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Jakarta Post

When love is challenged by traditional law

For local Batak people, preserving the culture and traditional values that have been passed down for generations is a must

Novia D. Rulistia (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Thu, April 18, 2013

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When love is challenged by traditional law

F

or local Batak people, preserving the culture and traditional values that have been passed down for generations is a must. The new film Mursala is a love story that depicts the challenges of doing so.

In Batak culture it is understood that people from certain clans cannot get married to those from certain other clans because they are bound by a traditional law called Parna. It is believed there are at least 70 clans that are the descendants of King Nai Ambaton.

Directed by Viva Westi, Mursala was filmed in Central Tapanuli regency in North Sumatra.

The 100-minute movie begins with the story of a Batak man from the regency, Anggiat Simbolon (Rio Dewanto), who lives in Jakarta and works as a lawyer.

When Anggiat visits his hometown to attend his sister'€™s wedding, his girlfriend, Clarissa Saragih (Anna Sinaga), gives him a surprise by coming to the wedding unannounced.

Because Clarissa is around, Anggiat tells his mother that he wants to marry her, but his mother tells him that he cannot due to Parna.

According to Parna, Simbolon and Saragih cannot get married because they are considered brother and sister.

Anggiat and his mother then meet with an indigenous leader to seek advice, hoping there can be leeway in the law, but to no avail.

Anggiat is told that if he insists on marrying Clarissa he will be ousted from the clan.  

But he keeps trying to find a way. He and his uncle, Bapa Uda, (Tio Pakusadewo), go to church to find out if it is possible to get married despite the law.

'€œBased on religious views, it'€™s fine. But it'€™s better to obey the traditional law because it'€™s part of religion,'€ said his uncle after consulting with a reverend.

Anggiat does not tell Clarissa about the problem, but she overhears his conversation with Saad Tanjung (Mongol), Anggiat'€™s best friend, about Parna.

Because Anggiat does not tell her what it is, she looks it up, and decides to slowly withdraw herself from him after she comes to understand the problem.  

Anggiat'€™s mother suggests he instead pursue a cousin, Taruli Sinaga or Uli (Titi Rajo Bintang), who is also Anggiat'€™s childhood friend.

Uli, who works as a coral reef conservationist, tells him that if she were in his shoes she would not want to be tied to traditional law, especially after her experience seeing the world during studies in France.

Apart from focusing on the love story and traditional values, many scenes in the movie show the natural beauty of Central Tapanuli.

Anna, who is also the executive producer of Mursala, said the film aimed to promote the regency'€™s tourism potential.

The title of the movie itself is taken from the Mursala waterfall located on Mursala Island in the regency.

The waterfall has become the tourism icon of the regency because it falls directly from a hill that overlooks the Indian Ocean into the sea.

The waterfall is also the background of a scene where Uli tells Clarissa the history of the waterfall. Uli says local people believe that the water is the tears of the devotees of a princess who dies after jumping from the hill into the sea because she does not want to marry a king.

Some of Clarissa'€™s lines in that scene turn out to have been ad-libbed, thus unfortunately ruining the lot.

And, there are several product placements in the movie that viewers should try to ignore.

Besides the waterfall, the film also captures other natural wonders of the regency such as breathtaking sunsets, white-sand beaches and underwater scenery that is part of Uli'€™s job as a coral reef conservationist.

Although the director seems to have left some scenes in the movie unfinished, Mursala allows the audience to have their own interpretation of the ending.

The movie also features Rudi Salam, noted lawyer Elza Syarif and the Central Tapanuli regent. Iwan Fals sings the soundtrack.

Central Tapanuli regent Raja Bonaran Situmeang said locals there still held firmly to traditional law.

'€œIt'€™s an unwritten law, but the Bataks still do that now, especially those living in the regions. But it is possible that in the future many people will not follow that traditional law anymore because they have been living in big cities,'€ he said during a press conference before the premier.

The premier at Plaza Senayan XXI in South Jakarta was also attended by Manpower and Transmigration Minister Muhaimin Iskandar, State-owned Enterprises Minister Dahlan Iskan and lawmaker Ruhut Sitompul.

Mursala will be out in cinemas today (April 18).

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