''Love Story'' is a 2011

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

directed by

Hanny Saputra Hanny R. Saputra (born 11 May 1965) is an Indonesian director. One of his films, '' Under the Protection of Ka'Bah'', was Indonesia's submission for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in the 84th Academy Awards. Biography Saputra ...

. The film stars

Acha Septriasa Jelita Septriasa (born in Jakarta, Indonesia on 1 September 1989), known professionally as Acha Septriasa is an Indonesian actress, singer, and model of Minangkabau descent. Biography Acha Septriasa was born Jelita Septriasa in Jakarta, Indon ...

and Irwansyah.

Plot

Ranti (

) and Galih ( Irwansyah) are childhood friends whose destitute, isolated villages are separated by a river. A local legend states that the river arose when Joko Angin-Angin fell in love with the Moon Goddess and, when they were unable to be together, stomped his feet and cracked the Earth. A related belief is that persons from the separated villages who fall in love are destined to bring doom and disaster to their village. Despite this, Ranti and Galih share feelings for each other, and after completing his university studies in

Bandung Bandung is the capital city of the West Java province of Indonesia. Located on the island of Java, the city is the List of Indonesian cities by population, fourth-most populous city and fourth largest city in Indonesia after Jakarta, Surabay ...

Galih returns to the village to build a schoolhouse to help Ranti teach the village children. Soon after Galih begins work on the schoolhouse, disaster strikes. One of the village boys is killed when he falls in the river, and Galih and Ranti's love is blamed. The villagers attempt to stop him from working on the schoolhouse as a measure to prevent disaster, first by knocking over the

frame A frame is often a structural system that supports other components of a physical construction and/or steel frame that limits the construction's extent. Frame and FRAME may also refer to: Physical objects In building construction *Framing (con ...

he has built then by killing Galih's horse and destroying his cart. Ranti, meanwhile, is beaten by her father and locked in a room in the house. Despite this, Galih continues working on the schoolhouse – even after he has fallen ill with

typhus Typhus, also known as typhus fever, is a group of infectious diseases that include epidemic typhus, scrub typhus, and murine typhus. Common symptoms include fever, headache, and a rash. Typically these begin one to two weeks after exposu ...

– and Ranti escapes, trying to help Galih. When the building is nearly completed, Ranti tends to Galih and tries to convince him to rest so that his typhus can be cured. However, the villagers raze the schoolhouse to the ground. Galih continues to work, while Ranti continues to worry about him – despite her father becoming more and more severe. One day, when Ranti tries to return home after escaping again to take care of Galih, her father beats her into a

coma A coma is a deep state of prolonged unconsciousness in which a person cannot be awakened, fails to Nociception, respond normally to Pain, painful stimuli, light, or sound, lacks a normal Circadian rhythm, sleep-wake cycle and does not initiate ...

. When she awakens three days later, she rushes to the schoolhouse and finds it completed, with a

water wheel A water wheel is a machine for converting the kinetic energy of flowing or falling water into useful forms of power, often in a watermill. A water wheel consists of a large wheel (usually constructed from wood or metal), with numerous b ...

to provide electricity. With the villagers, led by her father, coming to burn it to the ground again, Ranti looks for Galih and finds him collapsed on a pier. He tells her to connect the electrical cord from the water wheel to the schoolhouse and, when she does so, the lightbulb flashes on and gives pause to the would-be attackers. Galih dies of his typhus in Ranti's arms as she cries. Ultimately she is able to use the schoolhouse to teach. Her love story with Galih, meanwhile, is passed from generation to generation.

Cast

as Ranti * Irwansyah as Galih * Henidar Amroe as Ranti grandmother * Reza Pahlevi as Ranti dad * Maudy Koesnaedi as Galih mom * Donny Damara as Galih dad *

Reza Rahadian Reza Rahadian Matulessy (born on 5 March 1987) is an Indonesian actor, model, singer and director of Persian and Ambonese descent. He was Chair of the Indonesian Film Festival for the period 2021 to 2023. Early life He was born to an Iranian f ...

as Pengkor

Production

''Love Story'' was based on the Indonesian folk tale of Joko Angin-angin and Dewi Bulan. It was directed by Hanny Saputra and filmed before

Ramadhan Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar. It is observed by Muslims worldwide as a month of fasting ('' sawm''), communal prayer (salah), reflection, and community. It is also the month in which the Quran is believed to have been rev ...

2010. Acha Septriasa was cast for the role of Ranti, while her ex-boyfriend Irwansyah was chosen for the role of Galih. This is the third romance starring the two, after ''

Heart The heart is a muscular Organ (biology), organ found in humans and other animals. This organ pumps blood through the blood vessels. The heart and blood vessels together make the circulatory system. The pumped blood carries oxygen and nutrie ...

'' and '' Love is Cinta''; it is also expected to be the last. Although at first she worried that the chemistry between the two would be awkward, they were able to settle into a professional relationship; she later described their current status as being "like brothers". Irwansyah's then-girlfriend and later wife Zaskia Sungkar was onset at times, such as during a kissing scene mandated by the script.

Themes

According to producer Chand Parwez, ''Love Story'' is a story of forbidden love, However, it does not touch on the theme of religious differences; instead, it is meant to show that love is worth fighting for. Saputra says that it is also a commentary on

globalization Globalization is the process of increasing interdependence and integration among the economies, markets, societies, and cultures of different countries worldwide. This is made possible by the reduction of barriers to international trade, th ...

, as Indonesia is seen as being at a crossroads, with some adhering closely to ''

adat Alesis Digital Audio Tape, commonly referred to as ADAT, is a magnetic tape format used for the Sound recording and reproduction, recording of eight digital audio tracks onto the same S-VHS tape used by consumer VCRs, and the basis of a serie ...

'' and others going with the "modern" lifestyle.

Release and reception

''Love Story'' received wide release on 27 January 2011, with Septriasa and Irwansyah also providing vocals for a soundtrack album. A review for

21 Cineplex PT Nusantara Sejahtera Raya Tbk trade name, doing business as Cinema 21 or 21 Cineplex is the largest cinema chain in Indonesia, serving 65 cities in the country. It was founded on 21 August 1987 as Studio Twenty One. Since its founding, 21 Ci ...

noted that fans of Irwansyah and Septriasa's early collaborations would enjoy it.

Notes

References

;Footnotes ;Bibliography * * * * *

External links

* {{IMDb title, 1860276, Love Story Indonesian coming-of-age drama films 2010s coming-of-age drama films Indonesian teen drama films 2010s teen drama films 2011 drama films 2011 films Films scored by Melly Goeslaw Films scored by Anto Hoed Films directed by Hanny Saputra