With close to a quarter of a billion population, you would have thought the filmmaker would pick a better looking Indonesian actor who is worthy of having four girls falling head over heels in love with and ends up marrying two. Well, at least the filmmaker picks the right pair of drop dead gorgeous actresses for “Ayat-Ayat Cinta” – officially translated as “Signs of Love” and literally means “Verses of Love”.
I have such a high anticipation for “Ayat-Ayat Cinta” because an Indonesian film worthy of the International market is rare and I do have a certain affection towards Indonesia. Besides, I thought Cynthia would love to watch a film in her mother tongue. On top of that, I did take language lessons back in Indonesia donkey years ago so I am not 100% clueless on the dialogues like other foreign films.
Let’s put things in perspective here. According to Cynthia, majority of the Indonesia productions are either in the genres of horror or slapstick comedy or teen comedy. To take on a romance drama that explores such a wide range of topics even with a budget that well exceeds the average cost of an Indonesian film (I read it’s double) is an admirable effort. I can certainly imagine that if I was an Indonesian, I too would feel proud watching this movie. With a script of “Long Live Indonesia” in the foreign land of Egypt, who wouldn’t?
A few feel good factors and a few really good eye candies aside, “Ayat-Ayat Cinta” has attempted to shine a more balanced light on Islamic as a religion of patience and sincerity. This 126 minutes film, I believe, is a timely answer to the 16 minutes controversial short film “Fitna” by Geert Wilders that portrays Islam as a religion of terrorism (shocking images, avoid if you have a weak stomach). It is a balanced view because while the traditions are observed – such as the prayers, Islamic teaching, and how men and women should not touch each other unless they are related – it does tackle the social issues such as domestic violence, rape as well as the challenge of a polygamy marriage.
There are parts of the movie that move me a great deal. It portrays the emotional aspect really well, certainly believable. As someone who is a non-Indonesian, I found myself talking to Cynthia a lot during the show to seek clarification. For instance, I did not know that during an Islamic wedding, the bride’s father holds the hand of the groom over the Quran with the bride sitting on the side and that signifies a transfer of “responsibility”. I was quite shocked to see that as an equivalent to the Western “exchange of wedding vow”. Also, because the dialogues have a mix of Arabic and Bahasa Indonesia and the characters who are supposed to be Arabians speak in Bahasa Indonesia, it could be quite confusing for those who does more than reading the subtitles.
An extremely slow moving movie (I think this one is even slower than “Dance of the Dragon”), what it lacks is the quality of production and a tighter and more realistic storyline. However, for those who are into foreign movies that expose human emotions and are original – in the sense of an Indonesian student in Egypt and eventually marries a Muslim and a Christian – “Ayat-Ayat Cinta” may satisfy a different taste bud of yours.
On a lighter note, I don’t think any guy on earth would mind the headache of having Carissa Putri and Rianti Cartwright as wives. I personally …
OK, I have watched the Fann Wong’s “Dance of the Dragon” follows by “Ayat-Ayat Cinta”. Can you guess which one I am going to watch next? It’s so obvious!
PS. For those who are interested to read more on Islam, check out my book review of “Islam By Karen Armstrong – A Short History”.