Movie: Galih and Ratna - A Sweet Romance

Heya!

I'll be sharing on this Indonesian teen romance movie called 'Galih and Ratna' in this post.


Movie: Galih dan Ratna (Galih and Ratna)
Duration: 1h 52min

What's it about: Rich city girl Ratna meets to-be boyfriend Galih in her new school. They fall in love and try to save Galih's family cassette tape shop.

This is a very typical teen movie, and it has many cute moments of romance. I like that the story is realistic in the sense that it did not have a stereotypical happy ending. 

Ratna, our pretty main actress, plays a freewheeling Saggitarius that reluctantly moved from Jakarta.


Erlin squeals 'wo bu yao'! when paired with one of the guys in class.
She makes new friends in school, including an Instagram influencer called Erlin. Teens may find this relatable haha.

Her new friends tease her and introduce her to some guys in school. Who catches her eye?

Well, it must be the tall, dark and handsome Scorpio. Mysterious and brooding.


But he has no Instagram, which only adds to his appeal.


Galih's dad is dead and hence he helps runs the family cassette tape shop. He loves music and tapes. He's also on a strict scholarship program that helps pay his school bills, so he is often spotted studying really hard.


The beautiful cassette tape shop, Nada Music.



Our teens fall in love, with our bold Saggitarius Ratna making the first moves.


Galih picks up the signals quick and mostly um-chios to himself. Then he starts to make some moves of his own. Here's our teen couple on a motorbike ride as their love blossoms.


Galih expresses his interest in an ultra cute and traditional way - via an old school mixtape!

Ratna's cute face when she receives this 'confession'.


Our couple going through the honeymoon phase. Here's Ratna feeding Galih a french fry. LOL


Galih making funny faces to make Ratna laugh. It's a happy time.


They try to revive the shop to some success.


But surprise, surprise, they fight and kind of break up? A relationship needs to be based on trust, no matter how well meaning your lies are.


Galih's mum is disappointed in him. Very Asian.



Thoughts:
Galih and Ratna is a nice addition to music teen films such as Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist. It has a pretty good movie soundtrack, including a original theme song called 'Galih and Ratna' by GAC. (Gamaliel, Audrey and Cantika)

It's really funny because when the song played, my eyes lit up in recognition. That's cause I already heard the song years ago when the movie was released - I'm a fan of GAC!!! Used to watch Gamal & Audrey (siblings) on YouTube. They were soooo cute. I loved how the sister-brother duo made it so far now!!!! (Also, YouTube was so much simpler and wholesome then. Miss these no-production videos.)

Previously I didn't understand why they added Cantika to the group, but I'm glad they did because Cantika has a really deeper, smoother, and overall more mature and polished sound as compared to Audrey. This really adds depth and power to the group.

I guess cassette tapes were chosen for their nostalgic factor. Also, it is romantic to receive a mixtape, no? The funny thing is that its successor, the CD, is kinda on its road of demise too.

Overall, I'm gonna give it a 6.5/10, because the movie is rather predictable. At times, the pace can be plodding or draggy.

However, its a cute teen movie with many current references that may resonate better with younger audiences. Older audiences will enjoy the music selection and walk down memory lane.


Galih and Ratna is available on Netflix. Enjoy!

Love,
Skye

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