Kejar Amerika

Description

Bayu Suprapto had long dreamed of living a better life in America. When he wins a 2-week vacation to California, he thinks his wishes have come true. Yet as soon as he lands in San Francisco, he wonders whether he was safer on the streets of Jakarta after all. The twists keep coming until the final frame.

Customer Reviews:

Excellent for its Genre.......2005-10-06

I found this in a video rental place in Vancouver and took a chance. It's actually pretty good, considering that it makes no attempt to be anything other than entertaining. I don't understand the vehement negative review that also appear here--jeez, man, frustrated filmmaker by chance? If you listen to the commentary you realize that the director and the cast were hardly taking themselves seriously (the commentary is hilarious). For a truly terrible Indonesian film, check out "Arisan." You'll howl!

Abysmal, but fun for Pak John students.......2005-02-21

This movie is amateurish and awful but not cheezy enough to be bad fun... it's just terrible. How the American director can be permitted to use a blurb describing himself as some sort of Indonesian avant-garde filmmaker is beyond me. You want bad Indonesian fun? Check out Lady Terminator or Mystics of Bali on dvd. You want high quality subtitled films? Look at what's available from Between Three Worlds Video at Monash University. This movie though is a real dog.

There is one redeeming feature: the revelatory acting of Pak John Wolff, America's most influential Indonesian language teacher. I watched the movie with a gang of former Cornellians, Indonesians and Americans. We could barely stand to watch the thing (and ended up fast-forwarding a bit) but whenever Pak John appeared, as a colonial Dutch ghost, we were doubled over laughing.

So muridnya Pak John, nontonlah. Everyone else: AVOID!

Funny and moving.......2004-05-27

This is the first Indonesian film I've ever seen, and I got a preview copy from a guy who was on the crew in San Francisco (no names!). I really enjoyed it. Lighthearted and serious at the same time, and the acting was excellent. The director's commentary is more aimed at filmmakers than regular viewers, but I still thought it was interesting. Also--watch it to the very, very end...there's a last twist. (...)

DVD:

DVD

DVD