Ahad, Julai 18, 2004

Puteri Gunung Ledang: Ain’t no mountain high enough

petikan The star Online 18 Julai 2004
How do you go about making a movie that has become the costliest ever in Malaysian film-making history? PHILIP GOLINGAI finds out from the director and producers of Puteri Gunung Ledang.

EPIC. Ambitious. Authentic. In the movie world, these words are dangerous. Dangerously expensive, that is.

But that was what Enfiniti Productions wanted when it decided to make a movie based on a popular local legend set in the 15th century. In order to come up with an epic that was ambitious and looked authentic, the company set aside RM7mil for its maiden effort.

When word got out, that princely sum – the biggest ever for a local production – stunned the industry and public. Many months later and poised for an August 26 release date in cinemas, Puteri Gunung Ledang (PGL) is indeed the most expensive movie ever made by a Malaysian production company. But it’s not a RM7mil movie but a RM15mil blockbuster.

That’s a lot of money when you consider that typically, a local movie costs only RM800,000 to RM2mil. Recent so-called big budget films – Embun and Paloh, costing about RM3.5mil each – were government-funded.

Director Saw Teong Hin in discussion with M. Nasir who plays Hang Tuah, Tiara Jacquelina, as Gusti Puteri Retino Dumilah, and her husband, Datuk Effendi NorwawiRM15mil is also a staggering figure if you compared it to the total box office takings of all 10 Malay movies screened in 2002, which was about RM18.5mil.

But that is the price of ambition. The prime movers behind PGL, executive producer Datuk Shazalli Ramly and producer Tiara Jacquelina, who also plays the central character, were determined to have a product that offered a fighting chance at winning international audiences too.

“We didn’t want to make a movie just for the locals. That is shiok sendiri (pleasing oneself). You will not go anywhere with it commercially. We need more eyeballs and Malaysia, with only 500,000 cinema-goers, would not be sufficient. We want to screen the movie world-wide,” says Shazalli.

Tiara Jacquelina adds: “It will pave the way for Malaysia to be on the world map of filmmaking.”

And the man they entrusted with the job of spending all that money to create that desired masterpiece is director Saw Teong Hin, who takes pains to point out that, hey, it wasn’t all that much if you compared it to Western-made blockbusters.

“RM15mil sounds like a lot of money. But given the film we were trying to make, it is not. Everybody just looked at the figure and said ‘Oh, so much money.’ But we had to achieve a lot with that RM15mil. Look at Troy – it costs about US$200mil (RM760mil) to make.

“A lot of people have jumped to hasty conclusions. If you use your common sense and think about – period drama, 15th century – it means you have to build your sets from scratch and create your own costumes and that takes money,” says Saw.

He insists confidently that movie-goers will understand and appreciate the level of technical expertise that went into PGL when it is released.

“It is equivalent to a standard Hollywood film which, regardless of whether you liked it or not, would have very high production quality and good sound and special effects.

“If you use that as a benchmark, (PGL) comes close to that. So at US$3.9mil (or RM15mil), to be able to do an epic drama is an amazing achievement. Because even an independent, small character-driven film in America would cost about US$5mil to US$10mil.”

Saw reveals that they strove to get the best they could for PGL: “We did live sound with no dubbing, we had actual construction of the sets, we did CG (computer graphic) in 2K resolution because most local movies using CG do it in (lower) TV resolution quality.

The replica of a 15th century Malaccan Palace that was built from scratch by a crew of builders and craftsmen from India.For the sake of authenticity, director and producers refused to take shortcuts.

“We could have gone to the Malacca Museum (to film the palace scenes). But to the right, you would see electric poles and to the left were traffic lights.”

In the end, they built the set for a 15th century Malacca palace.

Says co-producer Mini Purushot: “The sets were important. We could not just go to a shopping complex and shoot a scene there. We were showing Malacca’s golden era. So the palace had to be big and grand.’’

The task of building the sets for the Malacca Palace, a Majapahit Palace and the princess’ hut was the responsibility of production designer Haznizar Ithnin. But the grandest set was Malacca town, which had not just the palace, but a village, harbour, mosque and bridge. The location was an open area measuring 300m by 450m in a oil palm estate near Batu Pahat, Johor.

To ensure authentic and accurate depiction of 15th century structures, Haznizar spent two months researching the architecture by poring over books and visiting museums.

Enfiniti Productions also had to recreate authentic clothing for three cultures of that time - Malaccan , Majapahit and Demak. That required extensive research and creativity, says costume designer Mahyuddin Sidik.

“For example, Sultan Mahmud Shah’s outfit was based on my reading of books such as Sejarah Melayu and (extrapolating from) the contemporary garments worn by the sultans today,” he explains.

To illustrate the difficulty of making an epic, Saw uses the example of the scene where the princess of Gunung Ledang, Gusti Putri Retno Dumilah played by Tiara Jacquelina, leaves Java for Malacca.

“It was really, really difficult to do the sailing shot because we had a barge out in the sea with the cast, crew and cameras. Your timing must be right as you could not dictate which way the waves were going. And because we were shooting off Pulau Perhentian, we could not anchor the barge on the coral reefs so everything was adrift. We needed many days for a shot that lasts only about 20 seconds on the screen.

“That is why many people don’t do this sort of thing because it is hard. But I wanted to take up the challenge. To the producers’ credit, they shared my vision. They could have easily said ‘Forget it’ and they would have saved time and money.’’

The script also required scale. ``There is nothing that can replace scale,” explains Saw. For example, to do a war scene you need a minimum number of people (referring to the battle between the warriors of the Demak and Majapahit Empires).

``In the planning stage, we cut down on the number of extras to what we thought would be sufficient. But when we went to the site, it was amazing how the people were swallowed up so quickly by the space. So we had to add more people so that it did not look cartoonish.’’

The filmmakers had to recruit extras on the spot by going to different villages and telling the penghulus that they were shooting a movie and needed people in the scenes.

Adds Purushot, “We used more than 500 extras and that meant providing them with costumes, food and an allowance.’’

The war scenes also required 100 horses and riders, not to mention 50 children, 30 cows, 50 goats and 50 chickens – a veritable zoo!

“We had burning houses and stunt men on fire with six cameras rolling at the same time,” recalls Saw with relish.

Foreign expertise was brought too and the international crew included B.G. Magendran, the art director who oversaw the set building carried out by his team of skilled builders and craftsmen from India; Jason Kwan, the director of photography from Hong Kong and Purushot who was a television producer for Sun TV and Surya TV in India.

The filming took cast and crew to several locations all over Peninsular Malaysia including Tasik Kenyir, Cameron Highlands, Lata Kijang waterfall in Perak, Sungai Kesang in Johor and Pulau Indah in Selangor.

This is also the first time a Southeast Asian movie used digital intermediate (DI) technology. “With DI, film is transferred into (computer) data and we do the corrections – colour grading and visual effects – in that format before transferring it into film,’’ explains Purushot.

Over 20 minutes of visual effects, totalling more than 200 shots, were used in the 155-minute movie. For example, when Hang Tuah (M. Nasir) searches for Gusti Putri Retno Dumilah, he follows a trail of seven butterflies which are computer-generated graphics inserted seamlessly into the scene.

For the music score, the production house used live instruments. “Of course we could have done it with a synthesizer.

It would have been cheaper but we wanted to go as high quality as we could,’’ says Saw.

The film, which was shot in 94 days during a nine-month period starting in January 2003, has all the proportions of an epic. But Saw is quick to point out that it is “huge” not just for the sake of merely looking impressive.

“It is huge in a functional way,’’ he says, adding “when you see the movie, you will be surprised that it only cost RM15mil.’’

Let’s hope it’ll be a pleasant surprise for Malaysians and the rest of the world.

Wooing a princess

petikan The Star online 18 Julai 2004

IN a nutshell, Puteri Gunung Ledang is the tragic romance between the princess of Gunung Ledang and Hang Tuah, the famed Malaccan warrior.

But just who is Puteri Gunung Ledang?

“It is a very difficult question to answer,” says Zainal Borhan, Universiti Malaya academy of Malay studies associate professor. “The two texts that mention her are Sejarah Melayu (Malay Annals) and Hikayat Hang Tuah.

“In terms of literature she exists but the texts are mythical. There are no archaeological or anthropological evidence that suggest she was real,’’ he explains.

He adds that up to now the writer of Hikayat Hang Tuah, which was written in 1621 remains unknown. As for Sejarah Melayu, “we can only guess that Tun Lanang wrote it in 1612.”

Typical of folklore, there are several versions of the legend. In some, the princess is not even human but a fairy and that she continues to live on Gunung Ledang (or Mount Ophir, the highest peak in Johor) to this day.

The basic premise remains the same: She was a beautiful princess who made her home on the mountain, either to escape an arranged marriage or to withdraw from the world after her beloved husband died.

But her great beauty drew the interest of the Sultan of Malacca – sometimes identified as Sultan Mansor Shah (1456-77) but in the movie, it’s Mahmud Shah (who lost Malacca to the Portuguese in 1511) – who sent his warriors, including the legendary Hang Tuah, to ask her hand in marriage.

Although the legend has no hint of a romance between the warrior and princess, it becomes central to the movie.

But the part about the legend that is consistent and most memorable in all versions are her bizarre conditions for marriage: a gold and silver bridge from Malacca to Ledang, seven trays of mosquitoes’ hearts, another seven of mites’ hearts, a jug or barrel of areca nut juice, a barrel of tears, one cup of the sultan’s blood and one of his son’s.

The sultan fulfilled all but the last demand; he couldn’t bring himself to kill his son, which was the princess’ sly intention since she did not want to marry him.

In shaping the story, Puteri Gunung Ledang director Saw Teong Hin, scriptwriter Mamat Khalid and others visited Malacca Museum and Solo in Indonesia but found little help there.

“Either there were no texts from that era or they had been destroyed,’’ Saw says. ``But that gave rise to a very interesting situation because (historians and books) have very different views on the legend. Some say Hang Tuah went up the mountain, some say he did not.

That gave us room to improvise because there is no definitive version.”

Great expectations

petikan The Star Online 18 Julai 2004

IT’s not just the film-makers who are hopeful and excited about Puteri Gunung Ledang.

Dr Wan Zawawi Ibrahim, a professor at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia’s Institute of Malay and Civilization, for one, is rooting for a movie can stand on par with, say, Thailand’s best, the critically-acclaimed epic, The Legend of Suriyothai.

He also views PGL as a refreshing change from the 90% of Malay movies that are “like variety shows”.

Film studies and scriptwriting lecturer Hassan Mutalib, “really hopes this is going to be a film that will be noticed by the world like Akira Kurosawa’s Rashomon, which won the grand prize in the 1951 Venice International Film Festival.’’

Film critic Saniboey Mohd Ismail says many of the 16 movies released this year so far, like Bicara Hati and Bintang Hati, were very poor fare.

“Kuliah Cinta was also bad. But people wanted to watch that kind of stuff and it made RM4.1mil. I teach film-making in UiTM and if you are talking about aesthetics, that is not the kind of movie that you want to use as a good example of film-making. U-Wei’s Kaki Bakar has aesthetic value and it was shown in Cannes but Kuliah Cinta will not go anywhere outside Malaysia.”

Having seen PGL, albeit not fully completed then, at a private screening over two months ago, Saniboey is in a position to give his impressions: “Technically, the movie is one of a kind. I have never seen a Malay movie done like that. It is like watching Musa (the South Korean historical epic) - very serious and grand.”

However, Saniboey adds that he “could not feel the love between Puteri Gunung Ledang and Hang Tuah.”

Still, he believes the audience may overlook that aspect because they would be amazed by the film’s technical wizardry.

Dr Wan Zawawi, who also writes on Malaysian films, says moviegoers will look forward to PGL because it is the first big budget Malay movie. But he is unsure whether it will make money. He gives the example of Paloh, which was produced at RM3.5mil, but earned only RM142,645.

“The quality was good. But it was hard to understand as it played with themes that are not commercial. And Malaysian audience do not like to be challenged. They don’t go for thinking movies,’’ he says.

Executive producer Datuk Shazalli Ramly, the executive producer, is confident the Enfiniti Productions’ debut movie will make money.

He explains how the budget of RM7mil was increased 100%. “We increased the budget after I went to Rome in early 2002. Our original plan was to make a movie for Asean consumption – Malaysia and Indonesia – but when I was discussing the concept (in Rome) I realised that there was an opportunity for us to go for the international market.”

But that meant doubling the budget to give the director the means to improve the cinematography, which Shazalli says is key to a film’s success in the international market.

Enfiniti has worked out the math: it expects to recoup RM7mil from the box office takings in Malaysia and Indonesia. And the parent company of Enfiniti, Encorp Media Group, which has a controlling stake in ntv9, a television station, will use its contacts with television stations around the world to sell Puteri Gunung Ledang.

“I am in touch with 1,200 TV stations CEOs and if I can sell the movie for US$20,000 (RM76,000) to each station ... you do the calculation,’’ says Shazalli, who is also CEO of Encorp, adding that ntv7 spends RM80mil a year buying programmes.

“I bought an Iranian movie for US$20,000 so similarly somebody in Iran has to buy my movie now. It is an advantage for us to have a TV station.

“Malaysians have to understand that to go into something like this, you need a business plan. Our returns should not be based on the collection of one box office (in Malaysia). We are global now. And we can sell to the world the TV rights, cinema rights, VCDs and DVDs of Puteri Gunung Ledang,’’ he adds.

Right for the role

petikan The Star Online 18 Julai 2004

WHEN Tiara Jacquelina was looking for a director for the movie she was producing, she wanted someone who was a perfectionist.

She found that person in Saw Teong Hin, even though he had never made a film.

“(Mamat Khalid, the scriptwriter, and I) had a list of directors and we watched everybody’s work. Teong Hin had no film to his name but I have known him since I was a teenager when I was in the advertising circle,’’ she says.

The charismatic M.Nasir was the unamimous choice of the director, scriptwriter and producer for the role of Hang Tuah.And she knew that Saw was the “greatest fusspot’’ when it came to details. “I like that as it means that he is a perfectionist. It shows he has pride in his work,’’ she explains.

But her choice was criticised by certain quarters in the Malaysian film industry and by some Malay newspapers columnists. Saw’s race was questioned: He was a Chinese directing a Malay movie.

“It should not matter whether you are a Chinese, Malay, Indian or Eurasian,’’ says Tiara Jacquelina. “Sense and Sensibility (based on Jane Austen’s novel) was directed by Ang Lee (a Taiwanese). The Last Emperor was directed by an Italian.’’

Saw does not understand the thinking behind that controversy: “I am a Malaysian. I know the legend. I know the language. My position is: Why don’t you wait until you see the film and then criticise me if you don’t like it or praise me if you do,’’ says the director of award-winning music videos, short films and television commercials.

As for picking the cast, Tiara Jacquelina, Saw and Mamat all had their own wish list of who should play which character. But there were certain unanimous choices.

“When we thought about who could play Hang Tuah, we all said M. Nasir,’’ recalls Tiara Jacquelina.

But how did Tiara Jacquelina get the plum role of Gusti Putri Retno Dumilah, the princess of Gunung Ledang? The talk of the town then was that she got it – obviously – because the movie was financed by her politician/businessman husband, Datuk Effendi Norwawi.

“Yes, I wanted to play the character, “ explains Tiara Jacquelina, “but we never really set it in stone. We always said that if we came across a name that suited the bill better, then we would have the option to change.

“Later on, after I did much research to flesh her out, she became very interesting. I got to know her character so well that I got very attached to her.’’

Saw, on his part, says the question on many people’s minds was: Why her?

“My reply: Why not her? She is a very good actress (she won the best actress award in the 1995 Malaysian Film Festival for her role as Meera in Ringgit Kasorgga) and she is beautiful. And it is a great role that any actress would want to play. I didn’t see any reason why it should not be her. So that was that.”

As for the rest of the cast, Tiara Jacquelina says they got 90% of the actors on their list. “There was some people who were not on the wish list who turned out to be nice surprises. For example, when we could not fill the role of Sultan Mahmud Shah with the actor we wanted, we found Adlin Aman Ramlie and he has been wonderful. He is such a good actor,’’ she says.

Others in the Malaysian, Indonesian and Singaporean cast include Alex Komang (Gusti Adipati Handaya Ningrat), Datuk Rahim Razali (Bendahara), Christine Hakim (Bayan) and Sofia Jane (Tun Teja).

Jumaat, Julai 09, 2004

Filem Kita. Laman info PGL

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INFO berkenaan filem ini dari filemkita.com

Rabu, Julai 07, 2004

Tiara & M. Nasir - Impian dan harapan dalam PGL

Oleh TENGKU KHALIDAH TENGKU BIDIN
petikan Utusan Malaysia 6 Julai 2004

Tiara Jacquelina bukan perempuan biasa. Di dadanya ada impian, di bahunya tergalas harapan. Besar sekali cita-cita si pemilik tubuh kecil ini apabila bercakap soal cintanya kepada dunia filem tempatan, khususnya filem Melayu.

Sanggup melalui berbagai rintangan, semata-mata mahu memberikan satu hasil yang pasti mampu membuatkan kita tersenyum bangga dengan filem tempatan.

Filem Puteri Gunung Ledang (PGL) lahir daripada keinginannya untuk melihat anjakan paradigma dalam filem Malaysia dan seterusnya mampu membuka mata dunia luar.

``Puteri Gunung Ledang bertolak daripada rasa malu saya bila menghadiri banyak festival luar negara,'' kata Tiara membuka bicara tentang filem yang bakal dinilai penonton tempatan penghujung Ogos ini.

Menyambung bicaranya, Tiara menjelaskan, ``Negara-negara lain daripada dunia ketiga sekalipun boleh memberikan karya filem yang hebat, tetapi tidak ada filem seperti ini yang mewakili Malaysia.

``Kerana rasa itu, timbul azam dalam diri saya untuk menerbitkan sendiri sebuah filem yang mampu memberi kebanggaan kepada orang Malaysia,'' katanya.

Memang bercakap tentang filem, Tiara akan sentiasa bersemangat besar seperti mana besarnya jumlah wang yang telah dilabur kepada pembikinan filem arahan Saw Teong Hin ini.

Mungkin jiwa lakonan yang sudah sebati dalam dirinya menjadikan Tiara tidak berkira mengeluarkan bajet sehingga RM15 juta dan menjemput `kawan main' yang bukan calang-calang dari Indonesia seperti Christine Hakim, Slamet Rahardjo dan Alex Komang.

``Dalam diri saya ada kemahuan yang besar untuk melihat filem tempatan `gah' dan bersinar di rantau orang.

``Saya mahu tunjuk kepada dunia luar tentang kehebatan kuasa bangsa Melayu zaman dahulu kala dan setelah melihat hasilnya, saya sangat berpuas hati dengan pelaburan yang telah dibuat.

``Generasi hari ini akan dibawa ke zaman kesultanan Melaka yang cukup gemilang suatu ketika dahulu,'' katanya lagi dengan senyuman tidak lekang di bibir.

Filem berbentuk period movie ini akan mengangkat keunikan dan kehalusan dunia Melayu dengan menjadikan kegemilangan empayar kesultanan Melayu Melaka pada abad ke-15 sebagai latar utama.

Sejujurnya sebagai peneraju utama, apatah lagi judul filem itu sendiri menjurus kepada watak yang dipegangnya, bukan mudah untuk Tiara mempersiapkan diri muncul sebagai Puteri Gunung Ledang.

Selama dua tahun, Tiara mendedahkan semangat dan jiwa puteri Majapahit itu dalam dirinya.

``Saya sudah jadi puteri Jawa, bukan Tiara lagi. Hampir dua tahun saya membawa karakter itu, walaupun di luar waktu penggambaran, hanya kerana mahu benar-benar menghayati watak sebagai puteri,'' katanya lagi.

Lalu, apa lagi yang mahu dikatakan oleh Pelakon Wanita Terbaik Festival Filem Malaysia 1995 ini?

``Ini adalah masterpiece saya dalam lakonan,'' tegas Tiara berkali-kali yang merasakan tidak mungkin dia mampu melakukan aksi-aksi dalam filem ini untuk sekali lagi selepas ini.

Ini kerana, ``Belasan tahun dalam lakonan, inilah pertama kali saya merasakan kepuasan di tahap maksimum.

``Saya sudah memberikan yang terbaik dan mampu saya lakukan. Saya berharap agar orang lain juga berbangga sama seperti saya kerana ini filem Malaysia, bukan filem luar,'' katanya yang juga mempelajari tarian Jawa, belajar menunggang kuda, yoga dan silat untuk PGL.

Bercakap tentang filem Puteri Gunung Ledang tentu tidak lengkap tanpa pendukung watak Hang Tuah.

Semua orang sudah tahu Hang Tuah versi terbaru dan tentu ramai yang tidak sabar-sabar lagi untuk melihat M. Nasir dibuai alam cinta sekali lagi.

Filem ini menyaksikan buat pertama kali gandingan M. Nasir dengan Tiara.

``PGL bukan bercerita tentang Hang Tuah. Tetapi Hang Tuah adalah satu daripada perkara penting dalam hidup Puteri Gunung Ledang,'' kata Nasir yang semakin teruja untuk melihat sambutan peminat terhadap filem terbarunya itu.

Bagi Nasir, Hang Tuah adalah lelaki hebat yang melambangkan jati diri lelaki Melayu itu sendiri.

Membawakan watak sebagai panglima Melayu terbilang itu, kata Nasir, sudah tentu banyak percanggahan yang berlaku.

Lelaki yang masih memberi pesona di usia memasuki hujung 40-an tahun ini, turut bersedia kalau-kalau ada di kalangan orang Melayu sendiri kurang senang dengan beberapa interpretasi baru yang diberikan terhadap watak berkenaan.

``Memang ada timbul masalah dalam memahami watak, tetapi rujukan saya adalah pada skrip dan lakon layar filem ini sendiri.

``Banyak orang kata Hang Tuah perangainya begitu, begini tetapi tidak ada sesuatu yang tetap.

``Jadi saya kena lakonkan Hang Tuah ikut skrip yang telah diberikan dan sebagai pelakon, saya perlu percaya kepada lakon layar. Dalam soal ini saya rasa tidak jadi masalah sebab P. Ramlee pun jadi Hang Tuah yang wataknya telah digarap oleh pengarah India,'' kata ahli bintang Cancer yang baru menyambut ulang tahun ke-47, dua hari lepas.

Manisnya, Nasir juga diberi kepercayaan untuk mewarnai latar filem ini dengan muzik-muzik cukup indah hasil ilham terbarunya.

Isnin, Julai 05, 2004

PGL anjakan baru filem Melayu

Oleh Suraiya Mohd Nor
petikan Berita Harian 4 Julai 2004

PUTERI Gunung Ledang (PGL) bakal menganjak paradigma industri perfileman tempatan ke satu tahap membanggakan apabila ia disebut-sebut sebagai sebuah filem epik berwajah Malaysia yang mampu membuka mata ramai pihak.

Dengan memilih tema cinta yang bersifat sejagat, filem yang dijangka berjaya menambat hati penonton negara ini, bakal menyaingi filem box-office antarabangsa dengan keunikan lagenda kisah cinta antara seorang puteri dan seorang pahlawan Melayu.

Kisah berdasarkan cerita rakyat sememangnya lestari yang akan dikenang dan diceritakan kembali daripada satu generasi ke satu generasi. Begitu juga dengan PGL yang mengisahkan percintaan Puteri Jawa yang jelita dengan pahlawan Melaka, Hang Tuah yang berlatarkan kurun ke-15.

PGL mengungkap cinta terlarang antara dua insan. Ia berjaya dihidupkan menerusi set latar zaman berkenaan dengan menggabung jalinkan kisah sejarah, lagenda rakyat, diwarnai pula dengan unsur mistik untuk memperlihatkan kesucian cinta seorang puteri raja.

Kerana cinta dia sanggup meninggalkan negara kelahirannya untuk bersama lelaki dicintai. Tarikan filem sebegini memang tidak disangkal kerana unsur cinta adalah faktor global yang berjaya menarik penonton ke pawagam.

PGL agak dramatik kerana ia kisah yang dekat dengan rakyat negara ini berikutan elemennya adalah dari rantau sebelah sini. Namun ceritanya berbentuk sejagat.

Emosi yang cuba dibangkitkan PGL bermain dalam lingkungan bingkai sejarah dibandingkan dengan filem cinta blockbuster klasik seperti Titanic, The English Patient ataupun Romeo dan Juliet.

Dibandingkan dengan filem box-office antarabangsa lain, PGL menyerlahkan kelainan dengan kisah cintanya yang berbaur khianat dan tragedi, namun cinta itu terus kekal sehingga kini.

Cinta mendalam Puteri Gunung Ledang pada Hang Tuah diperlihatkan menerusi pengorbanan dan sumpahnya yang sekiranya Hang Tuah tidak kembali, dia akan datang padanya; berjalan di atas tanah yang dilaluinya dan menghirup udara yang disedutnya.

Sebagaimana cinta seorang artis, Jack Dawson (Leonardo DiCarpio) dan gadis ternama, Rose DeWitt (Kate Winslet) dalam Titanic, begitu juga cinta Puteri Gunung Ledang yang dibawakan Tiara Jacquelina dan Hang Tuah (M Nasir ) yang tidak dapat membebaskan diri setelah terjerat dalam perangkap cinta.

Meskipun tidak dapat bersama, kenangan cinta mereka terus segar dan diingat sehingga ke hari ini.

Dalam English Patient pula, kisah epik zaman perang ini memperlihatkan cinta tragik antara Count Almasy (Ralph Fiennes), seorang pelukis peta dan Katherine Clifton (Kisten Scott Thomas), wanita yang sudah bersuami. Hubungan cinta mereka memaksa Almasy mengkhianati orang yang mereka sayangi dan berakhir dengan tragedi.

PGL dapat disamakan dengan kisah cinta malar hijau, Romeo dan Juliet, nukilan Shakespeare yang sudah pun difilemkan beberapa kali sejak awal tahun 1900.

Percintaan yang amat mendalam ini cuba digarap pengarahnya Saw Teong Hing, biarpun hanya menerusi gerak laku dan sorot pandangan Hang Tuah dan puterinya.

Sekalipun, ia memaparkan kisah cinta, PGL mempunyai nilai sejarah yang berakar umbi sejak kurun ke-15 lagi. Ia kisah lagenda yang dekat di hati rakyat. Sebagai sebuah filem yang dibuat berdasarkan kisah sejarah, ia wajar menjadi bahan tontonan seluruh rakyat Malaysia.