Indonesia is currently experiencing a movie phenomenon not seen since the theatre-filled days of Titanic. That film sold more than three million tickets in Indonesia during its three-month run in 1997. But the locally-written and produced Ayat-Ayat Cinta is set to eclipse the box office any day now – and in under a month. The difference, this time, is that a very Islamic love story is front-and-centre of this new blockbuster.
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Speakers: Dr Ariel Heryanto, Indonesia program convener of the University of Melbourne; Amrih Widodo, Southeast Asia Centre of Australia National University; Professor Barbara Hatley, foundation professor of Indonesian at University of Tasmania.
CONNORS: The novel Ayat-Ayat Cinta, known as The Love Verses in English, was written by Habiburrahman El Shirazy in 2004.
It is a huge hit, having been reprinted 37 times with more than three quarters of a million copies in print.
Now, a movie of the same name by director Hanung Bramantyo is literally flooding the theatres with the nation’s youth and politicians alike.
Quite peculiar for any film, this modern Muslim romance has received the blessing of the conservative Islamist PKS party – whose chairman reportedly met its cast – and the country’s vice president.
But this isn’t just any film…
It follows the path of Fahri, who goes to Egypt to study the Koran.
The 27-year-old is pursued by four beautiful and very different women to choose a wife, eventually falling for the veiled, dark-eyed Aisha.
Their life is turned upside-down after Fahri is falsely accused of rape, with the only person who can prove his innocence being another of the women, Maria, literally dying of a broken heart after learning about his marriage.
Desperate to save her husband, Aisha begs him to take Maria, a Christian, as a second wife.
He does so reluctantly, then struggles to be fair to both wives.
As Doctor Ariel Heryanto, of the University of Melbourne, explains, Ayat-Ayat Cinta is a fresh snapshot of a young, modern Indonesian society.
HERYANTO: It’s definitely I would say typical of a lot of post-authoritarian societies. We used to be restricted and repressed in a number of ways, suddenly the censor cannot hold and a lot of energy is being unleashed in society in very chaotic wild ways.
CONNORS: One of the polarizing discussions which are going on, I’ve just been reading a lot of blogs and a lot of fan material, and a discussion is going on about the film that sometimes, some people are saying it’s too saccharine; some people say it deals too lightly with polygamy; some say it defends non-Muslims as in there’s a train scene with an American tourist. Are these contemporary discussions in Indonesia?
HERYANTO: This is not new at all, it’s happening in a number of pockets of the emerging culture and society at the moment now with all other issues from novels to other independent films, music and so on. So it’s not separate and new and isolated at all really.
CONNORS: Amrih Widodo, of Australia National University, is soon to present a paper on Ayat-Ayat Cinta at an international conference.
He says the impacts of new cultural leaders, such as the 31-year-old author and the 32-year-old director of Ayat-Ayat Cinta, are only starting to be felt.
WIDODO: The formation of a new generation of writers and producers of Islamic cultural product. I’m particularly talking about a group of writers which organised through this association called Forum Lingkar Pena. The writer of the “Verses of Love” is also a member. So you get a sense that you have a community of young writers producing this kind of product independent from what has been established previously. I think they will assert themselves as creating probably you can call it a new genre in which their writing is more dedicated to proselytizations. So I call them something like writing for God.
CONNORS: While Ayat-Ayat Cinta could kick-off a whole new discussion and ‘body of work’ addressing contemporary youth and Islam, there are some concerns, as Dr Barbara Hatley explains.
HATLEY: It’s a sign of a mature society when any kind of youth can be portrayed on the screen. I suppose the worrying part is when those views get pushed and used to push one view and impose it on another group in the society, and that’s what is the scary part.
CONNORS: Whether or not this is the beginning of a new instrument for religious instruction, or even a new cultural export – much like Korea used pop music to spread its culture – remains to be seen.
One thing’s for certain, Ayat-Ayat Cinta is a massive success for Indonesian cinema, and one that could finally sink the Titanic of Hollywood influence.
