A Legendary Love

I bought the Puteri Gunung Ledang (PGL) VCD last week and was excited to watch Malaysia's biggest budget movie. I have some comments and opinions on the movie:

Good cinematography. The view and scenery in the movie was spectacular and beautifully done. The harbor, lake, river and forest scenery was superbly done. This is something to me that's up to international standards. The leaves falling down on the rock scene like something from a Hollywood Fantasy story.

There seems to be confusing 'flashback' scene in the movie. Why not have something like the 'usual' blurry effect before the reminiscing scenes as indicator to the audience what's going on in the story? It could actually help the viewer differentiate the past and present scene in the movie.

The costume and props was also praiseworthy as it reflects the culture and differences of the races. Some of the dialogue was poetic, portraying true Malay wisdom in usage of proverbs in conversation.

The fighting scene at the market displayed one of the best Silat Silat (Malay Martial Art) I've seen in years. Excellent job was done by the choreographer in charge. (Could be made better without the exaggerated stunts). The scene where Hang Tuah and the Jawa Gusti Adipati fights in the 'mental realm' was cool but looked like something from Zhang Yimou's movie.

The legendary love story between the princess and Hang Tuah was not actually developed. I for one did not understand how the princess fell in love with Hang Tuah. (Except for the kick-flower-in-the-face scene).

Overall, in my opinion, this movie is a commendable effort by the local Malaysia Film industry. Keep up the good work!

Sure, the plot was a bit dragging, lame at times, illogical at others, but still, you must give credit for such a beautiful Malaysian movie. The cinematography (spelling?!) was fabulous, perhaps even up to Hollywood standards if i might say so myself.

so what if tiara's not really Javanese? nama pun acting. she played the role quite well, i can't really think of any other Malay actress who could pull it off better. The cast was quite nicely selected too, and aside for the Sabri Yunus jokes (which were one too many) while they were going up Gunung Ledang, the movie was really one of a kind.

Although they didn't win best movie for the FFM that year, I dare say they deserve credit for creating something as beautiful as that, definitely worth the millions spent.

I'd say the movie was a great achievement for the Malaysian movie industry, really, it'd be worth it just to watch it for the beautiful shots.

As kids back home in Malaysia, we were told of legendary warriors, magical princesses, powerful kings, mysterious places, epic battles, and curses which made us shiver in the night. And no other tale combines these elements more effectively than the story of the legendary Princess of Mount Ledang and the Malaccan empire. So, with a deep story already written, throw in a solid cast, with an explosive budget... what could possibly go wrong? Well, quite a bit, actually. But before we get into that, let's get into what's good about the movie. For one, the expensive production is really evident from the movie - the props, the picture quality, the setting, the sounds. On the surface, Puteri Gunung Ledang (PGL) is a real visual treat, and is a nice portrayal on how the Malaccan empire back in those times. The story is told rather well, and it is interesting to see the mythology in full graphic detail, with some pretty good storytelling across the board.

A bloated production, however, doesn't quite make this movie what it could - and should - have been. The movie opens up with M. Nasir as Admiral Hang Tuah, the legendary Malaccan warrior, bringing a couple of bandits to justice. This was an excellent opener. The story then begins with the royal expedition between two great empires. For the first 30 minutes, i was hooked and impressed - the fight scenes, backdrops, beautifully handled shots, and interesting dialogue; at that point, i was convinced that this could possibly be a great movie. However, the momentum just breaks off completely, and as the story drags to the two-and-a-half hour mark, my interest slowly wanes off into boredom.

So, what's wrong with it? How could they mess up such brilliant opening sequences? It's mainly the storytelling. The opening sequences laid out set piece after set piece, leading viewers to believe that this could lead to a powerful climax.. but.. the climax is just unsatisfying and ultimately somewhat predictable. True, some of us know the story already, but really, we were looking for the execution to have that extra ZEST. The buildup is long and draggy, and the final scenes are unexciting and lifeless.

My biggest gripe with the movie,is the actual love story itself. Yes, we all know that PGL is basically a love story. So why don't we feel the intensity of this love? The writing and direction hardly makes us care for the couple, and we never truly feel the deep emotion and sacrifice which they go through. It's just running around, and trading well-written poetry. Furthermore, the portrayal of the empires seem a bit weak and not as powerful as we were led to believe.

All that said, there are some notable performances throughout the movie. M Nasir excels superbly as Hang Tuah, and plays his part out superbly. The sultan of Malacca, as well as the Queen, is played exceptionably well, too. Tiara Jacquelina was okay, but she was hampered by mediocre dialogue. The only problem I have with these characters isn't the acting, but rather the overall script - most of them weren't really portrayed with enough depth to make us care for them.

Overall, I am quite disappointed with the movie. Given the production budget, list of superb actors, and great background plot, this would have been a surefire hit. Instead it misses the mark, having a dragged-out, unsatisfying story, relying on the fat production to work out its magic. Still, like I mentioned, I have faith that if someone could pick up where this movie left off, and improve these crucial areas, this could be a great movie (and in fact, I was told the theatrical play is much better, which is a good sign). As a movie, however, PGL isn't all that good. I would still recommend the movie for everyone, just to learn on the myth itself, but don't expect the legendary love epic that will blow you away.

For the first time in my life, I really have to admit that Puteri Gunung Ledang is so far the first Malaysian movie that contains all the right ingredients for a good and watchable movie. Truthfully, I have never liked any Malaysian-made movies before PGL, thinking that either the filmmakers here never actually bother for quality for the sake of money or perhaps, obviously, that they don't know the proper principles of film-making after all. When I decided to watch PGL a few weeks ago, I kept asking myself if this money was worth the ticket price. Fortunately, it was. Thanks to Teong Hin Saw's brilliant direction, PGL gives a refreshingly new perspective to the casual viewers and also fans of World History.

Basically, it is a love story between Hang Tuah, the legendary Malay Warrior of Malacca and the Javanese princess Gusti Putri (the title character) whose relationship arouses the tensions between two worlds: the Sultanate of Malacca and the Majapahit Empire. The plot may be a bit straightforward but its production values makes a major leap over the previous Malaysian outings; you can safely assume that PGL is definitely a work of a pro. Great cinematography (forget about the Cameron Highlands issue), exhilarating camera moves and editing, decent fighting sequences and quality SFX prove it all. Casting, on the other side, is a mixed bag: some perform extremely well, expressing their powerful gestures convincingly while the rest are surprisingly wooden, leaving lots of rooms for improvement.

It's true that PGL is not without flaws: the most obvious is the pacing of the entire movie and as a result, it is not a well balanced movie. The lack of any action sequence in the middle act makes the movie seem a bit draggy, filled with long (twisted for some viewers) conversations, tight focus upon the two lovers and other unnecessary slow-moving sequences. Unlike any international epic movies you have seen, PGL is rated 'G', suitable for the whole family, which basically means that it contains no forms of profanity or suggestive elements that may otherwise prove sensitive to some viewers. This only cheapens the maturity of this movie: for me, the whole movie, despite excellent production values, feels mild and unsatisfying as if I ate a half-baked cake.

PGL could have been a great contender in any film festival if a) it were a bit more sensual (ala Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon), b) more violent (ala Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings trilogy), c) more thought-provoking and visually more disturbing (ala Ron Howard's A Beautiful Mind). Despite these inevitable drawbacks, the Malaysian film industry seems to be taking the right path and this is just the beginning. For now, PGL feels like a good movie. Not phenomenal, though.

i was disappointed. i very much wanted to like this film as i'd like to hope high for Malaysian films. first the good - m nasir was very good. he met my expectation and handled a tedious script to his very best. sofia jane was excellent. if the stories that jaquelina instructed the removal of lots of jane's scenes are true (to take out screen "competition"... jaquelina co-produced this with her husband) then it is regrettable. it's just a rumor, but one does wonder why an excellent performer and performance ended up so maligned. moving on, the production values are all excellent. great set, nice cinematography, nice costumes... editing style was fine, though the decision to drag it out to 145 minutes was certainly ill-chosen.

now the bad. tiara jaquelina was really not fit to play this role. she is so limited, so one-dimensional and so wooden. she doesn't exude the grace nor the natural beauty demanded of the role, nor does she poses a voice (a bit croaky, isn't it?) to perform lengthy verses of spoken word poetry kinda dialogue and voice over. inevitable that she was the lead actress but deeply, deeply flawed decision for the film.

poor characterisation. didn't feel for them all. m nasir tries and succeeds somewhat to elicit a response from me but the rest of the leading cast are all cardboards. i'll blame the scriptwriter for this. just too much screen time for everyone but the film doesn't work hard enough to develop character, narrative and a love for the world. it's so easy already because everything's in place: great set, great story, great characters. in the end it just became a bad tiara star vehicle.

that's why i'm so disappointed.