Jakarta, hitclubapk3 Indonesia
—
The first thing I noticed while watching
The Dark Legend of Malin Kundang
is that the film “Malin” is a fairy tale which was then ‘rewritten’ in a more rational and causal format.
Forget the imagination of the figure of a rich and arrogant man who insults and doesn’t acknowledge his mother, then the mother gets hurt and curses her child to become a stone like in the stories told by our mothers and grandmothers.
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In the hands of Joko Anwar, Aline Djayasukmana, Rafki Hidayat, the story becomes much darker, more uncomfortable, and is clearly a law of cause and effect that cannot be explained from just one aspect.
The three of them turned children’s fairy tales into personal problems related to social problems, with roots that were much more complicated than just a child being ‘disobedient’ to his mother.
Rafki, who also sat in the director’s chair with Kevin Rahardjo, transformed this feeling of discomfort into visual form, assisted by Ical Tanjung from behind the camera.
If indeed Rafki and Kevin’s goal is to present
psychological thriller
uncomfortable for the sake of portraying what Rio Dewanto feels like Alif, then I think the mission was successful.
Ical’s cold hands really make the atmosphere of Alif’s world really cold, gloomy and dark, for almost the entire time this film is playing.Some parts even made my eyes dizzy like what Alif experienced when one by one his memories emerged.
Moreover, the duo Rafki and Kevin and Ical use it a lot
shoot medium
and
close up
so I could see Rio’s pores on the big screen, as well as the use of blur techniques to match Alif’s point of view which made it even more uncomfortable.
To be honest, I’m not a big fan of films with techniques and presentations like this kind of cloudy sunset atmosphere.Coupled with puzzles that stimulate the brain to think, it is clear that “Malin” is not a show for those who want to ‘take a break’ from the gloomy world.
In fact I think “Malin” shows a world that can be very bleak for children and women.My one reminder, the problem shown in this film could possibly be
triggers
for some parties.
Even so, I appreciate the interpretation of this fairy tale into a film that depicts complex social problems.Maybe this is like the story of The Wizard of Oz which used to look magical, then when the fragments were made into Wicked, it felt full of political issues.
As Rafki once said in an interview, the reinterpretation of Malin Kundang’s story in this film also sparked questions and rethinking in me regarding the origins of this fairy tale, as well as the power relationship between children and parents which in these crazy times can increasingly result in actions beyond reason.
Talking about ‘crazy’, Rafki and Kevin succeeded in photographing inequality in Jakarta, as well as filming in a village under a toll road, which I’m sure is not easy to do.For a moment I felt that Jakarta was no different from Mumbai in the film Slumdog Millionaire (2008).
And actually, the act of recording Jakarta’s inequality is also important for more local filmmakers to do, either as social criticism or simply to portray factual situations in society.
However, as a film co-written by Joko Anwar, Legend of Dark Malin Kundang is not the best film from the filmmaker and writer.Jokan’s distinctive style is clearly felt in this film even though he did not sit in the director’s chair and the script was written by someone else.
I see “Malin” more as Jokan’s project to try to produce other new writers and directors, considering that this film is Rafki and Kevin’s first feature film.Therefore, it is natural that Jokan’s influence as a mentor is felt in this film.
However, it feels unfair if there are shadows of other people following the results of this duo’s hard work in working on their first feature film.This is what makes me curious to see the complete pure work of Rafki and Kevin.
[Gambas:Youtube]
What is clear is that the Dark Legend of Malin Kundang is the perfect stage for Rio Dewanto to showcase his abilities as a leading actor.I realize that this film script was not easy for Rio and he clearly tried hard to conquer it.
If this film had been released before registration for the 2025 Indonesian Film Festival closed, Rio Dewanto might have had the chance to be nominated for Best Male Lead Actor, a nomination he last received approximately 10 years ago.
However, it could be that Rio Dewanto still has another surprise appearance in 2026, such as the surprise he appeared in Malin Kundang’s Dark Legend.
(end)
[Gambas:hitclubapk3 Video]
