Title note: Garuda Di Dadaku literally means Garuda On My Chest. It refers to the Garuda Bird Mascot that's attached to the jersey of the Indonesia's Men National Football Team.
Garuda Di Dadaku is among the first batch of well meaning family films in 2009 to capitalize on the success of Laskar Pelangi. This hybrid of well-meaning moralistic family film and nationalistic sports film has its credentials boosted by having the same writer and the same company that co-produced Laskar Pelangi . However, unlike Laskar Pelangi, Garuda Di Dadaku ultimately disappoints as it suffers from script problems that prevent us from caring about the main character.
Garuda Di Dadaku tells the story of Bayu (Emil Mahira) a boy who dreams to one day become a professional soccer player who represents Indonesia. However, his grandfather (Ikranegara, the principal in Laskar Pelangi) has different ideas: he wants to see Bayu succeed in more established fields like painting or music. Plus, the early death of Bayu's former soccer player father makes the grandfather more determined than ever to drive Bayu away from soccer. Luckily, Bayu has 2 good friends who help cover for him while he secretly trains for an audition to join the national Under-13 Team: Heri (Aldo Tansani), the rich but physically handicapped best friend and Zahra (Marsha Aruan), a mysterious girl who lets Bayu practice secretly at her cemetery home. But how long can Bayu keeps the lies from his grandpa? Can Bayu makes it to the Indonesia National Under-13 Team?
Perhaps the most interesting part of the film is how much it is thematically the opposite of the film that perhaps inspired this: Laskar Pelangi. Unlike Laskar Pelangi's earnest pro-education agenda, Garuda Di Dadaku shares some similar themes with Singaporean Jack Neo's I Not Stupid films: that Asian kids today are under pressure to succeed in society that they have to sacrifice their passion for a more secure life path. Unfortunately, the film has one giant script flaw: Bayu is not a character worth sympathizing or rooting for because he doesn't seem very talented and most of his success happen because of his friends' actions, not his.
Remember the soccer film Goal! that tells the story a Mexican-American guy who goes from a nobody to an English Premier League player overnight? It wasn't a very good movie but at least it spent a lot of time showing off the character's football skills to convince us he's the deal. In Garuda, Bayu's skill is only limited to one well placed free kick and a few workmanlike dribbling and nothing more. But bigger weakness lies in the relationship between Bayu and his best friend Heri. Heri is a problematic fairy godmother character because whenever Bayu has a problem, Heri always offers help (sometimes without even being asked) by using his wealth or by encouraging Bayu to keep lying just because he's so nice and he wants Bayu to succeed. Although we're given hints that Heri is also a passionate soccer fan and that his handicap and absentee father crushed his dream, his motivations remain shallow and too good to be true. But of course, Bayu himself is so unmotivated and helpless under his grandfather's spell that he's always on the verge of giving up unless Heri coaxes or forces him to continue. This won't be a problem if this film is about Heri encouraging his best friend to pursue his dreams, but this film is about Bayu and it's perplexing to see the screenwriter forget something so basic: that Bayu has to solve his own problems, not Heri. Still, the worst is yet to come: it the end the grandfather eventually found out about the lies, yet the movie still manages to tie everything so nicely and happily for every character that it feels like a cheat. In an ironic twist, this is a family film that wants to teach good lessons, and yet end up having an unmotivated main character who keeps lying and get a happy ending after all.
In a typical Hollywood sports film, the hero would usually actively fight against all odds by himself before emerging victorious. If Garuda Di Dadaku becomes a typical Indonesian sports film, god help this country because it means more films where the hero is helpless or unwilling to do anything unless there's external help from sources like a rich best friend. Hence, this film shows why the Indonesian film industry, while growing nicely, still has a long way to go before it can be well regarded Internationally.
Rating: 2.5 out of 5
Garuda Di Dadaku
Cast: Emil Mahira, Aldo Tansani, Marsha Aruan, Ikranegara, Maudy Koesnaedy, Ari Silahase
Directed By: Ifa Isfansyah
Written By: Salman Aristo
No comments:
Post a Comment