My take on NKTM

I watched the dvd before I watched the series in completion but after I watched a few condensed videos of the series some fans put up at youtube. So I have formed an expectation going in. And perhaps that is the cause of my unhappiness with the movie. 

A scene filmed at Wadi Ram, Jordan

Warning. There will be more negativity after this. I sincerely apologize. But I have to be honest. 

*SPOILER ALERT*

Nur, Adam and Aidil looked the same, but they seemed distant from the characters of the series. Granted the movie picked up six years after the series ended, and granted the characters have lived their lives over time, thus the changes. But Nur and Adam couldn't have given up their architectural career to become volunteers, right? Or were they still architects? No hints to that at all. 

The movie was depressingly dark. And I was watching it in my living room. In a cinema, I imagine the effect would be more enveloping. The scenes were short and did not linger, and sadly the dialogue so sparse, that left me with little to enjoy. I think the dialogue in the series was one of the key factors that made it a phenomenon. Moreover, I felt forced. Forced to laugh and to cry. The comedy sequence when Adam became over exuberant with Nur’s pregnancy failed; it was too cliché; it's something you’d find in a Hindi movie.  I couldn't muster a chuckle. 

The scenes of joy were brief as the movie was filled with sadness and melancholy. Poor Nur, she still could not find happiness after all this time.The direction was focused on pulling at your heart strings. I did cry a little  when Aidil slumped to the floor in grief, but that was about it.The rest of the time, I was numb.   

With regards to the new characters, I felt zero connection. The inclusion of the troubled youths was solely for the lead-in for the organ donation plot later. Was it the heart or spleen? By the time I got to that part, I was beyond caring.  

My biggest problem was with the ending. At the start of the movie, we believed that Nur and Adam were living in the current time frame, i.e 2011, 2012. And the movie ended with Nur aged and Adam gone; in what year would that be?  2042? 2050?  So, why is the set still look the same? The house, the padi field, the TREE? 

I felt old and tired as they rolled the credits. 

The main players

Am I disappointed? YES, big time. I wish the director and writer have not put a seal on the story. I wish they had done what Richard Linklater did to "Before Sunrise" and "Before Sunset". The possibility of a sequel or sequels will keep the fans excited and CURRENT. Besides, just imagine the money potential of those sequels. So sayang!

I did get some of my money's worth from  “The Making of Nur Kasih” video that was included in the DVD that I watched it twice. I don’t know when I will re-watch the movie. It still pains me. Thank God for the series.

Update: I am watching the series for the 3rd time this year (27/10/12) and am still delighted with its brilliance. So I am going to pretend this movie never happened!