Fantastic Fest 2009

Life is simple for a young man in rural Sumatra - Yuda's days spent in the fields tending the crops, his evenings training in the traditional martial art of silat. But the time comes for Yuda – as it does for every young man in this part of the world – when he must leave his comfortable life and undergo merantau, a traditional rite of passage in which youth must fend for themselves in the big city with no supports from home. And so Yuda must pack his bag and head off to Jakarta.

And Jakarta could not be more different – or more difficult – than the life he has left behind. The home Yuda was to stay in has been demolished, forcing him to squat in a nearby construction site. There is no work to be found. And when a young boy tries to steal Yuda's wallet he is plunged into a violent world of human trafficking where his martial arts skills are tested in a rapidly escalating spiral of violence.

Once a proud exporter of martial arts films, Indonesia has been entirely absent from the world action stage for more than fifteen years and has not produced a significant action star since Barry Prima was in his prime twenty five years ago. That streak comes to a spectacular end with Merantau and star Iko Uwais. Uwais is a star in the making, a young man trained in silat since childhood who was driving truck for a telecom company when discovered by director Gareth Evans. He proves a natural as an actor and a hugely charismatic fighter, performing all of his own fights and all of his own stunts himself, often in jaw-dropping fashion. To the best of our knowledge Merantau is the world's first silat film. It certainly will not be the last. (Todd Brown)