Martial Arts Choreography in Merantau

Merantau has been touted as the next big action film to come out of Southeast Asia and hit the international scene.

The Indonesian martial arts feature follows the male protagonist, Yuda, through a journey of discovery. This is all due to an ancient rites-of-passage into adulthood called “Merantau” which all of the Minangkabau community's young men engage in at some point. 

This time around we take a behind-the-scenes look into some of the fight choreography used in the film. The production video below gives a glimpse of the process and just what goes into the making of some of the eye-catching fight scenes shown in Merantau. 

THE STORY

Every journey must begin with one small step. 

Yuda must leave his peaceful village to make a name for himself in the bustling city of Jakarta. Indonesia is the home of Silat, and Yuda (played by newcomer Iko Uwais) is a skilled practitioner – something which comes in handy often as he faces ruthless gangsters and inadvertently finds himself on the run with a woman who is a victim of a human trafficking ring.

The film is a vehicle for quite a few good fight scenes and ends with Yuda facing his attackers in an “adrenaline charged, jaw-dropping finale”.

Merantau is one of the first films to really showcase the art of Silat. 

Silat is a generic term used to describe the martial arts of not only Indonesia, but Malaysia, South Thailand, Brunei, Singapore, and the Southern Philippines.

The combat art covers all ranges from weapons to ground fighting, but is often most recognized by its use of two short sticks (see picture above).

Lead actor Iko Uwais is an expert of the Silat Tiga Berantai school in Jakarta. Iko worked alongside the choreography team and Director Gareth Evans to develop the screen-fighting techniques shown in the film.

Merantau is currently set to release on August 6, 2009. 

Click here to visit the official website or view the film's trailer.