Puteri Gunung Ledang (English: Princess Of Mount Ledang) is a 2004 Malaysian Malay-language epic period fantasy romance film directed by Saw Teong Hin. The film is based on the Malay legend of the Gunung Ledang princess, who is said to have lived on top of Gunung Ledang, and a Malaccan sultan's effort to court her. The film stars Tiara Jacquelina (who also co-produces it alongside Shazalli Ramly), M. Nasir and Adlin Aman Ramlie.

It was the first big-budget Malaysian movie ever made, with a production cost of US$4 million.

Development

Mamat Khalid pitched the original idea of creating a love story between the Princess of Mount Ledang and legendary warrior Hang Tuah for a television series called Hikayat. When Tiara Jacquelina heard his story, she stopped him from pursuing the project, insisting that the story was "too good" for television. The story was eventually expanded into a film project.

Filming took place over the course of 92 days spread over nine months. Meanwhile, Tiara had visited the Mangkunegaran Palace in Solo, Java to do further research to prepare her for the 'princess' role.

Awards

Puteri Gunung Ledang won five awards at the Malaysian Film Festival 2004 including best director, best screenplay, best art direction, best music score. Tiara Jacquelina won the "Best Actress" category at the 50th Asia Pacific Film Festival, as well as the "Best Producer" award at the inaugural Asian Festival of First Films in Singapore (2005).

This film was submitted as Malaysia's official entry for the 2004 Academy Awards but failed to be long-listed.

Adaptation

The Legend of Gunung Ledang is set during the rule of Sultan Mahmud. At this time, Hang Tuah was already an old man at the end of his career, for he had begun his royal service during the reign of

Sultan Mansur, who was Sultan Mahmud's grandfather. The film modifies this by making Hang Tuah still a physically capable man.

The most notable change to the film is that the original legend doesn't feature any romantic relationship between Hang Tuah and the Princess of Gunung Ledang. In some versions of the tale, Hang Tuah did not even make it to the peak of Mount Ledang, for he was already ailing in health. The man who made it to the peak and presented the proposal in Hang Tuah's stead is a young warrior named Tun Mamat. The Puteri was also never subject to any curse from the Sultan, for he was the one who rejected her, not the other way round as depicted in the film.

Relatively minor changes are that the Princess is a Majapahit human princess with supernatural abilities, while in the legend she is not of this world.

See also

  • Puteri Gunung Ledang
  • Puteri Gunong Ledang, 1961 film
  • Hikayat Hang Tuah

References

  • Puteri Gunung Ledang at Sinema Malaysia