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Reviews
Pembalasan Rambu (1985)
No Intrusion
"You really love to look for trouble, don't you man". These words, spoken by our hero's doomed best friend Bobby, are at the heart of this haunting psychological urban western. Not since the days of John Ford's collaborations with John Wayne has there been such a persuasive portrait of the mental anguish suffered by the men who exist outside of societies remit, forever condemned to stalk the badlands.
Men like Alex Tarambuan, or Rambu to his friends. As essayed with skill and clarity by Peter O'Brian, he is a man unable to hold down any job, such is the rage and bitterness inside, which he regularly takes out on the pitiless criminal element, personified in a brilliant opening scene by his nemesis, "Charlie the Hit-man". Totally reliant on his long suffering girlfriend Jenny (a touching, sensitive performance from Yenni Farida), he is absolutely one of the outcasts. This world, located on the outskirts of downtown Jakarta (viewed briefly in one stunning cityscape), has no need for men of honour, dignity and simplicity like Rambu.
After the horrendous rape and subsequent murder of Jenny (an sadistically elongated sequence, staged with great skill and precision by director Jopi Burnama in one of many bravura set pieces), Tarambuan turns his grief into unholy anger, and decides to do the impossible take on single handed outrageously evil crime lord John White (a sinister, glowering Craig Gavin).
What follows is nothing short of an existentialist journey into Rambu's psyche, with O'Brian's unflinching performance as a man driven by emotions he barely comprehends himself coming to the fore. At this point, some extremely fine performances emerge from the intense din the legendary Dana Christina is magnificent as Clara, hard bitten moll to White; Harry Capri, pilling on the sexual ambiguity as Steven, personal assistant to the shady Mr Andre (Kaharudin Syah, on typically fine form, this time blitzing his goody goody "Stabilizer" image).
But the stand out is undoubtedly Adang Mansyur, as Rambu's mirror image nemesis Charlie. He's detestable certainly but also rather pathetic (witness him bitch slapped by his superior in one shocking scene), but played with great empathy by Mansyur. He is symbolic of the hierarchal structure of the crime network portrayed. When his grimy villainy is replaced by Craig Gavin's more measured approach as White, the film looses a certain spark. Having said that, Gavin has some choice moments - a scene of wanton intimidation and attempted rape on the daughter of local big cheese Hendrick (curiously never seen) resonates with mania and menace.
And despite the emphasis on character through action and a decidedly anarchic, intentionally messy feel, some of the action set pieces are up there with the best. Indeed, a second act rescue competes with the village raid in Coppola's inferior "Apocalypse Now", if you replace helicopters with adapted milk floats, and underlines Burnama and screenwriter Deddy Armand's feel for combining heart stopping action with a sense of the surreal.
Burning with intensity and genuine fire, "The Intruder" has enough ideas to fill several movies. Full of twists and turns, unexpected ambiguity (witness the extraordinary homosexual overtones in a scene between O'Brian and Capri, two master's at work ala De Niro & Pacino in Michael Mann's "Heat") and award worthy acting, this is an experience you won't want to miss.
The Stabilizer (1986)
It has indeed come down to the proverbial wire
I would like to start by saying I can only hope that the makers of this movie and it's sister film The Intruder (directed by the great unheralded stylist auteur that is Jopi Burnama) know in their hearts just how much pleasure they have brought to me and my friends in the sleepy north eastern town of Jarrow.
From the opening pre credit sequence which manages to drag ever so slightly despite containing a man crashing through a window on a motorbike, the pitiless destruction of a silence lab, the introduction of one of the most simultaneously annoying and anaemic bad guys in movie history and costume design that Jean Paul Gautier would find ott and garish. Make no mistake; this is a truly unique experience. Early highlight - an explosion (get used to it, plenty more where that came from!) followed by a close up of our chubby heroine and the most hilarious line reading of the word "dad" in living memory. And then... the theme song...
Yeah, this deserves its own paragraph. Sung by AJ, written by people who really should wish to remain anonymous, it makes the songs written for the Rocky films sound like Schubert. This is crap 80's hero motivation narcissism at an all time high, with choice lyrics such as "its only me and you, its come down to the wire" and much talk of having to "cross the line" (it'll make sense in time - our hero cares little for the boundaries of bona fida police work) abounding. Not to mention the Indonesian Supremes cooing the film's title seductively. At this point anyone wishing to switch off officially has no pulse.
Our hero is Semitic cop Peter Goldson (essayed brilliantly by Intruder star Peter O'Brien), the "stabilizer" of the title. The man's bull in a china shop approach to crime fighting and particularly his less than inconspicuous undercover work truly leaves much to be desired, but he is without question an entertaining guide through the mean streets of downtown Jakarta, with local sleaze ball connection Captain Johnny in tow, as well as Peter's own waste of space partner in fashion crime Sylvia Nash, who does little. So many highlights, so little time - the "slide please" arrogance of Peter's not all too convincingly argued case against chief baddie Greg Rainmaker (Intruder fans will know hirsute slimy bastard Craig Gavin as the monstrous John White - helluva name eh? No! Oh well...), the x marks the spot location map stupidity, our hero taking horrible advantage of heroine Tina Probost during a moment of weakness on her behalf, the latter turning up at a sting operation dressed like a member of a particularly flamboyant dancing troop. And believe me that barely covers it.
There wasn't even time to go into the plot revolving around the hunt for a drug detection system and a kidnapped professor with an alarming but commendable amount of national pride. Or our hero turning up at a funeral dressed as if an extra on Boogie Nights. Or the absolutely hysterical craic between Captain Johnny and Goldson - two guys have never made more heavy weather of buddy buddy shtick than these clowns. The trowel was possibly too subtle me thinks.
Ah it tails off people, and you never thought scenes of wanton destruction and general mayhem could be so unbelievably boring, but the character interaction is stupendous, the dialogue truly priceless and the incompetence on show somehow endearing. Oh and the shoes people - watch out for the shoes!