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Indonesia Malaise

1931 :: Comedy

  

Producer
Director
Cast,
Colour BW

Synopsis

A woman, who already has a lover, is forced to marry someone else. Tragedy then piles up when the husband has an affair, their baby dies and her former lover goes to prison. The woman falls ill due to her suffering and yearning for her former lover. When she is about to die, the lover that she has been longing for appears. This gripping moment is interrupted by jokes made by Oemar, the comedian. The woman's illness is cured when she hears actor M.S. Ferry sing keroncong songs. The film ends with a scene of Oemar courting the maid on top of a rubber tree.

Note

The first film ever produced by Halimoen Films. The film used the “tooneel Melajoe” style (from Malay theatre) that is familiar to the works of Wong as well as his partner, M. H. Schilling. Schilling produced a short film entitled “Sinjo Tjo Main di Film" which was screened as the opening part.

This film was recorded with the most expensive camera equipment in Europe. According to Joshua Wong, this film was shot by a “single system” camera, built by a man from Bandung. “Single system” here refers to the camera’s technology which enables both image and sound to be captured together. The film's promotional leaflet stated: “The story is captivating and full of laughs; the audience will laugh into tears from beginning to end.” But in fact, the film did not sell very well. Apparently, the audience disliked being confronted with their own reality of poverty on the silver screen.

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