Di Bawah Lindungan Kaabah

PROLOGUE

The original's cover of the novel, as I remember it.
Taken from Idris Talu's blog wo permission,
with apology

It is one of Dr Hamka's darkest novel, much darker than Tenggelamnya Kapal van der Wijck, or any of the short stories in Di Dalam Lembah Kehidupan.

And it is the most expensive movie in Indonesia.

I read the novel when I was in primary school - heck, I read most of Dr Hamka's novels by then, so in a sense, when I was young, I lived and breath all his sad, and most melancholic of stories. Mind you, not all, were love stories, if you know what I mean. His story lines were more diverse than typical Malaysian novels, nowadays especially.

I tried looking for the novel in my library, but somehow I could not find it. It is not the thickest of Bapak Hamka's novel. In fact it is one of the thinnest, so it could be the reason I have difficulty in locating the movel. In my mind too, I believe I could finish the novel in less than one hour, and thought I should pen my thought for this entry after I had re-read the novel.

To me, while I was captured by the twist of fate of Tenggelamnya Kapal van der Wijck, I thought the fate of the two lovers in DBLK were worst off. While I was captivated by the described beauty of Sitti Nurbaya (by Marah Rusli, and her suffering in her forced marriage the old but rich Datuk Meringgih, I thought that Zainab suffered the most through her marriage to a man deemed more suitable than Hamid by her parents.

I am not sure why to be honest, just the way the stories was told from the two lovers' perspectives. May be because the two were too fragile in characters, that we have no choice but to drown our sorrow with them.

As I have mentioned, the novel is a bit too short for one to develop the characters and give it more depth - not unlike those of short stories, but then again it had developed to such an extend that I was aggrieved when Hamid was banished.

You should read the (love) letters between them - it is sad, and melancholy and they had basically given up on living. She had become a 'walking skeleton', someone devoid of life.

At least, that's how I remember her and the ending of her life.

I may be wrong, but without going through the novel, after 40 years, I can still imagine her agony. And I don't want to relive them, or in a sense, I even dread re-reading them!

Di Bawah Lindungan Kaabah - The Movie

Apparently, it was released in Indonesia last Lebaran and that it went to No 1 for 3 weeks. I would not have known about it had I not read the Jakarta's edition of The Straits Times. Apparently, it has been released in Singapore yesterday.

Apparently too, it is the most expensive Indonesian movie.

I guess I am not into movies nowadays and hence this escapes me.

So I am all excited and at the same time too, I have mixed feeling. I remember all too well reading the Count of Monte Cristo (Alexander Dumas) when I was in F2, and yet disappointed with the TV series, starring one Richard Chamberlain and totally disappointed with the movie version. I think somehow one can beat the novel version of TCMC - we were all left to our imagination then and I can many stories are best left to the imagination.

I can imagine him in prison trying to chisel open the wall in order to escape, and his friendship with Abe Faria. My heart beat faster as he sneaks in into the casket of his best friend, and escaped. I can only imagine the beauty of the girl who stole his heart, whom he eventually lost out due to his vengeful bitterness at the end of the novel.

How sad, I thought.

So I am all excited and at the same time too, I have mixed feeling. I remember all too well reading the Count of Monte Cristo (Alexander Dumas) when I was in F2, and yet disappointed with the TV series, starring one Richard Chamberlain and totally disappointed with the movie version. Yes, the TV version was a better one, and I thought Richard Chamberlain did a great job as Edmond Dante, but still it lacks the emotional punch from reading a novel. I think somehow one can beat the novel version of TCMC - we were all left to our imagination then and I can many stories are best left to the imagination.

We can only imagine the beauty of the leading girls in the novels (Sitti Nurbaya, Zainab and Mercedes), I don't think the leading girls in the movies would live up to my standard (of imagination). If they are beautiful in life, I thought that the girls in the novels are a hundred time more beautiful than the actresses in the movies.

But I am told that the sets for the movie (DBLK) are lavish, if not spectacular; from the authentic Minang  roofs in the village to the water-wheels, and the uniforms worn by the train operators in 1920s Sumatra. It should be real enough to me, and I hope to see a replica of the grand mosque in those era.

This movie can only live on in that era. Anything else would make a mockery of the novel by Buya Hamka.

It looks like movie set of an epic to me, to be honest, and for that reason alone, I would love to see the movie.

1920s Minang town. Love the scene, though it looks
like a bit unreal to me.

I wish they would leave the set behind and make living museum out of it.

A real working waterwheels in a Minang setting

Zainab - of course when I was younger, I thought
the Zainab in the novel is more beautiful than this actress. Sorry,
Laudya Cynthia Bella - you are pretty but you can't live up to Sitti Nurbaya's beauty for sure.

I am prepared to be disappointed in term of character development - I have to feel their pain for me to be totally absorbed in the story line and feel the pleasure of watching this movie - any movie, for that matter; and I do know many can't lived up to my standard,  but I think the set may make it for me - just may be.