Puteri Gunung Ledang (film)
Puteri Gunung Ledang is a
2004 film based on a
Malay legend about a princess living on top of
Gunung Ledang and a
Malaccan sultan's effort to court her. Produced at a cost of USD $4 million, it was the first big-budget
Malaysia movie to date. The movie, starring
M. Nasir,
Adlin Aman Ramlee, and lead actress,
Tiara Jacquelina, was directed by
Saw Teong Hin and produced by
Shazalli Ramly.
Tiara Jacquelina won the "Best Actress" category at the 50th
Asia Pacific Film Festival.
Set in the late
15th century Sultanate of Malacca and the grand
Javanese kingdom of
Majapahit, against a backdrop of war and
mysticism, the movie is about the forbidden romance that blossomed between Gusti Putri, a
Javanese Hindu princess, and
Hang Tuah, the famed Malay
Muslim warrior from
Melaka. The historic Melacca was once one of the world's great trading ports, and the most powerful
maritime empire in
Southeast Asia.
History,
mythology and
fiction are fused to tell a fateful tale of forbidden love, in a time when
allegiance and
honor to country are foremost to personal desires.
Gusti Putri Retno Dumillah (Tiara Jacquelina), a princess of the
Majapahit Kingdom, has fallen profoundly in love with one of Melaka's most commanding and spirited warriors,
Hang Tuah (M. Nasir). A vivid dream compels the Princess to commit the unspeakable, and leave her assigned palace life. Without the consent of her king, she sets sail across the open seas, with the unflinching hope that she can be reunited with her one true love.
Soon after the princess' parting, the Majapahit Kingdom is attacked by the powerful Javanese Kingdom of Demak. Desperate to quell the invasion, Gusti Putri's brother and King, Gusti Adipati Handaya Ningrat (Alex Komang), initiates a plan to offer his sister's hand in marriage to the Prince of Demak. Her absence renders this solution impossible. The King's only hope for security is to forge an
alliance with the mighty Melaka Sultanate by offering his sister's hand in marriage to
Sultan Mahmud Shah of Melaka.
The Sultan accepts. But the Princess is unable to bring herself to do this as she could not bear to be his queen. The Princess instead offers to marry the Prince of Demak. The indignant Sultan will not accept the rejection, nor will he be publicly humiliated. He plots to marry the princess at all cost.
Hang Tuah is ordered to head the royal delegation, and proposes to Gusti Putri on behalf of the Sultan. The warrior devotedly leads the
convoy up
Gunung Ledang in search of the woman he deeply loves. The Princess attempts to curtail their advance, but eventually yields to Hang Tuah's appeal.
After a fleeting and tender reunion, the
Princess is painfully aware that her beloved's foremost duty is that of a warrior. Despite confessing his love for her, Hang Tuah will not forsake the Sultan's wishes. Brokenhearted, she agrees to marry the Sultan on the proviso that he is able to fulfill seven prohibitive conditions:
* A bridge made of pure gold from Melaka to Gunung Ledang;
* Another bridge made of pure silver from Melaka to Gunung Ledang;
* Seven trays (
dulang) of the hearts of mosquitoes;
* Seven jars (
tempayan) of the juice of young
betel nuts (Note: Young betel nuts do not have juice);
* One jar (
tempayan) of tears;
* One bowl of blood from the Sultan himself; and
* One bowl of blood from his fondest son, Sultan Ahmad.
When the Sultan learns of the Princess' prohibitive conditions, he is even more determined to marry her. But alas, even as he finds that he can fulfill the first six conditions, he cannot fulfill the seventh by delivering the blood of his son.
*
Legend of Gunung Ledang*
Mount Ophir*
Hikayat Hang Tuah*
Official website
