The film is adapted from a novel of the same title published in 2009. The story in the novel is a depiction of the true story of the author, namely: Wahyuningrat, Adept Widiarsa, Nisa Riyadi, and Rizki Pandu Permana who also pursued their master's degrees in the Netherlands. I have not read the novel, but I got interested in watching the film, knowing that it takes place in the Netherlands. I imagined a film with beautiful visuals, interesting story and the good acting of the casts. The film uses a flashback plot with the screenplay written by Titien Wattimena (Hello Goodbye, Merry Riana: Mimpi Sejuta Dolar) and directed by Endri Pelita (Air Mata Terakhir Bunda).
The scene starts when Lintang about to hold a wedding. She then begins recalling the bitter and sweet moments of when the five of them studying in the Netherlands. She recalls her best friends one by one because one of them will later marry her.
Throughout the flashbacks I was faced by a colorful and cheerful tone. The typical scenery of Europe that started from Prague and then to the cities in the Netherlands such as Rotterdam, Leiden, Wageningen, Utrecht and Amsterdam are truly captivating. The cinematography is passable although it is not exactly special. The soundtrack of NVO titled Cinta Cinta Cinta is sung very sweetly by Wizzy in collaboration with Sandhy Sandoro. But it seems that the plot is less developed here. Lintang and her four best friends only fuss about the trivial problems just like in the television films (FTV).
The conflict also seems very forced to be a conflict. The charming setting and quite poetic dialogues seem to help the plot of which from the beginning is less powerful.
Their life as postgraduate students does not pretty much get a portion. Throughout the film only tells us about how the five friends are familiar with the environment by, of course, just strolling around and having fun. Their master's degree graduation ceremony is only represented by Lintang towards the end of the film. In short, the story about college there is just a mere patch. And until the end of the story, it also does not explain about the origin and the meaning of AAGABAN, their group’s name.
Talking about the characters and the acting, the only one who stole my attention is Abimana Aryasatya, this actor somehow has his own "charm" when acting out a character. Simple, strong/solid, accompanied by clear articulation.
Plot twist. Yes, this may be the ultimate weapon of Negeri van Oranje. From the beginning, the audience has been given some sort of puzzle about who exactly will be selected by Lintang as her life companion. Is it the silly and smart Daus? Is it Banjar, the gentleman? Or Wicak who is cool and aloof? Or perhaps Geri, the handsome, mature, attentive and rich one? Curious? Watch the film/watch it for yourself.
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