Dasima
| Dasima | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical poster | |
| Directed by | Tan Tjoei Hock |
| Produced by | The Teng Chun |
| Starring |
|
Production company | Java Industrial Film |
Release date |
|
| Country | Dutch East Indies |
| Language | Malay |
Dasima is a 1940 film from the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) directed by Tan Tjoei Hock and produced by The Teng Chun. It is the third adaptation of G. Francis' 1896 novel Tjerita Njai Dasima.
Plot
Winata and his wife Dasima often fight: Winata is often at work, trying to save enough money for their future, whereas Dasima feels he should come home more often. Ultimately this leads to them divorcing. Dasima is then attracted to Samiun and marries him. The relationship quickly sours. Samiun mistreats his wife and wastes their money, gambling away her jewelery. When Dasima makes signs that she wants a divorce and all of her money returned to her, Samiun hires a thug named Puasa to help kill her. They corner Dasima on a bridge, and she jumps to her death. Samiun and Puasa are soon after arrested by the police.[1]
Production
Dasima, produced by The Teng Chun for Java Industrial Film (JIF), was the directorial debut of Tan Tjoei Hock. They had discovered Tan whilst the latter worked as an unpaid assistant at a drama troupe which frequently performed at Prinsen Park (now Lokasari). Impressed, The asked Tan to join JIF.[2] Though Tan had never been involved in film, he accepted.[3]
Tan adapted the story for Dasima from G. Francis' 1896 novel Tjerita Njai Dasima, which had previously been adapted to the silver screen twice, once in 1929 and once in 1932. These earlier productions, both by Tan's Film, had been similar to extant stage versions of the story.[4] This production, however, was advertised as a "modern version" as it had been brought in accordance to more "modern" tastes.[5] As a result, there were several changes to the story,[1] including the removal of the term njai from the title,[3] a shift from a njai (a concubine) to an ordinary woman as the central character, and the removal of mystical elements present in the original work.[5]
The black-and-white film featured cinematography by WT Wei, with HB Angin as artistic director.[6] It starred S. Soekarti, Mohammad Mochtar, and M. Sani. It also featured S. Talib, Djaleha, Toehamsa, and Habibah.[1] Mochtar had been with Tan's since 1939's Alang-Alang. In these earlier films he had been partnered with Hadidjah as the romantic leads. Dasima was his first film without her; she was replaced by Soekarti, who had no previous acting experience.[5]
Legacy
The film was released in 1940.[1] Tan went on to become the most active film director in the Indies between 1940 and 1941,[3] directing nine films in the time.[7] JIF and its two subsidiaries, Action Film and Jakarta Pictures, released over a dozen further films before all were shut down following the Japanese occupation of the Indies in 1942.[8] Mochtar and Soekarsih acted in one further film together, a 1940 adaptation of Swan Pen's Melati van Agam, before Soekarsih left acting.[5]
The film is likely lost. The American visual anthropologist Karl G. Heider writes that all Indonesian films from before 1950 are lost.[9] However, JB Kristanto's Katalog Film Indonesia (Indonesian Film Catalogue) records several as having survived at Sinematek Indonesia's archives, and Biran writes that several Japanese propaganda films have survived at the Netherlands Government Information Service.[10]
References
- ^ a b c d Filmindonesia.or.id, Dasima.
- ^ JCG, Tan Tjoei Hock.
- ^ a b c Biran 2009, p. 209.
- ^ Biran 2009, pp. 99–100.
- ^ a b c d Biran 2009, pp. 242–43.
- ^ Filmindonesia.or.id, Kredit Dasima.
- ^ Filmindonesia.or.id, Filmography.
- ^ Biran 2009, pp. 383–85.
- ^ Heider 1991, p. 14.
- ^ Biran 2009, p. 351.
Works cited
- Biran, Misbach Yusa (2009). Sejarah Film 1900–1950: Bikin Film di Jawa (in Indonesian). Jakarta: Komunitas Bamboo working with the Jakarta Art Council. ISBN 978-979-3731-58-2.
{{cite book}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help); Unknown parameter|trans_title=ignored (|trans-title=suggested) (help) - "Dasima". filmindonesia.or.id (in Indonesian). Jakarta: Konfiden Foundation. Archived from the original on 25 July 2012. Retrieved 25 July 2012.
- "Filmografi Tan Tjoei Hock". filmindonesia.or.id (in Indonesian). Jakarta: Konfiden Foundation. Archived from the original on 23 September 2012. Retrieved 23 September 2012.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|trans_title=ignored (|trans-title=suggested) (help) - Heider, Karl G (1991). Indonesian Cinema: National Culture on Screen. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. ISBN 978-0-8248-1367-3.
{{cite book}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help) - "Kredit Dasima". filmindonesia.or.id (in Indonesian). Jakarta: Konfiden Foundation. Archived from the original on 6 October 2013. Retrieved 6 October 2013.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|trans_title=ignored (|trans-title=suggested) (help) - "Tan Tjoei Hock". Encyclopedia of Jakarta (in Indonesian). Jakarta: Jakarta City Government. Archived from the original on 26 September 2012. Retrieved 26 September 2012.
