The Enlightener

The Enlightener (2010)

Sang Pencerah

Returning from Mecca, Darwis changes his name to Ahmad Dahlan as he is disturbed by the trend of Islamic laws in his society; that borders on heresy, Syrik (polytheism), and Bid’ah (wrong innovation). Using a compass, he proves that the direction of Qibla (that points to Mecca), in the Great Mosque of Kauman is wrong. The discovery angers every Kyai (Islamic experts), especially the head of the Great Mosque of Kauman, Kyai Penghulu Cholil Kamaludiningrat. Dahlan, who studied in Mecca for five years, is seen as a rebel upstart. Since the proposal of changing the direction of Qibla is rejected, Dahlan starts a movement calling for the change. On his first sermon as a preacher, Dahlan criticizes the habits of residents in his village in Yogyakarta: "In a prayer, only a sincere and patient heart is needed, it requires no Kyais, money, let alone offerings". As a result, Dahlan gets a hostile reception.

Date of release
2010-09-08
TMDB
7.0 / 10 (3)
Runtime
2h 3m
Genres
Drama, History
Director
Hanung Bramantyo

Casting

Interesting facts

  • Filmed in: Indonesia

Sang Pencerah is a 2010 Indonesian film directed by Hanung Bramantyo and starring Lukman Sardi, Zaskia Adya Mecca, and Slamet Rahardjo. It is a biopic of Ahmad Dahlan which describes how he came to found the Islamic organisation Muhammadiyah.

Production

The film announced in November 2009. It was directed by Hanung Bramantyo, a Yogyakarta-born Muslim filmmaker. Bramantyo, who had previously directed the Islamic-themed Ayat-Ayat Cinta (The Verses of Love; 2008), considered Dahlan his favourite national hero; he later told The Jakarta Post that he admired the kyai's spirit. He also said that he had been wanting to make the film since he was a teenager.

Bramantyo attempted to make his film as historically accurate as possible. However, as no documentation of Dahlan's life before he went to Mecca exists, the scenes showing Dahlan's youth were fictionalized. The script underwent 12 revisions before the film was completed. Much of the film's budget of Rp. 12 billion (US$1.3 million) was spent on costumes and sets to ensure accuracy.

Bramatyo cast his wife, Zaskia Adya Mecca, as Ahmad Dahlan's wife Siti Walidah — Mecca also served as casting director, in charge of auditioning the supporting cast. Before filming began, Mecca attempted to research the biographies of Dahlan and his wife, as she and the other young actors did not know much about the couple. However, she found such research difficult as the libraries did not have the information she needed.

Lukman Sardi, who played Dahlan, was also unaware of his character's historical biography before researching it; he noted that he was not very confident in playing the role. Indonesian Idol winner Ihsan Tarore was cast as the young Ahmad Dahlan, while the lead singer of the band Nidji, Giring Ganesha, was cast as Dahlan's protege Sudja; it was the feature film debut for both.

On set, Mecca, who was pregnant at the time of shooting, found her physical condition "perfect" for the role as Walidah had been a large woman. However, her pregnancy led to Bramantyo worrying about a potential miscarriage during a scene where Mecca had to ride a traditional carriage with wooden wheels, which shook violently when moving.

Read on Wikipedia · Text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Data from Wikidata.

Recommended