Puteri Gunung Ledang

I was one of those people queuing up excitedly during Merdeka, hoping to enjoy the most expensive malaysian movie. Nonetheless, all the publicity in the newspapers, the huge banners along the roads, and a glimpse of the opening rehearsal in KLCC didn't amount to a good turnout. This movie, to some extent, failed to satisfy my needs as a viewer.

I have to admit that the settings for this movie is excellent and the costumes, though less extravagant in Majapahit terms, is very much compensated in the Malaccan palace. The yellow colour of the court is just marvelous. It stays true to the royalty of Malay courts at that time and the rich colour sort of signifies Malacca as the powerful Malay state. Gusti Puteri should have more accessories on her to signify her status as a princess. And perhaps Hang Tuah should have a more masculine colour on him like what the Bendahara is wearing.

Nevertheless, the movie is too long and viewers are put off by the lethargic movement of Gusti Putri. What I meant is that there is a difference between being graceful and slow. Being graceful doesn't mean you have to do everything in slow motion. Also, if some scenes are deleted it won't affect the storyline of the movie I think. Like the scene where Hang Tuah talked about Tuk Mudim or when Sabri Yunus joked about giving 'penampar Arab'. In the latter, the joke lost its purpose when told more than twice.

Gusti Putri did manage to show the theme of this movie; 'Cinta Agung', and she showed this in her willingness to sacrifice everything for Hang Tuah-by 'leaving her people behind' as Gusti Adipati suggested in their telepathic scene. Nevertheless, when Gusti Puteri is left alone with Hang Tuah, their scene is filled with (more) words when actions are more appropriate for two people madly in love. This movie can be a good portrayal of a great love story if only the characters aren't lacking vigour in portraying themselves as great lovers.

And the beginning of the movie, when Gusti Puteri is in the maze, which to me signifies confusion, is contradictory. How can Gusti Puteri be confused when she is very certain that she wants Hang Tuah and is willing to go to him? I also fell asleep in the middle of the movie when Hang Tuah was battling with Gusti Adipati. This should be one of the highlights in this movie but by this scene, I was already bored to death with the irrelevant scenes.

In a nutshell, this movie is too long, too wordy and some scenes are irrelevant to the title 'Puteri Gunung Ledang'.

I thought this movie was a good effort to move the Malaysian movie industry forward. Yes, it was abit slow paced, but at least it wasn't one of those stereotypical movies you had in the mid 90's. What I'm irritated about is the fact that you keep mentioning the fact that the bad movies are made by MALAY people and the movies are dominated by MALAY people. Whats your problem against the Malays? You're supposed to comment about the movie, no one cares about your involvement in the film,the fact that you're one of the musicians (big huge freakin deal) plus you're being a pure racist because you keep bringing up the point that despite the fact that the movie is made by a Chinese, its still slow moving. Are you trying to imply that it should have been better because it was made by a Chinese and if it was directed by a Malay , it would have sucked?! The oh-so rotten Malay movie scene? You mean MALAYSIAN movie scene don't you? Because other than Malay movies being made in Malaysia, we sure don't hear about Chinese people making movies in Malaysia, or do you? Why do you point out at the Malays so much? If you're going to post a comment about a movie, keep it real. No one wants to read your stupid racist comments or your minor involvement in the movie. Get over the race issue already and GROW up!

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 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!

Puteri Gunung Ledang the most highly anticipated movie of the year has finally decided to make its appearance. The film managed to fulfill the audience's expectation on it. Credits have to be given to all the crew of the film who I can see had been working very hard to ensure the movie's success. The setting, the cinematography, the colours, the background music complementing each other and thus deliver this movie to a class of its own.

Thumbs up to M.Nasir as the Lord Admiral Hang Tuah. He has given a different interpretation to the elusive Hang Tuah. His facial expression very much reflected the turmoil of emotions between his "cinta agung" and his loyalty to his Sultan.

Tiara as the beautiful princess of Mount Ledang has done her best to envelope herself into the character and she has done it well. The unspoken bond between the princess and Hang Tuah was clearly prevailed by her eyes, smile and gesture as they were united by the waterfall.

Overall, it is a good film and thumbs up to the script writer for the very poetic dialogue especially the dialogue between Hang Tuah and the princess when they expressed their undying love for each other. It is a sad love story and I couldn't help myself shedding a tear or two for the two lovers who had to endure so much for the sake of their "cinta agung"

Kudos to the whole production of Puteri Gunung Ledang!