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Gundala is a 2019 Indonesian neo-noir superhero 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.

Gundala
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Joko Anwar
Written by	Joko Anwar
Based on	Gundala by Harya "Hasmi" Suraminata
Produced by	Sukhdev Singh Wicky V. Olindo Bismarka Kurniawan
Starring	Abimana Aryasatya Tara Basro Bront Palarae Ario Bayu Rio Dewanto
Cinematography	Ical Tanjung
Edited by	Dinda Amanda
Music by	Aghi Narotama Bemby Gusti Tony Merle
Production companies	Screenplay Films Bumilangit Studios Legacy Pictures Ideosource Entertainment
Distributed by	Screenplay Films
Release dates	August 28, 2019 (2019-08-28) (Local Premiere) August 29, 2019 (2019-08-29) (Indonesia) September 11, 2019 (2019-09-11) (Toronto Internasional Film Festival)
Running time	123 minutes[1] 119 minutes[2] (TIFF)
Country	Indonesia
Languages	Indonesian Javanese
Budget	Rp30 billion[3] ($2.11 million)
Box office	Rp67.67 billion[4] ($4.78 million)

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 an astraphobic son of an Indonesian factory worker, who with his fellows stage a protest on income inequality, which results in some of Sancaka's father's fellow workers going to the factory's boss to discuss the situation. Days later, they still haven't been seen in the neighbourhood; 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; he then faints. A year later, Sancaka's mother leaves for another city to find a job, never returning. Thus, he becomes homeless in Jakarta, and meets a fellow homeless boy, 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 corrupt legislature is controlled by crime boss Pengkor, who commands an army of orphans, raised as assassins. Pengkor was once left to die by his abusive uncle in an orphanage; he later rallied the others to help him kill the adults as revenge. Pengkor plots to poison rice supplies with a drug that makes the fetuses of pregnant women immoral. Many people then demand that the legislative release an untested antidote, formulated by an unknown pharmaceutical company, to the public. The debate splits the legislative into two factions: one is led by legislator Ridwan Bahri and his colleagues, who create a bill to distribute it, and the other is controlled by Pengkor and his allies, who oppose it.

One day, Sancaka helps his neighbour Wulan fend off harassing thugs. In a second fight, Sancaka is struck by lightning, awakening his superpowers. Wulan begs Sancaka to help defend a vulnerable local market. Sancaka is unready – thinking of what Awang taught him: to look out for himself before caring about the plight of others – which allows the thugs to burn down the market. 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, part of Pengkor's nationwide network of orphan agents.

The legislature passes the antidote bill, but Ridwan soon discovers that the "poison" is non-lethal; it is the antidote that is poisonous, with the pharmaceutical company revealed to be owned by Pengkor's shell company. Ridwan asks Sancaka to stop the distribution, causing Pengkor and the team to attack Sancaka, seizing Agung, Wulan, and Teddy. Sancaka unleashes his powers, defeating most of the attackers, but Agung dies. Ridwan arrives and shoots Pengkor. Sancaka catches up with the distribution convoy and tries to stop them; thanks to the help of a mysterious woman (later revealed to be the superhero Sri Asih in a mid-credits scene),[13] he succeeds, and uses his powers to break all the antidote bottles.

At a museum, Pengkor's partner Ghazul breaks open one of the walls to reveal an ancient tomb buried inside. Using Sancaka's blood, which he secretly and unwillingly extracted, he breaks the seal of a container containing an old head; he then combines the body and the head, resurrecting Ki Wilawuk, a powerful medieval warrior, and tells him of Sancaka's arrival, calling him "Gundala" ("Thunder" in ancient Javanese). Ki Wilawuk orders Ghazul to gather his army, "for a great war is coming."

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 portrays 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 Zulham (Ghazul)
  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.
• 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.
• Rio Dewanto as Sangaji
  Sancaka's father.
• Marissa Anita as Sancaka's mother.
• Pritt Timothy as Agung, Sancaka's mentor and co-worker.
• 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.)
• Paul Agusta as Anggara Sasmi, a legislative council member who appears on TV.
• Donny Alamsyah as Fadli Aziz, a local thug.
• Tanta Ginting as Ito Marbun, a local thug.
• Dea Panendra as Bonita.
• Dimas Danang as Hasbi, Ridwan Bahri's assistant.
• Zidni Hakim as Dirga Utama, a young, recently-elected legislative council member who opposes Pengkor.
• Aqi Singgih as Ganda Hamdan, Pengkor's subordinate in the legislative council.

Pengkor's orphan assassins

• Cecep Arif Rahman as Swara Batin the Dancer.
• Ari Tulang as Kamal Atmaja the Hypnotherapist.
• Hannah Al Rashid as Cantika the Nurse.
• Daniel Adnan as Tanto Ginanjar the Blacksmith
• Cornelio Sunny as Kanigara the Painter.
• Asmara Abigail as Desti Nikita the Student.
• Andrew Suleiman as Jack Mandagi the Chef.
• Kelly Tandiono as Mutiara Jenar the Model.
• Aming Sugandhi as Sam Buadi the Carver.
• 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 Indonesian superhero 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]

Gundala's costume was a team effort between Iwan Nazif (Bumilangit Creative Engine) and Chris Lie (Caravan Studio). The production was handled by Quantum Creations FX, based in Los Angeles, known for their works in Daredevil, Watchmen, Supergirl, The Hunger Games, Star Trek, and Iron Man.[20][21]

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.[22]

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.[23]

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.[24] The Gundala comics is also available in digital form on WEBTOON, targeting Indonesian teenagers who frequently access the platform.[25] Koloni, along with Gramedia and Bumilangit, also held several roadshows around Indonesia. The Gundala film roadshow began on June 15, 2019 in Jakarta.[26]

Release

This section needs to be updated. (September 2020)

Gundala had its local premiere on August 28, 2019, and was in released in Indonesia on August 29, 2019.[22] 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.[27] 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.[28]

Reception

Box office

Throughout its domestic run, the film garnered over 1.6 million admissions, with an estimate gross of $4.7 million.[29]

Critical response

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an 83% approval rating, based on six reviews, with an average rating of 7/10 as of October 2021^[update].[30]

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."[31] 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."[32]

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Recipient	Result
2019	39th Citra Awards	Best Actor	Abimana Aryastaya	Nominated
		Best Adapted Screenplay	Joko Anwar	Nominated
		Best Cinematography	Ical Tanjung	Won
		Best Art Direction	Wencislaus	Nominated
		Best Original Score	Aghi Narottama Bembi Gusti Tony Merle	Nominated
		Best Sound	Khikmawan Santosa Mohamad Ikhsan Anhar Moha	Won
		Best Visual Effects	Abby Eldipie	Won
		Best Costume Design	Isabelle Patrice	Nominated
		Best Makeup & Hairstyling	Darwyn Tse	Nominated
2019	8th Maya Awards	Best Actor in a Leading Role	Abimana Aryastaya	Nominated
		Best Cinematography	Ical Tanjung	Nominated
		Best Art Direction	Wencislaus	Nominated
		Best Original Score	Aghi Narottama Bembi Gusti Tony Merle	Won
		Best Sound	Khikmawan Santosa Mohamad Ikhsan Anhar Moha	Won
		Best Visual Effects	Abby Eldipie	Nominated
		Best Costume Design	Isabelle Patrice	Nominated
		Best Poster Design	Caravan Studio	Nominated
		Best Young Performer	Muzakki Ramdhan	Won
		Arifin C. Noer Cup for Best Brief Appearance	Pevita Pearce	Nominated
2019	3rd Tempo Film Festival	Best Actor	Abimana Aryastaya	Nominated
		Best Supporting Actor	Bront Palarae	Nominated
2020	Asian Film Festival	Best Art Direction	Wencislaus	Nominated

References

External links

• Official website
• Gundala at IMDb
• Gundala at Rotten Tomatoes
• Gundala at AllMovie

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