definitely below my expectation.I warned you before you continue reading, that this is definitely not a ‘good-movie-you-can-give-standing-ovation’ ending of review. curious? press continue reading!
Since I read the book by Habiburrhaman el Shirazy, I imagined the settings and the actors inside the novel so vividly that the movie brings me down as I realized that the way they realized the novel is way too far from the way it should be. let alone all the difficulties they have to film this movie, as tearfully written by the director in this multiply, i felt that the problem is not on whether you are making ot in Cairo or some corner of Gunung Kidul. i felt it really does not THAT matter. but the scenario, the way the actors presents the novel is faaaaaarrr… away from the general interpretation.here are some things that DOESNT necessarily related to ,you know, budget-constrain-problem-so-we-cannot-give-the-best-setting reason. Sorry a lot of spoilersย ๐ย check this out:
1. I dunnoe that Fahri is a careless person, so careless that he had his computer broken by a virus and had no back up of it. what i know about him is that he was a mature guy with great understanding of his self responsibility, had all his things planned well, and always ready for every task he had.
2. Well, before i watched this movie, I thought that Fahri is a kinda conventional moslem guy *those brothers typeย :D* who will not let themselves so closely * i mean physically* affiliated with particular girls, especially those without hijab. but i see him here is so freely walking together with maria -and fahri sometimes walk behind her also- and let maria wander around their flat, having two-people discussion and so on. ok, maybe i wrongly interpreted him ;(
3. again, fahri is sooooo… little boy in this movie.he’s indecisive, irresponsible, and look more like a high school metropolitan guy who act innocent while attracting many girls. haizzz..I think that his flatmate whom-i-forget-the-name is much more ‘fahri’ than fedi nuril. the fahri i know will not stare at girls no matter how beautiful they are *not with some fahri staring foolishly admiring the beautiful eyes of Aisha ;(*
4. Aisha is not portrayed well also. I can say Rianti is physically suit her but not doing good job in representing her personality. She doesnt try to hold her hubby’s honour in front of other *yosh, remember the scene where she take out her credit card and pay the whole dinner?* well, the real Aisha will cover her hubby’s weakness *in this case financially* and this is nicely portrayed in the novel in which she insisted that her hubby took one of her credit cards and let him control the financial of their life. he understood what’s inside her hubby’s mind and eagerly offered to share that weight with her.
5. Aisha is a calm, intelligent, and wise. yet..well, i shouldnt talk too much but just cant help to be sorry for the ‘perfect future wife’ image which fell down right in front our feet when we were watching it in the cinema
6. by the way, as far as i remember, nurul is a kind girl, polite and intelligent. she loved fahri but not crazy about him *so crazy that she stalked the picture and write those scary words.*haizz… hallo, arent you supposed to be al-azhar girl?
7. if the fahri image is just the one depicted in the movie, why should all those girls came after him? he’s not special anyway, there are more guys as ordinarily as him. the kindness is not underlined, the strength is not shown, so what this guy’s good for except for the fact he’s good at what he learns and able to use it to answer questions? and why are those girls so crazy about him till they chase after him? well,,,this is not a good portrait of a good girl in moslemย ๐ฆ
ok, dun wanna prolong this complaints. i’ve just spent myself time waking up till 4 am in the morning curiously watch what others suggesting me to watch. and i suggest you, if u dun read the book, pls dun watch. u may not able to chase the pace of the story and went blank during the show. but if you have read, i also suggest you not to watch, cuz u may be disappointed. just like me.
Saya setuju sekali dengan pendapat kamu..movienya memang tidak memuaskan hati sama sekali..saya mula tertanya-tanya, bila cerita ini akan berakhir saat saya menontonnya..jauh berbeza dengan novelnya..
so sorry to hear that.
aku sendiri belum membaca bukunya, karna nggak paham ttg islam&kemasyarakatnya.
tapi aku penasaran skali, dan kenapa beberapa blog justru memujinya sbg film yg paling mutu -pdahal dari cuplikannya aja aku bisa menduga, nasibnya mgkn akan sama dg karya hanung lainnya : remake badai pasti berlalu.
poor hanung.
waktu mau nonton, aku sih nggak terlalu peduliin apakah film ini ntar mesti sama spt novelnya. nah seabis nonton, gw bisa bilang sih film ini dah bagus banget. cara pengambilan gambarnya udah artistik, soundnya juga dah mantep. kombinasinya kadang2 bikin suasana gimana gitu…
@ all: thanks for the comments. as i’ve stated earlier, it’s my personal comment for the movie. as we may be expecting different sides of the movie, it’s common for us to differ in this matter..
my personal concern is not about the artistic side of the movie, nor about the setting blablbla which may be explained with certain amount of budget. my concern is about the personality of the actors presented in the movie, not the story plot itself. you can make up a story super different with the novel, cut paste here and there and still it works if you keep the personality of the characters untouched. it works for others. harry potter for example. is the story the same? no.they cut a lot but still, it’s ok. cuz you know that harry you know from the novel is the same harry you see in the movie. the personality of the characters are kept constant.
while in this movie, you are like looking at certainly different, strangers. if that’s not said to be inspired by the novel, just use another title! it’s not realizing the novel, the characters are using the name given by the author but the personality is not of any similarities at all.
more sensitive issue is that it shows some improperity of figuring certain religion behavior. too far away shifted from the idealism that the novel brings..
-dina
According to me, this is kind a nice story. Not yet read the book, but i feel the ‘story’ inside the movie.
I think read the book first will poisoning you to judge that the movie is not so good, you know guys, each readers can have theirs own imagination while reading the book, and maybe its diffifult to satisfying your all imagination ๐
At last, this is a great movie. and tonight ‘ll read the novel after downloading it now.
Film Ayat-Ayat Cinta, Ketika Idealisme Bertemu dengan Realitas
Dunia perfilman Indonesia kembali diramaikan dengan film bernuansa religi. Judul film tersebut adalah "Ayat-Ayat Cinta". Sebagaimana judulnya, film ini diangkat dari sebuah novel yang sangat terkenal yaitu "Ayat-Ayat Cinta". Novel t…
Hi,
I haven’t watch the movie yet, but since I watch the ‘Behind the Scene of Ayat2 Cinta’ I already get dissapointed that the Shooting place is not in Egypt, and too many shoot inside the room, but once again, thats the effect for finding less budget, and from frame by frame I saw that so many scene taken too dramatic in situation environment-Ithink. I already read the Book, and I really-really enjoy reading it-it is one of my fav. book, it gives me the great affect to be more close to GOD, and make me amazed to every character that Habiburahman build. I’m agree for your opinion about every character’s personality, that in the novel, they all really great. Some say that it is because in the movie its kind a hard to build the same elements like in the novel. Your quite smart in giving your opinion. However, this movie has become a box office for local movie in Indonesia, it can attract so many people from teenage ’till old persons from all religion. Actually I’m still curios about the movie, and I will watch it when I got time… then maybe, I’m gonna able to give my other opinion about this movie… bye. Salam
saya ada sedikit tanggapan mengenai film ini seandainya kita tidak membaca bukunya. sebetulnya saya heran kok Aisha bisa mau nkah sama si Fahry orang baru ketemu di metro dan ngobrol sedikit tentang islam. sama sekali tidak ada penggambaran kenapa si AIsha itu harus menikahi Fahry.
apalagi setelah menikah Fahry itu ternyata orang yang gampang panik dan seenaknya perintah perintah istri sambil teriak teriak. ingat adegan ketika Maria sakit? Fahry berteriak ke Aisha “cepat panggil suster!” kenapa bukan dia sendiri yang panggil?
penggambaran Mesir pun sebetulnya biasa aja. masih kurang menggambarkan suasana Mesir. walaupun hal ini tentunya karena shootingnya di lakukan di Indonesia. tapi walau bagaimanapun berarti ini kegagalan produser dalam menghadirkan suasana Mesir. film mengenai Mesir kan gak harus di shot di Mesir.
selain itu. sebagai film cinta, film ini cukup bagus lah, lumayan bisa menghibur dengan cerita yang enak tanpa harus ala AGB AGB-an. sebagai film islami, ya film ini sama sekali tidak menggambarkan keislaman. masa adegan talaqi mau di bilang adegan yang islami? apalagi talaqinya cuma apa adanya. masa adegan Fahry menceramahi orang di metro mau di bilang adegan islami? apalagi ceramahnya gak kena ke tujuan alias si Fahry di tabok. masa adegan sholat bersama kedua istri mau di bilang adegan islami? ini sih di banyak film juga ada.
tapi salut untuk Hanung atas tekadnya menyelesaikan film ini. apalagi dengan produser dari MD entertainment. masih untung filmnya selesai dan ada sedikit adegan talaqi serta sholat, gak melulu adegan ABG cium ciuman dan nangis nangisan.
Halo Bunga Pinus?! Really… though I don’t know who are you, but here I say that ur opinion is same like me, may be ‘coz we know about AAC-novel with a lot of “hikmah” in it. I’m not a fan of this novel, or its writer, But I always try to care about Islam improvement, our princip about everythings that always complet in Islam rules. So that’s why, I’m very dissappointed eith that film! That film show focusly : CINTA-CINTA (in fahri’s life, and arround him), but in novel show beautifully : AYAT-AYAT NYA(the basic of Love is Allah). Really sorry I must say that AAC-Film made for “Selera Pasar” & especially to increase its producer’s money, This is not Islamy… Majority story are very different with this novel, (like u have said) characters of Fahri, ‘aishah, maria, etc… not like that! Wish Allah SWT open their heart who have made Ummah Islam so shy with this film. barokallah…:)
Hi there! Saya blm baca novelnya jd tdk tau spt apa bedanya buku dan film,tp mnrt saya filmnya termasuk bagus utk ukuran film Indonesia, blm ada film Indonesia yg layak tonton spt AAC, yg sudah2 paling crita ttg horor,hantu2 ngga jelas, atau paling cinta2 para abg yg sptnya begitu2 aja. Tiap film pasti ada kekurangan, jgn selalu melihat jeleknya aja,mas hanung & smua yg terlibat di film sdh berusaha maksimal utk mewujudkan film ini, jgn protes aktor/aktrisnya ga bagus, memangnya mudah utk berakting?? Mrk kan bukan mr/ miss perfect, apa yg sdh mrk lakukan di dpn kamera ya itulah kemampuan mrk, jgn berharap berlebihan, lagipula mrk mgkn blm sempat membaca novelnya jd mrk akting sesuai interpretasi mrk thdp arahan director.Kalau anda ngga suka dgn film ini ya itu hak anda, tp knp anda menyarankan org utk tdk menontonnya?egois sekali anda ini..tiap org punya pendapat dan selera masing2, saya sm sekali tdk kecewa menonton film ini. Film selalu ngga sebagus novelnya, begitu jg harry potter, cuma mgkn harry potter produk luar negri jd anda lbh memujinya. Saya bangga Indonesia ada film bermutu spt ini, lepas dr kekurangan2 yg ada saya tetap memuji film ini,kalau msh blm puas ya anda coba buat film sendiri aja, jd bisa merasakan bgmana susahnya membuat film
hi, long not checking it, thx for dropping by ๐
@obes: well, ya, maybe we have different imaginations while reading the book. but, the writer’s description of the characters are not ambiguous. they are not painting, where colors may have different saturation. and i believe, a good movie will catch that stability.
@deni : haha… are you ready to watch it? ๐
@ramadhani : well, i dun really care bout the setting honestly. but i think asma nadia also complains about the same thing ๐
btw, i still say thanks God I dun see the scene where they dance in the park beneath the trees ๐
@ mbak riry: the same disatisfaction i felt over it.
@ ochi: as i have warned you from the beginning, this is not wow-a-good-movie-you-should-give-standing-ovation kind of review. you missed my point, dear. i am not complaining about the actresses, actors, settings, or anything such technical ๐ i complain about the shift of the characters’ personality. u see, i take harry potter as example not cuz it’s foreign film but because this adaptation movie is also heavily copy-pasted here and there BUT maintain the personality of the characters as those known by the readers. and i do know how difficult how to make a movie. i do. ๐
Pokok nya Ayat-ayat Cinta Ok Banget deh….
ya memang Hanung mau buat karakternya beda .. so what ? kalau novel setebal itu dijadikan durasi film yg ga nyampe 2 jam itu apa yang bisa diharapkan ? Hanung skenarionya saja ngebutzz diawal, baru setelah fachry masuk penjara konfliknya bisa dinikmati ..
novel itu lewat kalimat2 yg ditulis memicu terjadinya konflik cerita di pikiran masing-masing orang. tapi di film konflik itu harus ditunjukkan dengan akting, belum lagi alur logika urutan scene-scenenya …
film itu harus menyediakan adegan konflik, memorable scene, dst dst maka aisha yg begitu santun di novel, jadi pecemburu di film mungkin malah karakter ini yg benar krn aisha turunan jerman … truss adegan sungai nil itu … meski mungkin dikritik tidak islami, ya inilah film komersil, klo mau laku ya kaidah2 yg mungkin tidak tertulis harus terpenuhi
tanpa pengubahan2 ekstrim dari novelnya, aku yakin malah akan banyak kekakuan, mirip dokumenter keislaman semata, dan ya memang kondisi audience Indonesia begitu suka hal-hal yg romantis, tragis, dan ajaib ๐
mungkin sih, klo mau bagus lagi filmnya dibuat dengan benar2 tidak mengikuti urutan cerita di novelnya, misal langsung cerita ekstrim diambil dari sudut pandang Maria … total cerita tentang kehidupan Fachri di mata maria … jd “beban” harus islami tidak ada kesan dipaksakan.
anyway … good opening lha buat perfilm-an Indonesia, kita lihat apakah Ketika Cinta bertasbih difilmkan dengan sutradara baru bisa lebih heboh dari AAC ๐
@ anggi: seems like we are from different stance ๐
@ b’ sigit:
sadly, yes bro. this is where idealisms are not marketable
and thus distracting idealism is still considered ‘alright’ in order to get profit. u know, i kind of hate the way hanung dramatically pictured that he decided to make the movie solely for the idealism while the fact showed the opposite..
Hi there,
I came to your blog by accident and found that you’ve written a review of the movie ‘Ayat-ayat Cinta’. I thought what you wrote as a true fan of the book was interesting.
But coming from someone who DID NOT read the book and watched the movie, I can safely say that many others (like me) will definitely find this movie to be brilliant as it is -so imagine how brilliant it will be to us upon READING the book and engaging with the actual characters!
I understand it is very difficult for movies which are ‘novel adaptations’ to please its readers (e.g. Da Vinci Code -I hated the movie, LOVED the book.. or Harry Potter films), I guess that’s why I prefer to watch ’em first and then to read the books. That way, I won’t have that high of an expectation :)..
But again, thanks for the review. Makes me wanna get that book fast!
[…] I thought it was a great film. Of course, those purists (i.e. those who have read the book, like this person) will grind the movie as unworthy. But let’s talk about it from someone who sees it as a film […]
Pokoknya ayat-ayat cinta , is the best,,,
namun sayang, FFI 2008, tidak memasukkan satu pun nominasi film ini di berbagai kategori, Deddy Miwar bilang box office belum tentu berkualitas,,
sudah jelas ini film berkualitas
i love you anyway
Wah…thanks for your review. It will helps me finishing my assignment. Thanks a lot.