The Wilful Sunflower

I recently saw Puteri Gunung Ledang (The Princess of Mount Ophir), a locally-produced movie with the much-touted budget of $15 million*. It's the most expensive movie ever made in Malaysia, based on the local legend of -- surprise, surprise -- the Princess of Mt Ophir, recorded in Sejarah Melayu (The Malay Annals).

Unfortunately History was always my weakest subject and I never read the Sejarah Melayu, so I only vaguely remember the story. I did however vaguely remember something about the Sultan (king) of Malacca wanting to marry the Princess, her outrageous demands and the Sultan's reluctance to accede to her final request -- a cup of his son, the Crown Prince's blood.

Thank goodness for the Internet, and Google. Some searching turned up this account of the legend, and another slightly different version. Turns out the Princess had demanded the Sultan build two bridges, one of silver and one of gold, from Malacca to the peak of the mountain. In addition, she specified the hantaran (dowry or wedding gifts): seven trays of mosquito hearts, seven trays of the hearts of mites, a jar of juice from young betel nuts, a jar of tears from virgin maidens and a cup of the Crown Prince's blood. Good gracious.

The movie itself differs from the legend proper by making Hang Tuah, Lord Admiral of Malacca and one of the Sultan's most trusted warriors, the Princess' love interest. It sees the characters torn between duty and love. The Princess happens to be a princess of the Majapahit kingdom (in Indonesia) whose marriage with another king would seal an alliance between their two countries; Hang Tuah's first duty is to his king and to carry out his sovereign's wishes.

So you can imagine how both parties feel when the Sultan decides to marry the Princess and sends Hang Tuah to present his formal proposal to her. The rebellious Princess has fled from her country to Mt Ophir, which is located at the Malacca-Johor border, refusing to marry the ruler of Demak (also in Indonesia) because she loves Hang Tuah. As a result, Demak, feeling slighted, attacks Majapahit and the Majapahit ruler goes to the Sultan of Malacca for help. It is decided that the Sultan will marry the Princess instead. And it's Hang Tuah's job to tell her the happy news.

There was a bit too much melodrama in this movie for my liking, and things progressed very very slo-o-o-o-wly. Also, I was totally confused in the first half coz I didn't know whether I was seeing flashbacks, the present, or dreams/imaginings. The movie seems to jump between these three types of scenes and it's hard to figure out what actually happened and what didn't.

Also, what's with all the telepathy going on? It was really hilarious when the Princess "appears" to her brother, the ruler of Majapahit, and argues that she has a right to pursue her own dreams of happiness. The ruler's aides look totally baffled as he gestures to thin air and seems to be carrying on a conversation with himself. And then later, in the Mt Ophir forest, Hang Tuah also communicates with the Princess through telepathy.

Not to mention all the display of kuasa sakti (magical powers)... the fight scene between Hang Tuah & the Majapahit ruler looked like something out of a clich馘 kung fu (Chinese martial arts) movie, the Princess' transforming herself into a hideous old woman was just weird, and sending tree roots to twine themselves around the men's ankles was not very imaginative (besides damaging to the mens' dignity -- the roots pulled them up to dangle them in the air).

This is the first local production I've seen, so I've nothing to compare it with, but quality-wise it seems to be pretty good. Still, one could wish for less two-dimensional characters, especially when it comes to the Sultan and his wife, Tun Teja.

One of my colleagues is appalled that I actually paid money to watch this movie because the film crew apparently damaged the Batu Gangan permanent forest reserve in Gunung Brinchang, Cameron Highlands, while filming there. Reports say more than 15 trees were felled, moss was stripped off tree trunks & the trail, and among others, orchids & pitcher plants were damaged. EnfiniTi Productions production and location manager Razaq Sahib was quoted as having said it would all grow back, a rather callous attitude to take since the moss, especially, is said to be the result of thousands of years of growth.

Meanwhile, World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) says the film crew left behind props used for filming, such as wooden boards, artificial vines still taped to trees, bamboo branches stuck into the ground and the morning glory creeper. WWF's spokesman notes that the morning glory creeper is now growing in the area; this is a concern coz the creeper may colonise and strangle other trees, and therefore is a threat to the fragile mossy forest environment.

So much controversy and so much hype. My housemates asked how the movie was, and I said, "Okay-lah." Only "okay"? Well, yeah. Just "okay".