Gundala is a 2019 Indonesian neo-noirsuperhero film based on the comics character Gundala created by Harya Suraminata (Hasmi) in 1969. The film was co-produced by Screenplay Films and Bumilangit Studios, and distributed by Legacy Pictures. It is the first installment in the Bumilangit Cinematic Universe (BCU).[5] The film is directed and written by Joko Anwar, and stars Abimana Aryasatya as Sancaka/Gundala, alongside Tara Basro, Bront Palarae, Ario Bayu, Cecep Arif Rahman, Rio Dewanto, and Muzakki Ramdhan.[6] In the film, Sancaka uses his superpowers to defeat the corrupt crime boss Pengkor. After his allies poison a large shipment of rice, Pengkor uses his undue political influence to force the local legislature's hand in passing a bill to approve the hasty production and distribution of an unproven antidote – unknowingly made by a pharmaceutical company he secretly owns – that will ultimately harm pregnant women.
The first official news about the film was announced on April 4, 2018, on the social media accounts of its director and production houses.[7] At Indonesia Comic Con on October 28, 2018, a press conference was held to introduce the main casts and to hold the first screening of video footage from the film, with a release date set around mid-2019.[8] Filming was done from September to October 2018.[9]
Gundala had its local premiere on August 28, 2019, and was released in Indonesia on August 29, 2019.[10] It had its international premiere at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival on September 11, 2019.[2][11] The film received positive reviews from audience and critics with praise for Abimana's performance, Anwar's direction, and the visual effects, costume design, and originality.
A sequel, Gundala the Son of Lightning, is planned as part of the first volume of films in the Bumilangit Cinematic Universe, and was announced ahead of Gundala's release.[12]
Plot
Sancaka is the astraphobic son of an Indonesian factory worker, who leads a protest on income inequality. Later, it is revealed that they have been kidnapped. As the angry workers clash with security guards, Sancaka's father is stabbed by an unknown man and dies. Sancaka's anger releases lightning blasts from his body. A year later, Sancaka's mother leaves for another city to find a job, never returning. He becomes homeless in Jakarta, and meets a fellow homeless, Awang, who teaches him self-defense. They plan to freighthop and travel to a safe haven in Tenggara, but only Awang is able to jump onto the train. Now an adult, Sancaka works as a guard and mechanic in a newspaper printing factory.
Most of Indonesia's legislature is controlled by crime boss Pengkor, who commands a nationwide army of orphans, raised as assassins. Pengkor plots to poison rice supplies with a drug that makes fetuses immoral upon birth. Many people demand that the legislature release an untested antidote formulated by an unknown pharmaceutical company. The legislature consists of the affirmative led by legislator Ridwan Bahri and his colleagues, who create a bill to distribute it; and the opposition led by Pengkor and his allies.
One day, Sancaka helps his neighbour Wulan fend off harassing thugs. In a second fight, Sancaka is struck by lightning, awakening his superpowers. With the help of Wulan, her little brother Teddy, and Sancaka's fellow guard Agung, Sancaka realizes his powers and creates a homemade costume to harness them. With that, Sancaka starts fighting the thugs, including violinist Adi Sulaiman, one of Pengkor's orphan agents.
The legislature passes the antidote bill, but Ridwan soon discovers that it is not the "poison" that is lethal; but rather the antidote, with the pharmaceutical company owned by Pengkor's shell company. Ridwan asks Sancaka to stop distribution, causing Pengkor and his team to seize Agung, Wulan, and Teddy. Sancaka unleashes his powers, defeating most of the attackers, but Agung dies. Ridwan then shoots Pengkor. Sancaka catches up with the distribution convoy and stops them, assisted by Sri Asih.[13] He then uses his powers to break all the antidote bottles.
At a museum, Pengkor's partner Ghazul breaks open one of the walls, revealing a buried ancient tomb. Using Sancaka's blood which he secretly extracted, he unboxes an old head, then combines the body and the head, resurrecting Ki Wilawuk, a powerful medieval warrior, to tell him of Sancaka's arrival, calling him "Gundala" ("Thunder" in ancient Javanese). Ki Wilawuk orders him to gather his army to plot revenge.
Cast
Main characters
Abimana Aryasatya as Sancaka / Gundala a security guard who was struck by lightning, giving him superhuman powers and turning him into the superhero Gundala.
Muzakki Ramdhan as young Sancaka.
Tara Basro as Sedhah Esti Wulan / Merpati Sancaka's neighbour and love interest, who inspires Sancaka to take up the responsibility as a superhuman and a hero.
Bront Palarae as Pengkor a disfigured crime boss who controls the city's underworld. Pengkor was disfigured as a child, after his father's plantation workers burned down their house, leaving him bitter and vowing revenge on the world. ("Pengkor" means "limp" in Indonesian.)
Zayen Aqilah portrays young Pengkor.
Ario Bayu as Ghani "Ghazul" Zulham Pengkor's partner and confidant, who is himself bent on world domination. The character remains nameless for most of the film, only revealing his name to Ki Wilawuk at the end of the movie. Ghazul is one of Gundala's most famous nemeses from the comics.
Faris Fadjar Munggaran as Awang, a street kid who taught Sancaka how to fight and left Jakarta for a better life in Tenggara. Awang later grows up to become the superhero Godam. (He is to be portrayed by Chicco Jerikho in future movies.)
Lukman Sardi as Ridwan Bahri a politician allied to Sancaka and the leader of Rumah Perdamaian (the House of Peace).
Supporting characters
Arswendi Nasution as Ferry Dani,a politician who does not try to hide his disapproval of Pengkor and other legislative members on Pengkor's payroll.
Rendra Bagus Pamungkas as Adi Sulaiman the Composer.
Pevita Pearce makes a brief appearance at the end of the film as the superheroine Sri Asih, a character she will reprise in a standalone film directed by Upi Avianto, alongside Zack Lee, who will portray Arjuna. Senior poet, musician, and actor Sujiwo Tejo also briefly appeared as Ki Wilawuk, who is rumored to be the supervillain of the film series.[14] Cinematographer Ical Tanjung and composer Aghi Narottama make cameo appearances as one of the politicians and a pharmacist, respectively.
Background
In 1981, the popularity of the Gundala comics in Indonesia reached the big screen. By purchasing the licensing from the author, PT. Cancer Mas Film adapted the comic to a film, Gundala Putra Petir (Gundala, the Son of Lightning), which was directed by Citra Award-winning director Lilik Sudjio. Teddy Purba, the actor who was appointed as Ir. Sancaka or Gundala, was famous as one of the best Indonesian action stars at that time. His mortal enemy, Ghazul, was played by the character actor W. D. Mochtar, while Sancaka's lover, Minarti, was played by Anna Tairas. Other actors and actresses involved in the film included Ami Priyono, August Melasz, Pitrajaya Burnama, HIM Damsyik, Gordon Subandono, A. Hamid Arief, Rini Ratih, Dewanti, and Ratno Timoer. Even though the setting was changed from that of the comics, the film remained faithful to the story told in the comics series written by Hasmi – in which an engineer, Sancaka, managed to find a chemical anti-lightning-strike formula. Unfortunately, this discovery resulted in Sancaka having to break up with his lover, Minarti, after forgetting to attend her birthday party. Plagued by sadness, and in the midst of a heavy rain, Sancaka was struck by lightning and taken to the world of Emperor Kronz. There, he was given the powers and costume that turned him into Gundala. Meanwhile, a group of organizations, led by Ghazul, began the rampant circulation of narcotics; that is when the battle between good against evil began.[15][16]
In 2010, Iskandar Salim, a photographer and graphic designer, created promotional material for a movie that was not being made about Gundala, after noticing that there had never been a movie featuring an Indonesiansuperhero and wishing to start a public debate on the subject. He created an official website, a Facebook page, posters, and staged photographs that allegedly showed the movie being made. As a result of the attention generated by this hoax, Gundala's creator, Hasmi, became involved in negotiations to produce a real film based on the character.[17]
Development and production
Development
Bumilangit Studios, as the owner of Gundala's intellectual property, has been developing the idea of making a Gundala movie since 2014. The search for the right director and scriptwriter for Gundala was not easy, and took Bumilangit years to finally find the perfect match. On April 4, 2018, Joko Anwar was announced as the writer and the director for the film. He is one of Indonesia's most prolific and celebrated film directors.
Joko Anwar admitted that the scriptwriting process for Gundala has been the hardest work of his career so far. Usually, he spends one to two months on a typical script, but he eventually ended up spending a total of seven months for this project. Reinterpreting Gundala's origin from the original 1969 comic, he reworked the story in a way that could attract Millennials and Gen Z. Hasmi's comics and notes about Gundala helped him write the script.[18]
Production
Joko Anwar felt that Abimana Aryasatya was the perfect actor to portray Sancaka/Gundala, due to his vulnerable and strong aura. After several attempts, Joko finally convinced Abimana, and he finally accepted the offer.[19]
Filming for Gundala took 53 days in 70 locations, including Jakarta, Cilegon, and Purwakarta, and involved 1,500 extras and 300 film crew. Principal photography began in Purwakarta on September 1, 2018, with Ical Tanjung serving as director of photography. Filming wrapped on October 31, 2018.[21]
Post-production began in November 2018, and was completed around June 2019. Gundala involved many of the best film workers in Indonesia, one of them being Khikmawan Santosa, who often won the Best Sound Designer award at the prestigious Indonesian Film Festival. Gundala was one of his last projects before his death on May 11, 2019.[22]
Music
One of the songs complementing the film was the 1962 song "The End of the World", popularized by Skeeter Davis. The production team agreed that the lyrics represent the main theme of the film; when many people in a country do not upheld justice, they will head on towards the "end of the world".[13]
Marketing
In order to raise public awareness regarding Gundala, M&C! and Koloni have published two types of Gundala comics, a remastered version of the classic Gundala comics (published in July 2019), and new Gundala comics adapted from the events of the film (published in August 2019). The remastered version targets the fans of the Gundala comics' original 1970s–1980s run and collectors of Indonesian old-school comics, while the film tie-in version targets Indonesian millennials, who may not have been aware of Gundala before.[23] The Gundala comics is also available in digital form on WEBTOON, targeting Indonesian teenagers who frequently access the platform.[24] Koloni, along with Gramedia and Bumilangit, also held several roadshows around Indonesia. The Gundala film roadshow began on June 15, 2019 in Jakarta.[25]
Release
Gundala had its local premiere on August 28, 2019, and was in released in Indonesia on August 29, 2019.[21] It had its international premiere at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival on September 11, 2019.[2][11] It was acquired by Premiere Entertainment Group, who began shopping the film to domestic and international buyers at the AFM on November 9, 2019.[26]
On April 30, 2020, Well Go USA Entertainment announced it would be releasing Gundala via digital, Blu-ray, and DVD in North America on July 28, 2020.[27]
Reception
Box office
Throughout its domestic run, the film garnered over 1.6 million admissions, with an estimate gross of $4.7 million.[28]
Richard Kuipers wrote for Variety that the film is "an action-packed and emotionally satisfying adaptation of the treasured Indonesian comic book created by Harya "Hasmi" Suraminata."[30] Victor Stiff from ThatShelf.com praised the film, stating, "From beginning to end, Gundala delivers fast and furious action and rarely stops to take its foot off the gas."[31]
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