Tenggelamnya Kapal Van Der Wijck is one Indonesian movie released in 2013 on the theme of love and cultural conflict in the 1930s. The story begins when a young man of Minang descent who lives and grows in Makassar, Zainuddin (Herjunot Ali) go to Batipuh, Tanah Datar, West Sumatra, in order to know the birthplace of his father and deepen his religious knowledge. Zainuddin's arrival was not well received by the villagers because of the history of Zainuddin's descendantwhose father comes from Minang and marries his mother who comes from Bugis. At that time, the structure of Minang people manages the ancestry from maternal lineage. However, Zainuddin strengthens his heart to remain in Batipuh, especially when he met a beautiful girl named Hayati (Pevita Pearce). After that, they fall in love and Zainuddin's descendant was again being the obstacle to their romance. Zainuddin was forced to leave Batipuh because their relationship deemed unfit. However, Â Zainuddin and Hayati promised to love each other.
The problems get bigger when Hayati proposed by a wealthy man of pure Minang descent, Aziz (Reza Rahadian). Forces by her family, Hayati accepts the proposal and breaks her relationship with Zainuddin. Zainuddin chooses to leave Minang island and ventured to Java island after his heart had been broken by Hayati. With his talent as a writer, Zainuddin managed to gain fame as well as material happiness. Meanwhile, the destiny between Zainuddin and Hayati did not necessarily stop. Inadvertently, Zainuddin again met with Hayati who has now become the wife of Aziz. As might be expected, their turbulent love then started burning again.
This movie is remarkable because each part of the story is described so smoothly. The characters of this movie successfully deliver a deep emotion to the audience. As usual, Reza Rahadian plays impeccably. When Herjunot Ali and Pearce Pevita still seen trying hard to turn their character, Reza Rahadian appears so easy in the figure of Aziz. Pevita Pearce also successfully demonstrated good acting skills. Although the character of Hayati still feels not so ripe, Pevita capable of displaying the figure of the girl who lived in the 1930s with the problem of conflict between tradition and her romance with a performance that will be able heartbreaking. However, the strongest performance in Tenggelamnya Kapal Van Der Wijck clearly comes from Herjunot Ali. Herjunot managed to give a pretty deep emotional touch to his character, reciting poetic dialogues given to his character well and makes the character Zainuddin was so easy to get the sympathy from the audience. Other acting appearances were quite a surprise present from Randy Nidji who recently made his acting debut though, but managed to give the appearance that is so convincing.
I recommend this movie because of its epic classy romance which is so hard to find in Indonesian movies in recent years. I give four stars to this movie. You have to watch this!
