[Review XN] Film 25: MAHASISWI BARU
"Losing is no reason to stop fighting. But a reason to keep moving. "
What first comes to mind when you hear the word "freshman" or new students? Innocent teenager from the village who brought big dreams to the city? Or a teenager with a stylish appearance who is trying to give a good impression to seniors on campus? Whatever your definition of "freshman", one thing you can be sure of is that he is in the range of 18 to 20 years. Because for most people, the status of "freshmen" is closely related to teenagers who have just finished studying in high school. A view that is not entirely wrong considering that it is rare to find men / women over 30 years who decide to take S1 studies, even though that does not mean that they don't exist at all. In the latest MNC Pictures production titled New Student, director Monty Tiwa (Matt & Mou, Pocong the Origin) tries to bring a little twist by carrying the premise: what would happen if a 70-year-old grandmother chose to become a student for the first time? A premise that is more or less reminiscent of Life of the Party (2018) and Helicopter Eela (2018), although these two titles are not as extreme as New College Students who actually show a grandmother (no longer housewives in their 40s!) As well as voicing the message "age is not a barrier for someone to learn". Sounds appetizing, doesn't it?
In the New Student, we are introduced to a 70-year-old woman named Lastri (Widyawati) who lives with her daughter, Anna (Karina Suwandi), and her daughter-in-law, Amri (Iszur Muchtar). One day, driven by his desire to fulfill his grandchild's dream, Lastri made a big decision that made the princess and her daughter-in-law stunned. Lastri will study at Cyber Indonesia University, Yogyakarta. Considering his age is no longer young, Lastri's decision clearly invited a sense of wonder from the people around him. But his friendly, cheerful and brave attitude makes it easy to socialize on campus. In a short amount of time, Lastri had become friends with fashionable Sarah (Mikha Tambayong), Danny (Morgan Oey) who was obsessed with social media, smart Reva (Sonia Alyssa), and critical Erfan (Umay Shahab). Lastri's closeness with her new friends brought her involved in a variety of issues that immediately made Anna dizzy because her mother suddenly turned into a rebel. Lastri's involvement in a series of problems on campus also threatened his status as a student after the faculty dean, Chaerul (Slamet Rahardjo), dropped an ultimatum: Lastri was only permitted to continue studying as long as the GPA met the standards. If the GPA is proven to be below average, then he is welcome to resign.
As a spectacle that sets itself in the comedy genre, New College students are actually entertaining. In order to ignite the audience's laughter, Monty Tiwa also gave us a series of scenes that highlighted Lastri's efforts to mingle with her young friends in an often odd and eccentric style. Whether it's reciting contemporary terms, engaging in brawl, interrupting the dean's lecture, to dissent. Seeing a grandmother who enjoyed her youth in the 70s acted like a teenager today clearly inviting laughter and that was the main selling point of the New Student. Ndilalah, Widyawati agreed to play Lastri whose teenage soul was once again expanding. This senior actress is seen having fun with the role she plays casually. We are laughing at the result of the polah, we are also annoyed by its coquetry. The tense that arises when he side by side with Slamet Rahardjo who is positioned as the love interest. Both formed a solid chemistry that allowed the "invitation to dance" or "special person" scenes to feel sweet to the point that the audience blushed shyly. They really looked like two lonely people in love! Besides the senior players who also included Karina Suwandi as a desperate princess, the New Student was also supported by competent young players such as Morgan Oey who this time was frustrating, Umay Shahab who showed her capability in handling dramatic scenes, and Sonia Alyssa who invited sympathy.
Topnotch performance from the ranks of New Student players helps the film to continue to carry out their duties in entertaining an audience that is almost abandoned due to the script and inconsistent cultivation. Choosing to have fun by photographing the culture shock experienced by Lastri is clearly not wrong, it's just that the film never fails to explain the motivation of the main character in attending lectures. Rather than digging it up, which also shows the perseverance of his struggle to survive on campus, the filmmaker focuses instead on being insane while letting out Lastri's motives in a climax. As a result, it is difficult to attach sympathy to this character. I do not feel invited to give Lastri support in completing studies, nor do I feel that there is anything at stake when he gets a warning from the dean. If he drops out, what's the problem? This question is difficult to answer because the film does not provide an opportunity to get to know Lastri in depth. In fact, the film also slipped in a dramatic subplot about the fate of one of the characters who actually did not have a significant impact on the main narrative except for major problems to be resolved very easily. Given the great potential of the New Student to invite blue emotion through the scrolls of narration, I clearly regret these decisions. Fortunately, the film still has a line of players with good performance and well-executed comedy moments, so that at least I can still chuckle even though my heart feels empty.
Acceptable ( 3 / 5 )
Post a Comment for "[Review XN] Film 25: MAHASISWI BARU"
No SPAM!!