Movie Review : 99 Cahaya di Langit Eropa

Spoiler Alert!!!

Title : 99 Cahaya di Langit Eropa (99 Lights at the Sky of Europe)

Authors : Hanum Salsabiela Rais & Rangga Almahendra
Country : Indonesia

       

The Encounter

One of my senior in Germany told me about this film back during the middle of 2013. Honestly, I only want to watch the movie because the trailer looks interesting. I've search a few times for online upload of the movie but the result was disappointing. Alhamdulillah, when I suddenly decided to search for it last month, I immediately found it!

The Synopsis

This film, which an adaptation from a novel with the same title tells a story from 2 different perspective about Muslim and Islam living in Europe. One side of story tells about a man named Rangga which trying to adapt his believe and practice of Islam into a society which pretty much couldn't care less about religion. The other perspective tells a story of Hanum (wife of Rangga) learning new things about Islam in Europe.

My Review

The movie was far from I expected. I cried, I'm touched seeing how accurate the situation I'm having with here in Germany. Since the movie pretty much take place in Vienna, Austria I could understand German language. At first, I thought the movie is just like other cliche islamic movie I've watched. I was totally wrong. It is better! I like how the story is arranged which somehow contribute a little to the awesomeness of the movie.

The message of the movie went straight into my heart. I somehow ashamed of how my behavior for the past few years dealing with non-muslim. It was wrong of me to expect them to understand my situation but instead I, the ambassador of Islam should explain it and make them understand. If I were to summarize the whole movie in one sentence, I would say : The movie tells us how to be the best ambassador of Islam.

One of the reason I like the movie so so much is how they enhanced each of the character. 4 characters gave me an impression of "I know the same kind of people!" feeling. The characters are :

1. Rangga, an indonesian muslim trying to balance his study and life while at the same time adapting Islam to it
2. Khan, a muslim (closed friend of Rangga) who thinks He should throw aspect of life and just focus on Islam when the two of it conflict with each other
3. Stefan, a friend of Rangga who always make fun and questioning Islam
4. Fatma Pasha, a turkish muslimah who experience a few hardship as a Hijabi

From each of this character, I learnt a lot about Islam especially on how to deal with non-muslim and how to balance islam and our life since Allah forbide us to ignore any one of it and just focus on one aspect. Which means, Allah ask His believer to excel in both life and aspects of Islam while making Hereafter and His Blessing as our ultimate goal. Other important thing that I learnt is smile and kindness is the best way dealling with the hatred toward Islam and Islamophobia.

I also learn a lot about the history of Islam in Europe. I know that Islam contribute a lot to Europe especially during the Dark Ages of Europe. But I never knew the trace of Islam is still left in present time. Some of unexpected place even pop out during the movie relating the place with Islam which left me only to say "Oh, I see!" with full of amusement and awe. Although I already visited all the places mention in the movie, I somehow want visit it again but this time I bring with me my new knowledge and feeling.

My Conclusion

This is a must watch movie especially for any muslim living in non-muslim country. The movie help renew myself and I'm quite sure it will help you too.

Rating : ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

P/s : The movie has a sequel coming out on March 2014! It's 99 Cahaya di Langit Eropa 2.