Hikayat Merong Mahawangsa (atau The Malay Chronicles: Bloodlines untuk pasaran dunia,Clash of the Empires untuk pasaran United Kingdom) ialah sebuah filem epik/sejarah Melayu yang diterbitkan oleh KRU Studios dan diarahkan oleh Yusry Abdul Halim (dari kumpulan KRU).
The Malay Chronicles: Bloodlines Hikayat Merong Mahawangsa | |
---|---|
Directed by | Yusry Abdul Halim |
Produced by | Norman Abdul Halim Edry Abdul Halim Johan Lucas Amaludin Syukri |
Written by | Yusry Abdul Halim Amir Hafizi |
Starring | Stephen Rahman Hughes Jing Lusi Gavin Stenhouse Khir Rahman Craig Robert Fong |
Music by | Edry Abdul Halim |
Cinematography | Mohd. Nor |
Distributed by | Malaysia: KRU Studios International: Epic Pictures |
| |
110 minutes | |
Country | Malaysia |
Language | Malay English Mandarin |
Budget | US$2.2 million |
Box office | US$1.9 million |
The Malay Chronicles: Bloodlines (aka Clash of Empires: The Battle for Asia in the United Kingdom) is a 2011 Malaysian epic action film loosely based on the 16th century document Hikayat Merong Mahawangsa, which is also its title as released in Malaysia (Hikayat Merong Mahawangsa). The film is directed, co-written, and co-produced by Yusry Abdul Halim. Narrating the early history of the state of Kedah, it stars Stephen Rahman Hughes as Merong Mahawangsa, who escorts Prince Marcus Carprenius of the Roman Empire to Langkasuka to marry Princess Meng Li Hua from the Han Dynasty of China, thus uniting the two powers of East and West. The film was produced and distributed by KRU Studios.
The film was released to Malaysian cinemas nationwide beginning on 10 March 2011. The film won eight out of its 13 nominations in the 24th Malaysia Film Festival in the same year, including the category for Best Film.[1][2]
- 2Cast
- 3Production
- 4Release
- 5Reception
Plot[edit]
The story begins with a mysterious man writing about the history of an old Malay kingdom so that people would not forget the history of the early Malay heroes. In 120 AD, the powerful Roman Empire, under the reign of Hadrian, had expanded its rule to the Central Asian countries. During their time of expanding, the great Roman Empire agreed to create an alliance with the Han Dynasty by marrying their two prince and princess, thus uniting the two powers both the East and West. However, the Roman prince, Marcus Carprenius (Gavin Stenhouse), did not agree with the decision. Instead, he wants to be free and not be controlled by politics. The Han princess, Meng Li Hua (Jing Lusi), also wants to be free instead being a pawn in a political game.
The Roman fleet sails off from the coast of Arabia to the mysterious peninsula dividing the two great kingdoms. The Roman fleet is struck by a powerful storm, which causes the Romans to lose much of their fleet. They go instead to the coast of Goa. They are greeted by a local Goan dealer, (Mano Maniam), and later introduced to Merong Mahawangsa (Stephen Rahman-Hughes), said to be the descendant of Alexander the Great himself. Merong is preparing to duel against Sunder (Ravi Sunderlingam), a Goan nobleman who challenged him after finding out about Merong's illicit relationship with the nobleman's sister, Yasodharā (Deborah Henry). Merong defeats Sunder and Marcus is impressed by Merong's fighting skill. Subsequently, Merong agrees to escort Marcus to the peninsula while Lycius (Eric Karl Henrik Norman), the Roman fleet admiral returns to Rome and promises to return to Goa with a brand new fleet, carrying the payment in gold for the passage of the prince to the 'Golden Chersonese'. Merong is also promised a ship large enough for him to explore the known world.
Merong escorts Marcus to the peninsula and is greeted by the Chinese Admiral Liu Yun (Craig Robert Fong). Merong tells Marcus and Liu Yun that this peninsula was where he grew up and it is owned by several tribes. The night before the marriage, Meng Li Hua and her handmaiden, Ying Ying (Nell Ng) agrees to run away and begin a new life in the peninsula. However, Marcus follows Meng, resulting in their first meeting. The royal couple then grows closer to each other as they discover how they both have a common wish of being free from palace life. In the morning, The Chinese and the Romans are attacked by the pirate nation, Garuda. The Garuda leader, Taji (Wan Hanafi Su) uses black magic and sorcery before attacking to weaken their enemies. Meng and Ying Ying is kidnapped by Kamawas (Khir Rahman). Marcus tries to stop Kamawas but is stabbed and falls into the sea. Heavily outnumbered, the Chinese and the Romans are defeated. Merong, enraged by Marcus' apparent death, kills most of the Garuda fighters but is heavily injured and passes out.
Merong wakes up as he is getting treated by a tribe leader named Kesum (Rahim Razali). Kesum and Embok (Ummi Nazeera), one of the village's nurses treat Merong until he is well enough to fight again. Merong learns that Kesum and Taji were students to a once great magician and a brave warrior. Taji, wanting the great magician's amulet of immortality, kills the great magician during his sleep and led a small band of fighters to terrorise the villages. It was revealed that Merong's mother Lang (Umie Aida) was implied to be killed in the onslaught, which has since haunted Merong's dreams; while Embok was once raped by Kamawas during one of these raids. Consequently, Merong swore revenge to Kamawas. Kesum tells Merong of a prophecy that a great warrior will come and unite all the tribe into one kingdom and defeat the enemy. Kesum believes that Merong is the one. After hearing the prophecy, Merong becomes Kesum's student and begins uniting the tribes.
In the island of Garuda, Meng and Ying Ying are held captives for ransoms by Taji and Kamawas. Meng and Ying Ying manages to steal Kamawas a piece of the amulet of immortality. After Merong manages to unite all the tribes, they became one kingdom known as Langkasuka and began a new civilisation. Merong is then suddenly met by Liu Yen, Marcus (who was saved by Liu Yun and gets treated) and a small group of Chinese soldiers. Liu Yun tells Merong that they have to save the princess before she is killed. Merong is then given a ship full of mirrors by Liu Yun. As Merong prepares his fighters to invade the island of Garuda, Embok confessed her love to Merong.
Merong launches an attack toward Garuda in the morning. The Garuda prepared their ships and outnumbered Merong's fighters at least five to one. Merong revealed that he used the ship full of mirrors to create a similar weapon to the Archimedes Heat Ray and uses it to set all the Geruda ships and boats on fire (along with some of the men). Taji then uses sorcery to make storms and cover the sun with black clouds, rendering the weapon useless. After a heroic speech, Merong and his fighters launch an attack and land on the beaches. After a brief fight, Merong's fighters manage to take control the beach but another wave of Garuda fighters led by Taji came in to destroy the fighters. Merong's fighters fight to their death while Marcus confronts Kamawas, but Kamawas defeats Marcus easily. Before Kamawas could finish Marcus off, Liu Yen came in to stop Kamawas but is killed in the process. Most of Merong's fighters were killed. However, shortly after, A large fleet of the Romans and the Chinese, led by Admiral Lycius arrives on the scene and attacks Garuda, changing the tide of the battle. Merong arrives to save Marcus and confronts Kamawas. After a brief duel, Kamawas is finally defeated. Merong tries to kill Taji but is stabbed. Merong makes a sacrifice by taking the amulet off and pushing the sword forward, thus killing them both. Right after Merong dies, the Romans and the Chinese attack and finish off the last of the Garuda, ending the battle.
Many years after the great battle, it is revealed that the mysterious narrator is Sultan Mudzafar Shah, the first Sultan of Kedah writing about the history of Merong Mahawangsa in the Kedah Annals. The Sultan tells that Langkasuka was known as a great and proud Kingdom. The film ends with a flashback to Merong being pronounced a hero and the first king of Langkasuka.[3]
Cast[edit]
- Stephen Rahman-Hughes as Merong Mahawangsa.
The Roman delegation[edit]
- Gavin Stenhouse as Marcus Carprenius, Prince of the Roman Empire.
- Eric Karl Henrik Norman as Lycius, Admiral of Rome.
The Chinese delegation[edit]
- Jing Lusi as Meng Li Hua, Princess of the Han Dynasty.
- Craig Robert Fong as Liu Yun, Admiral of China.
- Nell Ng as Ying Ying, Meng Li Hua's close and personal friend
- Keith Chong as the Emperor of China.
Pirates of Garuda[edit]
The Garuda in the original tale is depicted as a gigantic bird-like creature whereas the film--due to limitations of the technology needed to recreate the bird--instead portrays it as a different entity, particularly a pirate tribe nation with its own island.
- Wan Hanafi Su as Taji, The leader of the pirate nation of Geruda. (The name Taji, meaning 'spur' or 'talon' in Malay, alludes to the Garuda.[4])
- Khir Rahman as Kamawas, Taji's student who kidnaps Princess Meng Li Hua. (His name is derived from the word mawas or 'ape', an allusion to Hanuman.[4])
The village people[edit]
- Rahim Razali as Kesum, a Malay medicine man who knew Merong since he was young.
- Ummi Nazeera as Embok, a nurse and also Merong's lover.
Other characters[edit]
- Hafizuddin Fadzil as Sultan Mudzafar Shah or Phra Ong Mahawangsa, the narrator of the story.
- Mano Maniam as the local Goan dealer.
- Ravi Sunderlingam as Sunder, the Goan warrior.
- Deborah Henry as Yasodharā, the wife of Siddhārtha Gautama.
- Jehan Miskin as Embi, the Malay warrior.
- Umie Aida as Lang, Merong Mahawangsa's mother as seen from a flashback
Production[edit]
Music[edit]
The film's music score was initially composed by Reza Ramsey and Yudi Ashady before they undergo re-arrangements to be played by the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Claus Peter Flor.[5]
Anuar Zain sings the theme song for the film, titled 'Sedetik Lebih', which was composed by Edry Abdul Halim.
Release[edit]
The first official trailer was released in October 2010. The production was completed several months later. KRU Studios later announced that the film would be screened in the cinemas on 11 March 2011.
This film was shown for the first time during a royal audience with the Sultan of Kedah, Abdul Halim Muadzam Shah and his family on 25 February 2011[6] prior to a nationwide release in March of the same year. A 30-minute making-of programme was broadcast on Malaysian TV station TV3 as part of the promotion, showing various elements of the production behind the scenes and also exclusive interviews with the cast and the crew.[7][8][9]
The film was later made available in the on-demand service Astro First on 21 April 2011. The DVD was also released on the same day. It was eventually released on the Blu-ray format in the United Kingdom on 23 May, becoming the first Malaysian made feature film to do so.
After its release in Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei; the United Kingdom was the next country to screen the film. The film was released there under the title Clash of Empires: Battle for Asia.[10]
Home media[edit]
Hikayat Merong Mahawangsa was released in the DVD format on 21 April 2011 in Malaysia. In the United Kingdom, the film has been released on Blu-ray and DVD under the title Clash of Empires: Battle for Asia on 23 May 2011.[10] Its British release makes it the second Malaysian film to be released on Blu-ray after Ice Kacang Puppy Love which was released in Hong Kong.
Reception[edit]
Box office[edit]
Following its Malaysian release, the film grossed MYR 6.3 million at the box-office [11] (only in Malaysia) by the end of March 2011, making the film the most successful local epic film.
References[edit]
- ^'Hikayat Merong Mahawangsa Filem Terbaik FFM24'. Utusan Malaysia (in Malay). Utusan Melayu (M) Berhad. 21 November 2011. Retrieved 1 March 2017.
- ^Begum, Mumtaj (18 November 2011). 'Mahawangsa triumphs'. The Star. Archived from the original on 19 November 2011. Retrieved 8 May 2012.Cite uses deprecated parameter
|dead-url=
(help) - ^KRU, Studios. 'hikayat merong mahawangsa'. Retrieved 12 March 2011.
- ^ abAmir Hafizi (13 March 2011). 'Isu Sensitif Hikayat Merong Mahawangsa: Garuda, Jentayu dan Nabi Sulaiman'. amirhafizi.blogspot.my (in Malay). Retrieved 29 March 2017.
- ^Goh Wen Xuan (21 May 2010). 'Orchestra backs Malay epic'. Cinema.com.my. Retrieved 28 May 2010.
- ^'Sultan Kedah bangga kisah Merong difilemkan'. Berita Harian (in Malay). 6 March 2011. Archived from the original on 4 May 2011.
- ^'Di Sebalik Tabir 'Hikayat Merong Mahawangsa' (Bahagian 01)'. 7 February 2011. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
- ^Di Sebalik Tabir 'Hikayat Merong Mahawangsa' (Bahagian 02), 7 February 2011, retrieved 11 July 2017
- ^Di Sebalik Tabir 'Hikayat Merong Mahawangsa' (Bahagian 03), 7 February 2011, retrieved 11 July 2017
- ^ ab'Play.com (UK)'. www.play.com. Archived from the original on 20 October 2012.
- ^KRU Studios surpasses initial target from 'Hikayat Merong Mahawangsa' movie . Retrieved 11 April 2011.
External links[edit]
- The Malay Chronicles: Bloodlines at the Internet Movie Database
Retrieved from 'https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Malay_Chronicles:_Bloodlines&oldid=908488294'
Hikayat Merong Mahawangsa in Jawi script
Hikayat Merong Mahawangsa (Jawi: حكاية مروڠ مهاوڠسا ), alternatively spelt Hikayat Marong Mahawangsa and also known as the Kedah Annals, is a Malay literary work that gives a romantic account of the history and tales of Kedah.[1] The work is thought to have been written in the late 18th century or some time in the 19th century.[2][3] Although it contains historical facts, there are also many incredible assertions in its accounts. The era covered by the text ranged from the opening of Kedah by Merong Mahawangsa, allegedly a descendant of Alexander the Great of Macedonia till the acceptance of Islam.
Summary[edit]
The beginning part of the story elaborates on the stories of kings and the founding of their kingdoms based on myths, legends or fantastical folk stories, whether its origins are indigenous or influenced by Hindu or Islamic elements. The annals tells of the forefather of all the Kedahan rulers, Raja Merong Mahawangsa; a king who not only has family ties to the King of the Romans but also the trust of the emperor's dignitaries.
The royal fleet of Merong Mahawangsa, on its way of sailing from Rome to China, was suddenly attacked by a legendary giant phoenix called Garuda. He crashed into the shores of what is now Kedah. There, he founded a state called Langkasuka ('Langkha' meaning 'resplendent land' in Sanskrit, while 'sukkha' meaning 'joy' or 'happiness') and became its king. He returned to Rome after his son Raja Merong Mahapudisat was enthroned. Langkasuka eventually changed its name to the Kedah Zamin Turan.
Guided by the advice given by his father, Mahapudisat would later divide the Kingdom into three; Kingdom of Siam to his eldest son, Kingdom of Perak to his second and Kingdom of Pattani to his youngest. The youngest son succeeded their father as King of Kedah with the title of Raja Seri Mahawangsa. Raja Seri Mahawangsa began the tradition of sending 'flowers of gold and silver' as gifts to the Siamese King every time he bore a son.
Raja Seri Mahawangsa dies of a broken heart upset with his son who was disobedient of the order. His son succeeded him with the title of Raja Seri Inderawangsa. Next in line was Inderawangsa's son Raja Ong Maha Perita Deria, also known as Raja Bersiong, or the Fanged King. When the king was overthrown by his subjects due to his wickedness, his son was enthroned with the title of Raja Phra Ong Mahapudisat. Phra Ong Mahapudisat was succeeded by his son, Raja Phra Ong Mahawangsa who later converted into Islam. Sheikh Abdullah Yamani Mudzafar changed his name to Sultan Mudzafar Shah.
The annals also describe the Chola Empire's trade relations with Kedah, where the Kedah Sultanate sends its tribute to the empire every year and after to the Siam. We still can find the antique and god statue of Chola Dynasty in Kedah. The Kedahan royal family that rules to this day traces their lineages back to Pahhra Ong Mahawangsa, and thus Merong Mahawangsa.
The descendants of Merong Mahawangsa[edit]
Below is the list of the eight rulers of Langkasuka, Merong and his descendants, according to the Kedah Annals:
- Raja Merong Mahawangsa: A ruler from Rome who later settled in Bujang Valley and founded the Kingdom of Langkasuka. He is said to be a descendant to Alexander the Great. He was a Hindu king. Merong had three sons, Merong Mahapudisat, Ganjil Sarjuna, and Seri Mahawangsa, and a daughter, Raja Puteri, who is the second youngest in the family. He was later succeeded by his eldest son, Merong Mahapudisat. Merong then left to Rome, leaving his son the ruler of Langkasuka.
- Raja Merong Mahapudisat: He became the king of Langkasuka after his father, Merong Mahawangsa went back to Rome. He was the eldest son. Legends say that he was also the first king of Siam.
- Raja Ganji Sarjuna: He was crowned king after his brother's death. He was the second eldest in the family. He founded the Gangga Negara kingdom.
- Raja Puteri (in English, King Princess): She became the King of Langkasuka after her brother Ganjil Sarjuna died. She is the youngest daughter in the family. She was also the first ruler of Pattani.
- Raja Seri Mahawangsa: He became the king of Langkasuka after his brother, Ganjil Sarjuna died.
- Seri Maha Inderawangsa: He is the son of Seri Mahawangsa. He was called 'Raja Bersiong' or the Fanged King because of his cannibalistic behaviour of drinking human blood. He was the successor of Seri Mahawangsa, but because of his behaviour, the ministers of the kingdom had no choice but to revolt against him. He fled to Mount Jerai, where he remained hidden for a long time and later had a son, who was called Phra Ong Mahapudisat. His son, unknowing of his royal lineage, lived in his mother's village before being called to the palace and had his identity revealed.
- King Phra Ong Mahapudisat: After Seri Mahawangsa's death, Langkasuka needed a successor that had a royal blood. Phra Ong Mahapudist was crowned king after his father's death.
- Sultan Mudzafar Shah, Phra Ong Mahawangsa: He was the only son of Phra Ong Mahapudisat. He was originally Hindu, but when Islam first came to the Malay Peninsula, he became a Muslim, changed his name into Sultan Mudzafar Shah, and the Kingdom of Langkasuka into the Kedah Sultanate.
In popular culture[edit]
KD Mahawangsa is a vessel of the Royal Malaysian Navy named in honour of the first monarch.
Raja Bersiong was a 1968 Malay-language film based on the legend of the sixth monarch and his alleged cannibalism.
A 2011 epic action adventure film loosely based on the myth was produced by KRU Studios also titled Hikayat Merong Mahawangsa (also known by its international title The Malay Chronicles: Bloodlines), directed by Yusry Abdul Halim.
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^R. O. Winstedt (December 1938). 'The Kedah Annals'. Journal of the Malayan Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society. 16 (2 (131)): 31–35. JSTOR41559921.
- ^'Hikayat Merong Mahawangsa'. Malaysia Factbook.
- ^Michel Jacq-Hergoualc'h. The Malay Peninsula: Crossroads of the Maritime Silk-Road (100 BC-1300 AD). Victoria Hobson (translator). Brill. pp. 164–165. ISBN9789004119734.
External links[edit]
- Hikayat Merong Mahawangsa - A manuscript at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
- Low, James (1849). 'A Translation of the Keddah Annals &c'. The Journal of the Indian Archipelago and Eastern Asia. 3: 1–23, 90–101, 162–181, 253–270, 314–336, 467–488.
Retrieved from 'https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hikayat_Merong_Mahawangsa&oldid=862397737'