The Malay Chronicles: Bloodlines

The Malay Chronicles: Bloodlines
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
Release dates
  • 10 March 2011
Running time
 110 minutes
Country Malaysia
Language Malay
English
Mandarin
Budget RM 8 million
Box office RM 6.5 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. Released in Malaysia under the Malaysian language title 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 aim of the making of this film was also an attempt to introduce the history and culture of the ethnic Malays internationally. This film was produced and distributed by KRU Studios.

The budget for this film is estimated at around RM8 million, the second most expensive film ever made in Malaysia behind Puteri Gunung Ledang (which cost around RM16.6 million). This film uses CGI technology to save costs and to reconstruct Maritime Southeast Asia in 2nd century A.D..

This film was shown for the first time during a royal presentation on 25 February 2011. It was played in the cinemas nationwide beginning on 10 March 2011. It was released on Blu-ray in the United Kingdom on 23 May 2011. This is the first Malaysian language feature film to be released in the Blu-ray format.

Plot

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 the year 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 of 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 are 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 Merong had an 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 Khersonees. 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 wants the great magician's amulet of immortality. Taji kills the great magician during his sleep and led a small band of fighters to terrorise the villages and Taji also kills Merong's mother, Lang (Umie Aida). Embok was once raped by Kamawas during a raid and 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 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. Sultan Mudzafar Shah tells that Langkasuka was known as a great and proud Kingdom. The film ends with Merong pronounce a hero and the first king of Langkasuka.[1]

Cast

Release

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.

Following KRU Studio's attempt to screen the film worldwide, the film was shown for the first time during a royal presentation on 25 February. Despite the negative feedback by the critics, the film was screened worldwide to 69 countries.

The film was later aired in Astro First on 21 April 2011. The DVD was also released on the same day.

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 instead the original English title, The Malay Chronicles: Bloodlines.[2]

Home Media

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.[3] Its British release makes it the first Malaysian film to be released on Blu-ray.

Box office

Following its Malaysian release, the film grossed MYR 6.3 million at the box-office [4] (only in Malaysia) by the end of March 2011, making the film the most successful local epic film.

Promotion

A 30 minute program called Di Sebalik Tabir "Hikayat Merong Mahawangsa" (in English, Behind the Scenes "The Malay Chronicles: Bloodlines") was broadcast on a Malaysian local network as a promotion. The program showed various elements behind the scenes and also exclusive interviews with the cast and the crew.[5]

References

  1. ↑ KRU, Studios. "hikayat merong mahawangsa". Retrieved 12 March 2011.
  2. ↑ Play.Com - Clash Of Titans: The Battle For Asia. Retrieved 25 April 2011.
  3. ↑ Play.Com - Clash Of Titans: The Battle For Asia. Retrieved 25 April 2011.
  4. ↑ KRU Studios surpasses initial target from 'Hikayat Merong Mahawangsa' movie . Retrieved 11 April 2011.
  5. ↑ Di Sebalik Tabir "Hikayat Merong Mahawangsa" on YouTube. Retrieved 25 April 2011.

External links