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'Rock N Love' does Tantri and Kotak no justice
Cella (left), Tantri (center) and Chua: Courtesy of Apollo PicturesRock N Love is a senselessly scripted semi-biographical film about the rock band Kotak that makes you cringe throughout its run time
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Cella (left), Tantri (center) and Chua: Courtesy of Apollo Pictures
Rock N Love is a senselessly scripted semi-biographical film about the rock band Kotak that makes you cringe throughout its run time.
The movie marks another failed attempt by local moviemakers when it comes to biopics about legendary bands.
A similar film, about the blues band Slank, which has tens of millions of fans, also flopped. It is fair to say that Kotak, whose fan base is far smaller, should not expect too much.
A proper band biopic should not only appeal to diehard supporters with strong in-depth storytelling. It also needs to channel the musicians' charisma to introduce the band to a new generation ' or people outside its fanbase.
Oliver Stone's The Doors in 1991 is a perfect example. Despite criticism from band members on its portrayal of Jim Morrison, the biopic introduced a whole new generation in the 1990s to the band, its struggles, turmoil and its music ' and Val Kilmer won kudos for his performance as the legendary frontman.
Rock N Love, however, fails to provide in-depth storytelling or to present the band's charms in a convincing way to the unconverted.
The film begins, less than auspiciously, with guitar distortion that might evoke Meatloaf's 'I'd Do Anything For Love' for older audiences.
Cut to a press conference: Kotak members Tantri, Chua and Cella (playing themselves) are in the finals of a rock competition called Jakarta Distortion Week where they face a fierce rival band, Rebel Youth, whose vocalist Rotor (Ganindra Bimo) seems to spend 24 hours a day being angry for no apparent reason.
The film tries to channel an east coast/west coast gangsta rap war aura by having Rotor talk smack to everyone during the conference, even calling Tantri names.
His antics are so exaggerated that they make no sense at all.
Why is he giving the middle finger to all the judges? Why is he telling the fans and the press to go to hell? Why is he not disqualified for physically abusing his rivals and yelling like a crazy man?
At this point of the movie ' about 10 minutes in ' I was already covering my face and asking God for it to end.
But then the film took a page from sinetron, or local soap operas, that ruined the premise of the film.
Suddenly ' in burst of useless creativity ' the film became a slapstick comedy. Yes, slapstick comedy. In a movie about rock stars.
The film spends significant time following Kotak's roadies ' Akew (Eriek Estrada), Joko (Reynold Hamzah) and Jamal (Denny Ahmadi) ' and hardcore fan Bagus (Dicky Otoy) ' around for foolish antics.
Tantri, during a post-screening press conference, said that they spend most of their time arguing about music in real life. So why do we see more of Bagus and the crew joking around like idiotic goofs instead of the band?
As if to add salt to the wound, the film also offers corny motivational speeches from band manager Aldi (Denny Sumargo) ' a turn-the-other-cheek character with a Joel Osteen-like capability of producing drivel.
In one scene, when Aldi is beaten up by Rotor, he pushes the foul-mouthed vocalist into the corner and then says something like 'rock music is not built by your fist but by your heart.'
Do we really need to hear this?
The film basically fails to make Kotak, the band, as the heroes of the movie. There is not a single strong scene featuring Kotak as a band or individually.
Even the final scene does no justice to Tantri's incredible voice.
The final battle-of-the-bands showdown between Kotak and Rebel Youth is strictly made for TV. There are some influences of Eminem's 8 Mile (with far less dramatic effect); but oh dear God, the film ends with everyone laughing on screen like a silly family sitcom from the 1980s.
On the other hand, the film can sometime be good.
Kotak's songs dot the soundtrack, offering an escape for an audience tortured by a terrible script and terrible acting from most of the cast.
However, kudos go to Vino G. Bastian, who plays Robin, Tantri's boyfriend. Every time Vino shows up, he brings serious acting to the screen.
On the whole, however, Rock N Love is a disaster. It demystifies Kotak as a rock band and unjustly diminishes Tantri's status as a legendary front woman in the Indonesian music scene. The trailer is way better than the final product.
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Rock N Love
Director: Hedy Suryawan
Cast: Tantri Kotak, Chua Kotak, Cella Kotak, Vino G. Bastian, Denny Sumargo, Ganindra Bimo, Erwin Moron
Script: Syamsul Hadi
Producer: Sandy Tanarius
Studio: Apollo Pictures
