A romantic Film with Islamic Touch

Title : Ayat-ayat Cinta

Starring : Fedi Nuril, Rianti Cartwright, Carissa Putri, Zaskia Adya Mecca, Melanie
Putria
Director : Hanung Bramantyo
Producer : Dhamoo and Manoj Punjabi
Distributor : MD Pictures
Date Release : February 28th 2008
Run Time : 160 minutes
Genre : Romantic
Language : Indonesia

Being started, the film of Ayat-ayat Cinta (AAC) taken from the novel written by
Habiburrahman El Shirazy directly reminded us to India films, either from its setting of
place or its romantic story. Although it's not spiced up with songs and staggering swinging
hips, we can feel and see a lot of similarity with the film coming from Uncle Thakur. The
surrounding displayed on this film impressed the symbol of India films. For instance, the
scenery of Nile shown when Maria (Carissa Putri) wrote her feelings toward Fahri (Fedi
Nuril), suddenly her nose was bleeding. It reminded us to one of the landscapes presented
in Kabhi Kushi Kabhi Gam. Another thing taking us back to the India film is the scenery
of the mosque dome where a bird alighted on its top. As like the India films in general,
the story told in this film is about the true love that is really dramatic, melancholic,
sentimental and full of conflict. Furthermore, the ending of the film can be guessed easily.
Does it have a meaning that the Egyptian culture is just as good as the Indian one?
The film tells about an Indonesian student of Al-Azhar University named Fahri.
He lives in a humble flat with some of his friends from Indonesia. Fahri is a figure of a
perfect young man who is good looking, kind-hearted, and clever. That's why there are a
lot of women falling in love with him. They are Nurul whose father is a Muslim leader,
Nourma whose step father is very cruel, Maria who is a Coptic Christian, and a Muslim
woman of Germany whose name is Aisha (Riayanti Cartwright). When Fahri decided to
marry Aisha, all of his admirers were broken hearted. Nurul cried a river in Fahri's
wedding party, while Maria got depressed seriously. The most serious one is Nourma. She
slandered Fahri and made him stay in jail with a severe sentence. The ending of the story
is easy to guess as like in its novel version, finally Fahri was set free out of the jail.
Seen from the story, the film of Ayat-ayat cinta has the romantic theme like the
other India films. However, it is spiced up with Islamic tone. Compared to the novel, the
film of Ayat-ayat Cinta is more striking in its romantic story than its Islamic essence. It is
different from its novel version that has more strong religious touch. In the beginning of
the film, we feel that there are many trivial things having pointed to the romance of
Muslim women. For instance, in the scene when Nurul (Melanie Putria) wrote "Lelaki
Tersayang" under Fahri's photo in her diary and while Fahri was having breakfast with his
friends, Maria was butting into discussion. It shows that the film has more tendencies in
lifting the theme of love story as like AADC or Kuch-Kuch Hota Hai.
The plot of the story in this film is not bad enough and about to be like in the novel
adaptation. However, the difference found in the end of the film makes the story
inappropriate. In the film, it is told that Aisha fled away from her house because of her big
jealousy towards her husband, while in the novel; she is described as a woman who
maintains her woman's honor and never talks cordially. According to the story of the
novel, this film should be an Islamic film with a romantic tone, not be a romantic film
with an Islamic touch.
The director, Hanung Bramantyo, is not careful enough in catching what the
interesting one in the plot of the novel is. The less exploitation of self-thinking of each
characters, brought the film looked like an ordinary one, added by romances and religions
everywhere. For instance, the character of Aisha that was glamour, over jealous, childish
and emotional looked very clumsy. Actually, the crucial thing of the story is how to show
the way of thinking of the characters about the life, love and their God. Bringing the self-
thinking of the characters will give a great impression to the movie lovers.
Although this film is not as good as the novel, it can bring us into the world of
Middle East which is attractive, exclusive and exotic. With a good line of plot, the film
can bring our emotion dissolved in the story. The other things that looked great are setting
of place and lighting. Despite the fact that the setting was taken in India instead of Egypt,
Hanung succeeded in depicting the beauty of Egypt that can mesmerize us as if in real
Middle East. We know that the director has tried hard to present the film by staying to
notice the religious principle. The shortcoming found in this film is a common thing since
the film is made to entertain us without losing the soul of the original novel.

8 By: Yuyun WU (06320027)

English Letters student (Fourth semester)