This is a part of an ongoing project in which I watch one movie from a different country every week.
RUNNING TIME: 101 Minutes.
DIRECTOR: Gareth Evans (as Gareth Huw Evans)
WRITTEN BY: Gareth Evans (as Gareth Huw Evans)
STARING:
Iko Uwais
Joe Taslim
Ray Sahetapy
Yayan Ruhian
WHERE CAN YOU FIND IT? Netflix DVD. It is available on Amazon Video to rent ($3.99) or buy ($12.99).
PLOT: A S.W.A.T. team is trapped in a tenement run by a ruthless mobster and his army of killers. (That pretty much sums it up.)
MEMORABLE MOMENT: The crime lord (Ray Sahetapy) discovers that that a S.W.A.T. team has breached his building. He gets on a PA system and tells the dozens (possibly hundreds) of killers residing in the apartments that they will receive great reward if they help kill the intruders. The officers look to one another, knowing that within seconds they will be overwhelmed by a force they are not equipped to handle.
This is an unbearably tense scene, a final moment of calm before all chaos breaks loose. I would compare it to the opening moments of the prison riot sequence in Natural Born Killers and the end of the first act of Jurassic Park.
IMDB TRIVIA:
- Every actor who played a member of the SWAT team went through a rigorous training program with KOPASKA (essentially the Indonesian equivalent of the Navy SEALs). They studied several techniques including weapons and hand signals.
- The original title Serbuan Maut means Death Raid in English. (Personally, I prefer this title to The Raid: Redemption, which is kind of vanilla by comparison.)
- The movie’s tagline mentions “30 floors of chaos” but the apartment building in the movie only features 14 floors, 15 if you count the ground floor. (The poster I used above features a building with about twenty floors.)
The Raid: Redemption might be the simplest movie I have ever seen in terms of plot (including Die Hard and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre).The film tells the story of cops trapped in a building who need to fight their way through an army of killers to survive. And that’s pretty much it. Not much else to say.
Most people (including myself) didn’t walk into this movie for the story. They came to it for the chaotic ballet of marital arts and the “Did they actually just do that?” stunts. However, as simple (and possibly irrelevant) as the story might be, The Raid still follows a very familiar template found in countless books, movie, graphic novels and even ancient legends. This template is often known as the Hero’s journey and was made popular by world renowned mythologist Joseph Campbell.
These steps are often used to outline epic stories such as The Odyssey, Star Wars and The Lord of the Rings. However the plot of this seemingly simple movie fits in with the same pattern.
1. ORDINARY WORLD: The Raid begins with our hero, Rama (Iko Uwais), praying and exercising in his home. He kisses his pregnant wife goodbye before leaving the house. This is a very domestic scene, similar to countless moments that take place around the world every day.
In LOTR’s this step would be Frodo’s life in the Shire. In Star Wars it’s Luke’s life as a whiny farm boy on Tatooine.
2. CALL TO ADVENTURE: Rama joins the rest of his team in the back of a police truck and their Sergeant (Joe Taslim) describes their mission: eliminate crime lord Tama Riyadi (Ray Sahetapy), who owns a tenement house and allows criminals around the city to rent rooms under his protection.
In this movie the call to adventure comes from a police Sergeant. In other stories it often comes from old men with beards or god-like figures.
3 REFUSAL OF THE CALL: Most stories don’t include every single step, much less in this order and The Raid isn’t an exception. It nearly skips over this portion of the hero’s journey.
Unlike Luke Skywalker, Harry Potter, Frodo Baggins or Tony Stark, Rama doesn’t refuse his “adventure.” However, he does appear apprehensive in the back of the van. When an audience member first watches the film they assume he is worried about leaving his family for a potentially suicidal mission, but later in the movie we realize there’s another reason for his reluctance.
4 MEETING THE MENTOR (part 1): The Raid splits this step in two. As Rama and the rest of the team breach the building they encounter Gofar (Iang Darmawan). At the time they think of him as nothing more than an impoverished man caring for his sick wife.
5 CROSSING THE THRESHOLD: Sometimes this is a physical threshold (Luke Skywalker entering the Death Star) or a psychological one (Tony Stark deciding he has to destroy the weapons his company created).
In the case of The Raid it is both. Crossing the threshold is the “memorable moment” I described above: The S.W.A.T. team is discovered, and the crime lord calls upon his tenants to kill them. Most of the team is slaughtered. Rama and only a few other survivors are now trapped in a building surrounded by snipers. They need to fight their way out.
Tons of spoilers after this point!
4. MEETING THE MENTOR (pt 2): This is where Gofar truly becomes helpful. He hides Rama and his injured team member, Bowo (Teger Satrya) and gives advice on how to escape.
6. TESTS, ALLIES, ENEMIES (AKA: Balrogs, Ron/Hermione, Storm Troopers): Rama is confronted again and again by dozens of thugs armed with guns and machetes. They fight through hallways, rooms and fire escapes. It’s a lot like watching someone else play a very realistic video game. He’s very short on allies, save for Gofar and the injured Bowo.
7. APPROACH TO THE INMOST CAVE: Obviously, this is a symbolic cave. In this step Frodo is overcome by the ring. Skywalker and Co. fight their way through the Death Star.
In The Raid, Rama is confronted by Andi (Donny Alamsyah), one of the crime lord’s two lieutenants. The audience now learns that Rama and Andi are brothers. Rama volunteered for the mission to save his family. Andi refuses to leave his life of crime and they reluctantly part ways.
8. ORDEAL: This is the step in which the hero decides to face his/her greatest challenge. Simba leaves his relaxing life to fight his uncle. Neo decides to rescue Morpheus. Harry and the others decide to save the Philosopher’s stone.
In this case, Rama has a way out of the building but decides to remain to save any other surviving team members.
9. REWARD (SEIZING THE SWORD): This one speaks for itself. It’s Harry retrieving the philosopher’s stone or Luke finding purpose among the rebels returning to destroy the Death Star.
In the case of The Raid, Rama rescues his brother from the crime lord’s other lieutenant, Mad Dog, who is beating him to death. They team up to defeat the psychopath and have a more meaningful (if brief) reunion.
10. THE ROAD BACK: This is more or less the beginning of the end. Luke returns to the Death Star or Frodo and Sam finally arrive at their destination.
As the brothers attempt to leave the building together, Rama learns that Lt. Wahyu (Pierre Gruno), the man who organized the raid, is a corrupt cop and was sent to kill Tama, the crime lord, in an attempt to destroy a competitor. In this scene Tama is killed and Wahyu is taken into custody.
11. RESURRECTION: This is generally considered the climax of the story. Luke destroys the Death Star (yay!) or Neo realizes he is the one (duh).
The two brothers survive the slaughter in the tenement building and leave together with Wahyu in custody. Rama tries to convince Andi to come with him but Andi refuses. He is determined to remain in the world of crime.
12 RETURN WITH THE ELIXIR: The hero gains his/her reward. Frodo leaves Middle Earth to live with the elves. Simba takes his place as king of pride rock.
Rama and Bowo leave the tenement building alive and the film ends. In this case the “elixir” is the imprisoned Wahyu. The corrupt cop who instigated the massacre has been captured and there is hope for justice (in the sequel).
The fact that The Raid follows the hero’s journey does not automatically put it on the same level as classic epics or pop culture sagas (although it is a very fun/adrenaline pumping movie). However, it does support the concept that no matter how irrelevant the plot may seem, most stories follow similar patterns.
The twelve steps of the Hero’s Journey aren’t only relevant to action movies or fantasy adventures, either. You can find the same template in many romance stories or family dramas. Perhaps I will make a similar post next time I watch a quiet, down to earth movie.
