Naga Bonar (1987) Review: A Rogue Who Plays General

Is Naga Bonar worth watching?

Yes. Naga Bonar is one of the great Indonesian comedies, a rowdy, big-hearted war satire whose rogue hero became a national icon, and it still plays with real warmth and bite. Deddy Mizwar’s performance is the reason to watch: a con man whose bluster and vanity coexist with genuine loyalty and courage. The reservation is technical rather than creative, since the film’s production values and some broad slapstick show their age.

What is Naga Bonar about?

Naga Bonar is set in North Sumatra during Indonesia’s struggle for independence after the Second World War. Its hero, Naga Bonar (Deddy Mizwar), is a small-time crook with a big mouth. Amid the chaos of the revolution, he talks his way into leadership of a band of freedom fighters and appoints himself a general, a title he wears with enormous pride and very little military knowledge.

What follows is a comedy of bluff and improvisation. Naga leads his ragtag troops against the returning Dutch forces, bickers with his friends, tries to impress the woman he loves and constantly answers to his formidable mother. As the war grows more serious, so does the question of whether a man who started as a fraud can become the leader his men need.

Written by the veteran screenwriter Asrul Sani, the film is an Indonesian production in Indonesian and runs 101 minutes. It won Best Picture at the 1987 Festival Film Indonesia, where Mizwar also won Best Actor, and it later inspired a sequel, Naga Bonar Jadi 2, in 2007.

Deddy Mizwar’s career-defining turn

Few performances in Indonesian cinema are as fondly remembered as this one. Mizwar plays Naga with a swagger and a Medan-flavoured bluntness that makes his every boast funny, but he never lets the character become a cartoon. Beneath the vanity is a man with a strong sense of right and wrong, fiercely devoted to his friends and his mother, and Mizwar makes the shifts between comedy and sincerity feel natural.

It is this balance that turned Naga into a folk hero. He is not a noble revolutionary of the textbook kind but an ordinary, flawed man who rises to the occasion, which makes the film’s patriotism feel earned rather than official.

Satire with a patriotic heart

The film’s comedy has an edge. By putting a con man at the head of a guerrilla unit, it gently mocks the pomp of rank, titles and heroic mythmaking while still honouring the ordinary people who fought for independence. The humour ranges from verbal sparring and running gags about Naga’s self-importance to broader physical comedy, and the best scenes find absurdity in the gap between how Naga sees himself and how the world treats him.

The screenplay also gives the film an emotional spine. Naga’s relationships with his closest friend and with his mother carry real feeling, and those bonds give the film’s more serious moments a weight that catches you off guard.

Where age shows

The film is very much of its time technically. The battle scenes are modest in scale and sometimes clumsy, the look and sound are unmistakably those of a modestly budgeted 1980s production, and a few comic routines go on longer than modern audiences may want. Some of the humour, especially the broader slapstick, is more dated than the character-driven comedy. None of this spoils the film’s charm, but newcomers should approach it as a classic rather than expecting contemporary polish.

Who should watch Naga Bonar?

It is essential for anyone interested in Indonesian film history and a good entry point for viewers curious about how popular Indonesian cinema has treated the independence struggle. Families with older children can watch it together; the war violence is mild by modern standards, though the conflict is not played entirely for laughs.

For more Indonesian comedy and genre cinema:

• Agak Laen, a hit modern comedy with a similar North Sumatran spirit and a knack for mixing laughs with heart.
• Vengeance Is Mine, All Others Pay Cash, a stylish homage to the look and swagger of 1980s Indonesian popular cinema.

More titles can be found in our war and comedy collections.

The verdict

Naga Bonar is a beloved classic for good reason: funny, affectionate and quietly subversive, with a lead performance that remains one of the most memorable in Indonesian cinema. Its rough edges are those of its era, and its heart is timeless.

Rating: 4.5/5