[MoView] Finding Laughter

 YOWIS BEN

Official Poster of Yowis Ben 1

Yowis Ben is a comedy movie that was made under Starvision Plus Production and Bayu Eko Moektito or well-known as Bayu Skak as the moviemaker. The title of the movie is taken from Javanese language which means “let it be”. The term yowis ben in the movie is not used as what it means in which the words can be used to express a feeling when you can just let it go something after you did your best. In the movie, the words yowis ben is used for naming a group of a band (ben means band). The movie is a sequel movie that includes "Yowis Ben 1", released in 2018 and 'Yowis Ben 2', released in 2019. Both of the movies have a continuing plot that cannot be separated from each other. "Yowis Ben 1" tells about the main character’s journey during senior high school and "Yowis Ben 2" tells about the main character’s life in pursuing his dream after he graduated from a university.

The Language Use 

"Yowis Ben" the movie used Javanese language spesifically Malangan language as the main language in the movie since the setting of the movie is Malang. The use of Malangan language in the movie has some pros and cons. Some people think that the movie shows off a particular culture because of the use of Javanese language. As we know, there are a lot of ethnic groups in Indonesia, they might be questioning the reason why the film must use Javanese language. On the other hand, another people give positive response to the film. For them, the movie is very good in a way that the film tried to raise local traditions that may affect another movie production to make the same movie with a different local background in Indonesia. This is one of the ways that can be used to preserve local traditions.  

The Conflict

Official Poster of Yowis Ben 2

The main conflict of "Yowis Ben 1" is about friendship and love. Here, Bayu as the main character has to choose whether he should stay with his friends and his band or he should pursue his love. It begins when Bayu met Susan, played by Cut Meyriska. He chased after her and in the end, he has to choose those choices. Bayu, then choose his band and his friends at the end of the film. Whereas the conflict of "Yowis Ben 2" is not really focused on one particular topic. The conflict is somewhat messier than in the first movie. For me, the first movie is better than the second one. Instead of the conflict, the flow of the story in the first movie is logical and well-organized. In the second movie, there is a part that is missing like how Bayu’s college life because it is suddenly showed Bayu’s graduation party. 

Characterization 

The selected actors and actresses are not really suitable for each role, but this incompatibility makes the movie became funnier. For example, Brandon Salim who played as Nando seems to be awkward when he spoke in Javanese language. Although the way how he speaks is a bit awkward, but this is the point that makes him looked funny. When he speaks in Javanese, it sounds cute in addition to his facial expression that supports the situation. The other character is Susan, played by Cut Meyriska. The character of Susan is not really appealed when it is played by Cut Meyriska. It might be because she used to act or play as the protagonist character in soap opera which is totally different from Susan’s character. Although she does not suit the character, the way how she speaks especially when cursing is very funny because she has flat expression.

That’s it that I want to share with you, guys. If you are not in a good mood and need a mood booster, you can just watch the movie in Iflix freely. I guarantee you will laugh out loud. Trust me! 😉