of negative responses from adapting the novel into a film. â€Å"The film will eventually bring in our audience, whether they have read the book or not, just to relax, enjoy and be ready to be affected by different experiences,† she explains. The film was shot on location on Belitong Island, the setting of the novel. Twelve of the roles were played by local children. In my opinion, there won't be any actors with a deeper connection to the roles than those who were born and lived in Belitong their entire life,† Riri says to explain his reasons for pursuing authenticity. Some veteran actors such as Ikranegara, Slamet Rahardjo, Alex Komang, Jajang C Noer, Mathias Muchus and Robbie Tumewu will appear. And there is also fresh blood to satisfy youngsters, such as Tora Sudiro, Rieke Dyah Pitaloka and Cut Mini. Cut Mini (playing the central character, the teacher Muslimah) admits she found it challenging to play Miss Muslimah, described as a loving, tender, patient and smart fighter. It is simply a character that differs from any other role she has ever taken. â€Å"That's why, when I got the role, I was soooo happy. I kept on practicing and memorizing the script three hours a day and got acting tutoring directly from Riri himself. I also got the chance to meet Miss Muslimah in person, to get to know and learn more of her real character directly,† she says, admitting there is also a great expectation from the audience (especially the readers of the book) to see the Miss Muslimah character in the movie. I've given my best and I hope the audience can accept it,† she adds. Film is an form of art with a multidimensional influence. It has the ability to influence, move and change point of view, behavior, situation and society. Being aware of the power of film, many of those involved in making the costly Laskar Pelangi are committed to its success. Behind the scenes Mira and Riri wish the message is accepted by the audience. They hope it will stir the emot ions of all those who watch it. Please don't boast out about how great your country is, when you're still ignoring the education aspect of it,† Mira says. LASKAR PELANGI adalah adaptasi dari novel terkenal karya Andrea Hirata. Novel yang awalnya didedikasikan untuk sang ibunda guru tercinta, kemudian meledak menjadi bestseller, dan kini hadir dilayar lebar. Dua sineas muda, Mira lesmana dan Riri Reza adalah orang yang berhasil mewujudkanya. Naskah lengkap pelangi di tulis oleh Salman Aristo. Film Laskar Pelangi merupakan produksi ke-9 Milles Films dan Mizan production. Seprti di novelnya, Cerita LASKAR PELANGI berlatar belakang kehidupan di pulou bangka belitong pada pertengahan tahun 1970 an Hari pertama tahun ajaran baru kali ini sangat menegangkan bagi kedua guru SD Muhammadiyah, Muslimah (Cut Mini) dan Pak Harfan (Kranagara), beserta 9 orang murid dan orang tua mnereka. Pasalnya, jika tidak mencapai 10 orang, maka sekolah akan di tutup. Adalah Harun orang yang kesepuluh menyelamatkan mereka. The first day in â€Å"tahun ajaran baru† this time is tighten for two teachers in Muhammadiyah elementary school, Muslimah and Mr Harfan, with 9 students and their parents. Because, if the school doesn’t have 10 students, the school has to be close. Harun is the 10 syudents who save them. Bu M us pun menjuluki kesepuluh anak dengan keunikan dan keistimewaannya masing masing itu dengan nama Laskar Pelangi. Selama lima tahun bersama, Bu Mus, Pak Harfan dan kesepuluh murid, berjuang untuk terus bisa sekolah meski mereka harus menghadapi beragam tantangan serta tekanan untuk menyerah. Di tengah upaya untuk tetap mempertahankan sekolah, mereka kehilangan sosok yang mereka cintai. Ms Mus named the ten students with their uniqueness and their speciality with â€Å"Laskar Pelangi†. For 5 years, Ms Mus, Mr Harfan and the ten students, struggle hard to defend their school altough they have to face a lot of challenge and pressure to give up. In the middle to defend their school, they lose someone who they loved Film ini dipenuhi kisah tentang tantangan kalangan pinggiran, dan kisah penuh haru tentang perjuangan hidup menggapai mimpi, serta keindahan persahabatan yang menyelamatkan hidup manusia, dengan latar belakang sebuah pulau indah yang pernah menjadi salah satu pulau terkaya di Indonesia. This film full with story about â€Å"kalangan pinggiran†, and touch story about â€Å"perjuangan† live to reach their dream, and the beautiful of friendship that save a people live, with background in a beautiful island that ever been one of the richest island ind indonesia Novel itu mungkin dapat menyadarkan kita terutama pelajar akan penting arti bersyukur. Saya mungkin termasuk anak yang beruntung karena saya masih memiliki kedua orang tua yang masih mampu bekerja banting tulang sehingga dapat menyekolahkan saya di sekolah yang cukup bagus, membelikan saya peralatan sekolah yang lengkap, dan menyediakan sarana prasarana yang saya butuhkan dengan cukup lengkap. Padahal dalam novel itu anak-anak yang bersekolah di SD Muhammadiyah sangat serba kekurangan. Sekolah yang bisa dibilang sangat tidak layak dipakai, pengajar yang hanya berjumlah dua orang, kelas yang dipakai harus berganti-gantian, sungguh menyedihkan sekali sekolah itu. Namun dengan keadaan yang seperti itu para pengajar beserta murid-murid masih dapat melakukan proses belajar mengajar dengan baik. Mereka masih dapat menikmati kegiatan mereka dengan baik. Saya sangat suka sekali dengan tokoh Lintang, ia adalah sosok yang patut dicontoh. Kegigihan dia untuk menempuh jarak 80 km bolak-balik rumah dengan sekolah selain tiu ia harus menempuh bahaya bertemu buaya tidak menggoyahkan niatnya untuk belajar. Padahal kalau saya menjadi Lintang saya belum tentu mau melakukan hal itu, karena jarak 40 km untuk ke sekolah idaklah dekat apalagi ada buaya. Bukankah lebih baik saya di rumah saja dan belajar di rumah atau membantu orang tua bekerja. This novel maybe can â€Å"menyadarkan† us, especially student about the importance to be grateful. Maybe we also the lucky child, because we still have parents who still can work hard, so theyt can â€Å"menyekolahkan† us in good school, buy us â€Å"peralatan sekolah yg lengkap†, etc. in fact, in th is novel, the children who go to school in Muhammadiyah elementary school is very â€Å"kekurangan†. Semangat tidak mudah putus asa mungkin saat ini sudah jarang, padahal sebagai generasi muda harusnya kita punya semangat pantang menyerah seperti tokoh-tokoh laskar pelangi tersebut. Sebab dengan tidak mudah pantang menyerah segala sesuatu yang kita inginkan akan lebih mudah tercapai. Sebagai bukti Ikal dengan segala kekurangan baik materi dan keadaan sekolah yang tidak memadai akhirnya dapat melanjutkan sekolah hingga ke perguruan tinggi, bahkan ia dapat bersekolah di luar negeri. Hal di atas merupakan sesuatu yang dapat saya temukan setelah membaca laskar Pelangi walaupun masih banyak lagi. Mungkin sebaiknya yang belum membaca Laskar Pelangi dapat segera membacanya atau menonton di bioskop untuk dapat memahami dan merefleksikan apa yang dibaca ke dalam kehidupan kita masing-masing. This article will mark my first Indonesian movie coverage, and the film that had moved my interest this time is â€Å"Laskar Pelangi† which literally in English can be describe as â€Å"Rainbow Troops. † What I can say about this film when I formerly seen the preview was this is a film about minorities life in majorities of narrative, acting and cinematography. Based on a best seller novel that sold more than 500. 00 copies in Indonesia, â€Å"Laskas Pelangi† authored by Andrea Hirata has told about the struggling of teacher and 10 students for education in a remote place called Belitong. The beautiful views of Belitong that located on Bangka Belitong province in Indonesia, like you can observes it below by the film images, yet one reason that keep intriguing my mind. Ità ¢â‚¬â„¢s a place that able to bring some of my childhood memories back, a memory of that striking blue beach view decorated by snow white sands and big coral reef, along with it outstanding sight of sunset. Almost 100% shoots of the production were truly taken in Belitong island with real native Belitong children who’s all was the first-timer in acting had involved as the main casts. What the film producers Mira Lesmana and Riri Riza who’s also in charge as the director wanted with performing these native Belitong children is to build naturally chemistry between the story and actors. â€Å"From the beginning we did not think about using outside actor for playing as â€Å"Laskar Pelangi† children figure. So, actor hunting and casting process already we did from the beginning of production,† Riri said. Even these children have no experiences with acting world, but they are very talented children, have courage, no shy to try, and the most important, they could presented main figure at this film†, Mira continued. After hunting and casting process in Belitong, finally 12 Belitong have chosen to play the students character and in spite of that, they also not forgetting to cast the professional actor for the film. 12 big name Indonesian actors also have presence, they are Cut Mini, Ikranegara, Lukman Sardi, Ario Baru, Tora Sudiro, Slamet Raharjo, Alex Komang, Mathias Muchus, Rieke Diah Pitaloka, Robbie Tumewu, Jajang C. Noer and Teuku Rifnu Wikana. As Laskar Pelangi producer, Riri Riza said: â€Å"Laskar Pelangi has unique story, fully dynamic life with appeareance of 10 strong character students and an ambitius teacher which has big and noble wishes. And Andrea Hirata is very important factor why we would make film based on this book. First time meet with Andrea, there is enthusiasm shown at himself. Meet him like watching bright shining sunny, very inspiring†. This film has been scheduled to be release on this 25 September in Indonesia. Laskar Pelangi,† the novel, was written by Andrea Hirata in 2005, based on the writer's own experiences. It is about an inspiring teacher and her 10 students in the poverty-stricken Kampung Gantong in Belitong. The poor condition of their school building does not dampen their high spirits and hopes for a better future. Two years later, the novel became a phenomenon in Indonesian literature. With its humanistic touch, Laskar Pelangi has sold more than 5 00,000 copies and has won the position of Must-Read Novel in every corner of the nation's bookshops and media review pages. Actually, this was the first book and the global description of his 3 other books on the tetralogy included Sang Pemimpi (The Dreamer), Edensor and Maryamah Karpov. The story which taken place in a small village called Gantung in East Belitong is about the childhood of ten young Malay race children who all of them has a different story and personality but they all have the same condition in live that is poverty. They all join together in a poor school that in a threshold to be closed down if the school can not collect 10 or more new students. Meanwhile in tit there was just only 9 children, then suddenly a child named Harun at the age of 15th with mentally disorder (retarded) sign in, which then just solve the school problem by accepting 10 student in that time. Since that time the entire 10 student has join together in a lifetime bonding and make a group of â€Å"LASKAR PELANGI†. Ikal (the main character), Lintang (the science genius boy), Mahar (the art genius boy), A kiong (the kind heart Chinese boy), Syahdan (who wants to be an actor), Kucai (the head of the class for all the time), Borek a. . a Samson (the muscle boy), Trapani ( the handsome boy who can not be apart from her mother to long, later on he was diagnose as â€Å"heavy mother complex†), and Sahara (the only girl in the group before Flo come). The laskar pelangi all have a deep fondness to pelangi (rainbow) and every time after raining, they all get together in a filicium tree and stared on the rainbow with story from the art master Mahar. It helped a lot that their teachers were very dedicated and willing to sacrifice their own wellbeing for the sake of the kids. Though they are not gifted in the mind, they are very gifted in the way of the spirit and always talked in a very uplifting way. They symbolize patience, hard work and perseverance. Though they were trained only to teach a certain subject area, the impoverished state of the school has forced them to teach the kids everything from singing to physics. Fortunately, through the grace of God, two of these 10 were born geniuses and managed to teach the other kids things of the mind that the teachers can only be amazed about. All of these kids’ childhood is full with happiness although poverty was always be around them, but they manage to find their happiness in it, with high educational spirit they all fight for their future and hoping it will be better than the present that they live on. Initially, Andrea Hirata was trying only to reconcile himself with his bitter past when he decided to write about the earliest fragments of his life. One thing in his mind was to share his manuscripts with childhood friends who had been in the same boat. Living with a lack of almost everything is traumatic, especially for children, he said recently. â€Å"It's a real struggle to go back in time to growing up in a poor neighborhood (in Belitung), while next to our place was a giant state mining company that had all the luxuries in the world to offer its staff and their families,† said Andrea. An economics graduate of the University of Indonesia, Andrea received a scholarship from the European Union, which allowed him to take his master's degree at the Universite de Paris, Sorbonne, and at Sheffield Hallam University in the UK. (But) my childhood period lingers within me. My memories of that period of my life are the fondest. I learned then about sincerity, friendship and the many virtues that perhaps today's children cannot learn from their environments the way I did. † Andrea seemed to find his panacea when he decided to write. He could not stop. This debut novel was completed in less than six months. Here, I will not tr y to compare the film with the novel version because in actually I still haven’t read it yet, but I hope this big screen version will be resulting as good as the novel version had done.