NYAFF 2022 Review: PREMAN: SILENT FURY, Audibly Thrilling Crime Drama That Sometimes Gets Trippy
Originally published July 19: Falling somewhere between cerebral crime drama and reductionist martial arts thriller is writer/director Randolph Zaini’s feature debut, Preman: Silent Fury.
The film tells of Sandi (Khiva Iskak), a gangster whose organization, led by Guru (Kiki Narendra), is currently on a violent campaign to force villagers out of their homes at the will of a sinister politician named Hanoeng (David Saragih). When Guru’s attempt to cudjole the village keeper, Haji (Egi Fedly), into selling his property turns violent, Sandi’s own son, Pandu (Muzakki Ramdhan), falls witness to the incident, making him a target and forcing Sandi to protect his son in a race against time, hired killers, and a narrowing chance to redeem himself.
The film definitely takes some whimsical turns in its recurring flashbacks of Sandi’s childhood, which is enough to pair against the film’s more gritty and gruesome imagery per the action and drama. Key to the film’s narrative is how Sandi’s been afflicted as a result of a traumatic experience when he was Pandu’s age, which goes far beyond the fact that Sandi is all but deaf and has to communicate through sign; One other key feat with Sandi is that he can read lips, something which often enhances some of the film’s more engaging and personal moments, including with the wife who ran out on him and their son years ago for her own protection.
Actor Revaldo, best known as the eccentric Six Seas butcher in Timo Tjahjanto’s The Night Comes For Us, makes an outstanding performance as an illeistic, outré barber named Ramon, whose obvious sexuality is less concerning than his sociopathy, and penchants for switching to French, and expressing himself with a handy arsenal of shears which usually results in some immutably messy hit jobs. Lots of blood gets spilled and we plenty of that in the second half of the film during a key fight scene with Sandi, which speaks inherently to the concurrent and favorably violent nature of Indonesian action choreography as seen in this film, courtesy of Zaini himself.
Well Go USA Entertainment
This is where we get to see Sandi’s use of a slungshot, a round mini-weight affixed to a cord and normally used as a maritime tool but also has an historical use as a deadly weapon. The impact and brutality of these action sequences don’t get a full-on introduction right-away, save for a few teaser shots in an earlier fight scene, until much later into the movie when Zaini fleshes things out much more. It’s almost concerning that a certain Indonesian action franchise never got to showcase this particular weapon, as it would have been par for the course to do so, would there have been another feature film entry.
The film’s third act takes a dark turn, and given the way it’s shot, you can easily assume the worst when, in fact, it’s just the opposite. Additionally, this is where Zaini switches things up in creativity with an abstract fight scene between Sandi and his personal demons. This definitely doesn’t tamp down on the tragic tone that settles in as the film winds down to a final shot of our protagonist that brings his arc full circle.
Preman: Silent Fury doesn’t hit all the right notes at times. Still, you won’t be left hanging when it counts. Rest assured, the performances from Iskak and Ramdhan will have you rooting for the bad guy in the best way, with action sequences that are a must see, leaving you off with a nice little redemptive action crime drama oddity that’s as satisfiably violent at times as it is bold in its experimentation.
Preman: Silent Fury screened for the twentieth New York Asian Film Festival and has since been acquired for upcoming release by Well Go USA Entertainment and Hi-YAH!
Native New Yorker. Been writing for a long time now, and I enjoy what I do. Be nice to me!