Colombiana (2011)

Selain dari tokoh Cataleya (Zoe Saldana), daya tarik film Colombiana (2011) ini terletak pada plot cerita yang khas Luc Besson: kontras, presisi, dan penuh kejutan bombastis, misalnya bagaimana Cataleya kecil digambarkan terlihat sebagai anak kecil yang lemah, namun saat menghindari penangkapan kroni boss gangster Colombia, berubah menjadi sosok bocah lincah dengan kemampuan parkour tingkat tinggi. Atau saat salahsatu target Cataleya dihabisi dengan senjata yang tidak lazim: ikan hiu, semuanya adalah ciri khas Luc Besson yang berulang kali muncul di film-film garapannya.

Di film Leon (1994) misalnya, Leon seorang pembunuh bayaran dengan karakter sangat unik (Jean Reno), dipasangkan dengan seorang gadis kecil Mathilda (Natalie Portman) yang ingin menuntut balas kematian keluarganya oleh oknum korup kepolisian, sedangkan dalam film The Kiss of The Dragon (2001), Lu Jian (Jet Li) dihadapkan dengan musuh super dalam beragam pertarungan epic, termasuk satu ruangan penuh Karateka ban hitam. Film-film aksi Luc Besson terkini mungkin tidak akan masuk nominasi Oscar (Transporters, Taxi, Taken, dll.), tapi dari waktu ke waktu selalu ada kejutan menanti di film-film garapannya.

Termasuk dalam menampilkan quote seperti berikut ini:

You want me to teach you how to be a killer? No problem. I teach you. But you'll be dead in five years.If you want to be a killer and survive, you got to be a smart one. Have to know things besides how to pull a trigger. You have to know how people think. You got to learn how to be psychological. I cannot teach you that unless you learn the basics at a school. You got that? Hm? Come on, what's it going to be? Cataleya, you choose.

Begitu ujar karakter Emilio Restrepo (Cliff Curtis) di film ini. Agak terasa bombastis dan lebay saat tampil di layar film, apalagi konteksnya negatif yaitu bunuh membunuh, tapi movie quote ini ada benarnya juga: seringkali sebelum seseorang bisa dilatih keahlian tingkat tinggi, modal dasarnya harus ada dulu. Modal ini sendiri bisa berupa keahlian dasar, pengetahuan, atau bakat.

Satu hal yang mungkin agak berbeda, Luc sekarang lebih berani menampilkan adegan-adegan sadis dibanding di film-film sebelumnya. Mungkin terpengaruh oleh perkembangan zaman pula, saat makin banyak film gemar menunjukkan aksi-aksi brutal. 

Anyway, karena unsur-unsur ceritanya mirip sekali dengan film-film Luc Besson sebelumnya, walhasil di penghujung film sempat ketiduran... (byms)

Image dari: Impawards.com

Ulasan Film: Musa (2001)

Rating:	★★★★★
Category:	Movies
Genre:	Action & Adventure

Gw dapet film ini waktu lagi liat-liat DVD di ITC Ambasador. Tadinya gw ragu karena khawatir ini cuma another so-so Chinese/HK's duplication dari film megah sekelas Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon (CTHD). Ternyata waktu baca sinopsisnya, film ini buatan sineas Korea, dan berkisah mengenai misi diplomat kerajaan Coryo (sekarang Korea) yang berkunjung ke kekaisaran Ming pada masa abad ke-14.

Ada kembang mata diantara pemainnya yang memang terbukti bikin film Asia laris manis di pasaran: neneng Zhang Ziyi. Tapi selain dia, semuanya nama-nama asing, so bisa diperkirakan ini bukan semata-mata film yang ngandalin nama tenar tapi penggarapan rada bikin pusing (House of The Flying Dagger, Hero, etc.).... Ditambah dengan dua penghargaan di festival film Asia dan Asia-Pasifik, so I guess it worth to see lah...?

Ternyata, sejak awal film berlangsung, atmosfernya terasa sangat meyakinkan. Settingnya bagus, kostum bagus, ceritanya bagus, akting pemainnya bagus, sehingga kita mau gak mau kebawa kedalam suasana Cina kuno, dan ngerasa yang diceritain itu memang real... Karakter-karakter yang diceritain pun rata-rata bertindak logis dan "benar". Nggak kayak film-film Mandarin yang sering masang karakter yang "kartun" (House of The Flying Dagger, rata-rata film Jet Li)

Jendral Choi-Jung digambarkan sebagai seorang pemimpin muda yang kurang berpengalaman, namun keras, angkuh, dan dingin. Keputusannya lah yang kemudian menempatkan sisa-sisa pasukan Coryo untuk berhadapan dengan pasukan Yuan (Mongol) yang sangat kuat, semata-mata demi menyelamatkan puteri kerajaan Ming agar mereka bisa kembali ke Coryo tanpa menanggung malu.

Secara bertahap kita akan dituntun juga untuk berkenalan dengan tokoh-tokoh film yang masing-masing memiliki karakter yang kuat namun manusiawi. Tidak ada karakter yang sempurna disini, setiap karakter hadir dengan kelemahannya masing-masing sehingga membuat film ini malah memiliki jalinan cerita yang erat dan dramatis. Aksi dan reaksi datang silih berganti menciptakan suspense dan alur yang sulit ditebak.

Setelah serangkaian perang dan drama... Di akhir cerita gw bengong.... dan dah cukup lama gw ga bengong abis nonton film...

Sampe kemudian gw paksain liat-liat clip di Special Feature DVD nya, just to make sure that it's just a movie and all the players are allright =P

Buat gw, ini film luar biasa yang sekelas ama CTHD, Last Samurai, Gladiator, Dances With Wolves, dan Braveheart. (byms)

Overcoming fears of death the Viking way

Somehow I still find "The 13th Warrior" amusing, despite the fact that it had made some of my friends think I'm suicidal.

But the movie managed to sneak in some believes I've tried to belly for some times; why should we not fear death.

The movie tells about the story of an Arab royal who was politically banished to the Northern lands and eventually met the Vikings. The Vikings at the moment were facing one of the most horrible beast of all time; a band of ancient Evil that should not be named. Bulliwyf
(Beowulf) was to lead his tribe's band of twelve warriors to fight the Evil. During the forming of the band, in the end the soothsayer said, that God wanted their last men, to be the Arab...

And so they got involved in the journey to pursuit the Evil. And also we got a glimpse of look at how the Vikings life. It was their view of death that amazed me. Took into notice that it was just a movie, but what was shown and said somehow made sense to me.

During the days of the Islamic government forming, the Moslems are feared for their courage and strong will in the fight, as if they do not fear their own death. I think it's a result from their trust in God and the Holy Prophet, that they're doing the right thing. They're promised Heaven, and so they pursue the promise with full-heart.

As with the Vikings, they have this believe that they're off to a better place when they die. They believe they'll enter the halls of Valhalla, where their father, mother, brothers, sisters, and the early members of their people will bid them to take their place among them. In the halls of Valhalla, where the brave may live forever. Thus
affected are their way of living.

There were sayings in the movie like:

"Hurry to meet Death before your place is taken" - Herger the Joyous

"The Father wove the skein of your life a long time ago. Go and hide in a hole if you wish, but you won't live one instant longer. Your fate is fixed. Fear profits a man nothing". - Herger the Joyous

True? I felt that I am as a moslem share the common believe... In Islam we've been told that our fate is already fixed ever since we're still an embryo inside our mother's womb. That include the amount of wealth
we'll have, and the amount of days we'll have. This has borne some related believes. I.e. that no matter what we'll do, if it not ours then we'll not gonna get it. And no matter how carefull you are, you can never cheat on your own death, or vice versa; no matter what you do, if it's not the time for you yet, then you wont have your death. So there is no need of fear.

But attached with the believes also are the rules. Ijtihad in Ikhtiar: the maximizing of our efforts in pursuing the best result of our actions. Sabar (patience): not rushing things or loosing faith when troubles and obstacles arises, and Tawakal (faith): Believe in God that every result is for the best of ourselves.

And surely, there are also restrictions that apply, which some I believe are also common among other God's descended religion. In example is about the damnation of suicide, or any other attempts at ending your own life. So that we know eventhough we do not know about our fate, it's not up to us either to decide when!

Those views of our fate are the basic believes that based the past glory of the moslems, and should also based our live at present time. In doing our work we should aware that there will not be a thing happen upon us, that is not in God's will, or that is not good for us. But also take into concern that we've done the best that we can do.

Death will visit us when it's the time for us to go. By then, all that matters is what we've left behind, which is how we lived our life. So what's really important now is that we strive to make the best of our life... and not busy fearing how or when we would "go".

So it's true, fear profits a man nothing...

foto: © 1999 Touchstone Pictures. All rights reserved.