Ayat-ayat Cinta: A romantic Indonesian movie, beautifully executed

Ayat-ayat Cinta is an Indonesian movie about Fahri, a college student at Al-Azhar Islamic University, and his shortly portrayed but fruitful adventures in life and love. Along the way he’ll meet several pretty and not-so-pretty girls Maria, Aisha, Nurul, and Noura; and what’ll happen? Let’s just say that I think this is really a must watch movie!

Unfortunately, I’m too lazy right now to write something original, so I’ll just let these nice guys (or gals? 😉 at The Jakarta Post do the job for me:

The main character, Fahri (Fedi Nuril), is believably sincere in a too-good-to-be-true manner, which unsurprisingly attracts not less than four women during his stay and study in Cairo, Egypt. They are his college mate Nurul (Melanie Putria), whose high-profile family makes Fahri feels inferior; Noura (Zaskia Adya Mecca), a hapless victim of domestic violence who turns against Fahri; Maria (Carissa Putri in a somewhat mind-bogging dubbed voice), his jovial neighbor; and Aisha (Rianti Cartwright), who Fahri meets in very unlikely circumstances.

These four greatly different women, each with their own desire to love and have Fahri, provide the film with a succession of grand events that verges on melodrama.

Of course, as a side note, criticizing a critic, like most so-called “movie reviews” do, that article also didn’t explain much about the story in the movie itself, as I think it’s the most interesting part of a movie review. Who doesn’t love stories?

Fahri, as it turned out… starts in the movie currently doing his thesis (or some sort of academic document, whatever). Then, his documents got corrupted. Luckily, he got some support from a cute girl named Maria, and (not very portrayed) his male friends. Let’s say that he doesn’t just get support, but also love, and you don’t have to watch the movie to guess that–I suppose.

Now, the problem is, Fahri happens to be a guy that’s too irrestible. Because of his willingness to help basically everybody, and sometimes Islamic idealism, he’s attracted several other girls: the girl he helped on the bus, Aisha; the girl he helped on the streets, Noura; and his female friend in college, Nurul. It’s a problem, indeed. Why? Because most of you guys would have a different problem: no girl. Fahri has a much more deeply rooted problem: Too many admirers, all of them women. Either way, it’s still a problem.

The problem gets worse after Fahri married just one of these girls, disappointed the other(s), got accused of raping one of the them, and then marrying another one of these girls in order to survive his crime charges!! What a convoluted plot. But I have to say it’s quite enjoyable for me, and I think you’ll like it too! 🙂

A little closing that will hopefully satisfy you movie critics rather than actual mortal readers: This is a beautifully orchestrated movie, from cinematics, picture, sound, actors, story, basically everything. Yet I do think that this movie is too unrealistic. It’s so out-of-the-world. I mean the setting, and the plot (it’s beautiful and weird at the same time,) and the actors and actresses. Come on, get some real foreign actors. Using Indonesian actors as a replacement for foreign people just doesn’t cut it, and makes me a bit annoyed. But that’s OK.

Another side note, is that I watched the movie in a near perfect setting, time, and I wasn’t late: I watched right from the very beginning to the credits. Although the cinema was extremely crowded, they unwittingly managed to get me the lucky seat, which is right in the middle center, and no seats in front of me, which means the only lip kissing I see is in the movie, not in front of me. Talk about maximum viewing pleasure! 🙂

Go watch this movie…

You may also want to view these links and materials related to Ayat-ayat Cinta:

• YouTube – Ayat-Ayat Cinta Trailer
• YouTube – Ayat – Ayat Cinta Trailer 2
• Film Ayat Ayat Cinta – Indonesia Matters
• Yunita Ramadhana Blog: Novel Review: Ayat-ayat Cinta
• Ayat-ayat Cinta — Gorgeous Inspirations
• Goresan Pena Yunita: Resensi: Ayat-ayat Cinta
• ‘Ayat-ayat Cinta’ survives heavy-handed treatment
• Ayat – Ayat Cinta = Ayat – Ayat Setan

P.S. My favorite quote in this movie? “Sabar dan Ikhlas. Itu adalah Islam!” (Patience and Sincerity. Those are what Islam is.)