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Jakarta Post

'Night Bus': An ambitious, jumbled mess

Considering the top honor the film won at the Indonesian Film Festival 2017, the high standard set by crowd-pleaser Posesif and the critically acclaimed Marlina, expectations were high for Night Bus.

Devina Heriyanto (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Sat, December 2, 2017

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'Night Bus': An ambitious, jumbled mess "Night Bus" was previously screened in cinemas in April. (Nightbus Pictures/File)

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ost Indonesian moviegoers had never heard of Night Bus until it won the award for Best Film at the Indonesian Film Festival (FFI) 2017. The movie was screened for a short time before being abruptly stopped due to distribution problems. To cater to demand from moviegoers, Night Bus came back to cinemas on Nov. 30.

Considering the top honor the film won at FFI, the high standard set by crowd-pleaser Posesif, and the critically acclaimed Marlina, expectations were high for Night Bus.

Directed by Emil Heradi, Night Bus is a thriller set on Sumatra. The story follows the journey of several passengers on a night bus en route to Sampar, a city in Aceh torn by armed conflict between the Indonesian Military and secessionist group Samerka. Of course, one can't help but remember the decades-long armed conflict between the Indonesian Military and separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM).

Using the tagline “Conflict doesn’t choose its victims,” Night Bus aims to show how armed conflict affects civilians. Early in the movie, it is revealed that the bus going to Sampar is the first and only after a recent outbreak of conflict. The passengers must pass several checkpoints and ambushes before arriving at Sampar, despite not being part of the conflict.

Both the journey and the movie go smoothly at first, introducing several notable characters: bus driver Zakaria or Amang (Yayu Unru), conductor Bagudung (Teuku Rifnu Wikana), blind storyteller Luthfy (Agus Nur Amal), journalist Yuda (Edward Akbar), local wealthy man Umar (Torro Margens), Mala (Rahael Ketsia) and her boyfriend Rifat (Arya Saloka), a grandmother named Nur (Laksmi Notokusumo) and her granddaughter Laila (Keinaya Messi Gusti). After the first checkpoint, an NGO activist named Idrus (Abdurrahman Arif) joins the ride. Each character has their own motivation for going to Sampar.

Read also: 'Pengabdi Setan', 'Night Bus' dominate 2017 FFI Awards

The journey falls apart in its second half as the bus faces ambushes from the Military, rebels and another group. Unfortunately, the movie falls apart too.

The story attempts to keep viewers on the edge of their seats, but after so many ambushes, the action just gets repetitive. It does not help that the delivery feels cheap, with blatantly bad CGI, corny soap opera-like scoring and tacky dialogue. These major technical problems nag at viewers throughout the movie, which runs for over 2 hours. After watching the visual feast that is Marlina, the editing in Night Bus is unforgivable.

Another problem lies with its characters. For instance, Idrus is far too naive to be an NGO worker, and Luthfy does not function as anything more than the typical wise old man. The only comic relief in the movie is Bagudung, which led Teuku to the Best Actor award at FFI 2017.

The movie is at its best when it keeps viewers in the dark, as civilians who, like the passengers, do not know much about the conflict but are still affected. The story gets messy due to its big ambitions, trying to capture the big picture by introducing rather poorly executed plot twists. The movie also gets rather preachy, but it does offer some good food for thought, showing misconduct and sexual abuse by Military personnel -- a fitting commentary on current issues.

Granted, Night Bus has its moments, but they are drowned out by a jumbled mess stemming from aiming too high. It's worth a second view, but maybe on streaming services or TV to make the visuals and score tolerable. (kes)

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