De Stem des Bloeds | |
---|---|
Directed by | Ph. Carli |
Produced by | Ph. Carli |
Starring |
|
Production company | Kinowerk Carli |
Release date |
|
Country | Dutch East Indies |
Languages |
De Stem des Bloeds (The Voice of Blood), also known as Njai Siti, is a 1930 film from the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia). It was directed by Ph. Carli and starred Annie Krohn, Sylvain Boekebinder, Vally Lank, and Jan Kruyt. The film follows a man and his mistress who reunite after their son and step-daughter unwittingly fall in love. The black-and-white film, which may now be lost, was tinted different colours for certain scenes. It was released in early 1930 to commercial success, although critical opinion was mixed.
Van Kempen is a supervisor at a tea plantation named Ciranu in West Java. He keeps a mistress, or njai , named Siti. Together they have two children, Adolf and Annie. One day, van Kempen returns to the Netherlands, leaving Siti and their young mixed-race children behind. In the Netherlands he marries a young widow and takes her daughter, Ervine, as his step-daughter. Siti, meanwhile, lives with her uncle in a hut in the forest and prays fervently for van Kempen's return, even asking for help from the local shaman ( dukun ).
Fifteen years later, after his wife dies, van Kempen and Ervine return to the Indies. He has been hired as a supervisor at another plantation, not far from his old place of work. He searches for Siti and the couple's children, but none of his old coworkers know where they are. Unbeknownst to van Kempen, his children have been raised as natives and wear the traditional clothes, although they have also received a Western education. Adolf has become a hunter, while Annie stays at home with their mother. Frederick, the new manager at Ciranu, has meanwhile fallen for Ervine and tries unsuccessfully to woo her.
Some time afterwards, as Ervine is wandering through the woods she stumbles upon a deer and, startled, faints. Adolf comes across her and brings her back to the plantation, where van Kempen recognises him and takes him on as a supervisor. Frederick, however, is jealous of Adolf and Ervine's relationship and entices the workers at van Kempen's plantation to go on strike until Adolf is fired. Although heartbroken, van Kempen must fire his son.
Adolf goes to Lampung, in Sumatra, to hunt elephants. Meanwhile, Frederick has begun wooing Annie, who rejects him as Ervine did before. When Adolf returns and hears of the supervisor's actions, he fights Frederick and knocks him out. Ervine, meanwhile, has heard that her lover has returned and goes to the hut in the woods, nearly fainting after being caught in a downpour. Adolf sends a letter to van Kempen telling him where to find Ervine. The family are reunited. [lower-alpha 1]
De Stem des Bloeds was directed by Ph. "Flip" Carli, a man of mixed Indonesian-European descent [1] who had previously made several documentaries. [2] He targeted the film at Dutch audiences, which may account for the focus on native customs and farming; such coverage was unusual for contemporary works of fiction, although documentaries had handled the subject before. [3] His production house, which handled the film, was the Bandung-based Kinowerk Carli; [4] [5] some contemporary reviews erroneously gave the house's name as Cosmos Film. [5]
Production began in late 1929 or early 1930, [3] with scenes shot in West Java and Sumatra. [4] De Stem Des Bloed starred Annie Krohn, Carli's mixed-race wife, as Annie [5] as well as Sylvain Boekebinder (van Kempen), Vally Lank, and Jan Kruyt. The story was advertised as being adapted from the novel of the same name. [6]
Like all contemporary films produced in the Indies, De Stem des Bloeds had low production values. [7] The film was silent and in black-and-white; [4] the final production consisted of 3,652 meters of film. [8] The intertitles were in Dutch, which the Indonesian film historian Misbach Yusa Biran notes that most viewers – those who were native or ethnic Chinese – were unable to read. In order to provide a semblance of colour, Carli tinted certain scenes entirely in one shade during post-production; for instance, a scene where farmers were gathering rice was tinted violet. [9]
De Stem des Bloeds was released in 1930, seeing its Batavia (now Jakarta) premiere on 22 March of that year. [3] By July it was being screened in Surabaya, East Java. [10] It was reported to be a success, with native audiences filling the theatres in Batavia [3] and Surabaya. [11]
The film received mixed critical reception. An anonymous review in the Batavia-based Doenia Film praised the film's picture (especially its colour) and both Krohn and Boekebinder's acting. [9] A review in the Surabaya-based De Indiesche Courant likewise praised the film, stating that it "fascinates from beginning to end" [lower-alpha 2] and showed that even in the Indies a "grand" film could be made. [11] However, the review criticised the censorship bureau's failure to catch scenes of Frederick drinking alcohol, which the reviewer found "dangerous to the prestige [of Dutchmen]" considering the large native audiences. [lower-alpha 3] [11] Kwee Tek Hoay, writing in Panorama, criticised the film extensively, writing that it seemed meant exclusively for Dutch audiences in the Netherlands, as those living in the Indies would be able to see it did not reflect reality and was in places illogical. He found the colouring one extension of this lack of logic, writing that a violet tinge indicated that the farmers were harvesting rice at sunset – something that never happened. [9]
Carli went on to make two more films starring Krohn. The first, Sarinah (1931), was a romance set on the south coast of Java which had Krohn in the titular role. [12] The second, Karina's Zelfopoffering (Karina's Sacrifice), followed the following year; this film saw Krohn play a mixed-raced woman living at the palace in the Sultanate of Yogyakarta. Karina's Zelfopoffering was a commercial failure and Carli left the Indies not long afterwards, [5] moving to the Netherlands. He lived there until his death in 1972. [13]
Writing in 2009, Biran suggests that De Stem des Bloeds was clearly written from an Indo point of view because of the positive roles of Indo children. He finds the film sympathetic to native culture, including the faithful njai. He notes with interest that, although in real life mixed-race children were faced with a sense of disgust, in De Stem des Bloeds an Indo man is heroic enough to rescue a pure Dutch woman and fight with a Dutchman. [5]
The film is likely lost. The American visual anthropologist Karl G. Heider writes that all Indonesian films from before 1950 are lost. [14] 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. [15]
Tan's Film was a film production house in the Dutch East Indies. Established by the brothers Tan Khoen Yauw and Tan Khoen Hian on September 1, 1929, its films were mostly targeted at native ethnic groups. Starting with Njai Dasima in 1929, the company released fifteen movies before ultimately being dissolved after the Japanese occupation. The Tans and the Wong brothers established Tan & Wong Bros in 1948 to continue this work.
Lie Tek Swie was an Indonesian film director active in the early cinema of the Dutch East Indies. He is thought to have begun his career at a film distributor's office before making his directorial debut in 1929 with Njai Dasima, the first of three literary adaptations that he directed. His other three films, two of which were made for Tan's Film, were original stories. In 1941 Lie was a founding member of the Standard Film Company, which closed in 1942.
Karina's Zelfopoffering, also known by the Indonesian name Pengorbanan Karina is a 1932 film from the Dutch East Indies. It was directed by Ph. Carli and starred Annie Krohn.
Ph. G. "Flip" Carli (1879–1972) was a footballer turned film director from the Dutch East Indies.
Huwen op Bevel is a 1931 romance film from the Dutch East Indies. Directed by G. Krugers and thought to have been produced by Tan's Film, it follows two young lovers who are nearly separated but can ultimately be together. A critical flop, it was Krugers's last as a director. It is likely lost.
Gagak Item is a 1939 bandit film from the Dutch East Indies directed by Joshua and Othniel Wong for Tan's Film. Starring Rd Mochtar, Roekiah, and Eddy T. Effendi, it follows a masked man known only as "Gagak Item". The black-and-white film, which featured the cast and crew from the 1937 hit Terang Boelan, was a commercial success and received positive reviews upon release. It is likely lost.
Zoebaida is a 1940 film from the Dutch East Indies directed by Njoo Cheong Seng. A romance set in Timor, it starred Njoo's wife Fifi Young and was the film debut of Soerip. Shot over a period of 27 days in a Dutch-owned studio, the film received middling reviews. It is likely lost.
Sorga Ka Toedjoe is a 1940 film from the Dutch East Indies directed by Joshua and Othniel Wong for Tan's Film. It follows an older couple who are reunited by another, younger couple after years of separation. The black-and-white film, the first production by Tan's Film after the departure of Rd Mochtar, featured kroncong music and was targeted at lower-class native audiences. It was a commercial and critical success. Roekiah and Djoemala took leading roles in three more films before Tan's closed in 1942. Sorga Ka Toedjoe is now thought lost.
Njai Dasima is a 1932 film from the Dutch East Indies which was directed by Bachtiar Effendi for Tan's Film. It was the second film adapted from G. Francis' 1896 novel Tjerita Njai Dasima, following a silent version in 1929. Starring Momo and Oesman, it followed a young Sundanese njai (concubine) who is tricked into marrying a man who does not love her and ultimately killed for her money. The film, the first talkie produced by its company, was also the first directed by a native Indonesian. The now-lost work received mixed critical reception.
Miss Riboet's Orion, originally known as the Orion Opera, was a theatrical troupe active in the Dutch East Indies in the 1920s and early 1930s. Established by the husband and wife team Tio Tek Djien and Miss Riboet, the company travelled throughout the Indies and performed various acts, particularly those with action scenes. It was disbanded in 1942, having lost much of its popularity due to competition with Dardanella.
Lintah Darat is a 1941 film from the Dutch East Indies directed by Wu Tsun and produced by Jo Eng Sek.
The njai were women who were kept as housekeepers, companions, and concubines in the Dutch East Indies. In the Javanese language, the word nyai meant "sister", but the term later took a more specific meaning. Author Rob Nieuwenhuys described the position of the njai as always subservient, being the white man's housekeeper and companion, before she was his concubine.
Star Film was a film production company in the Dutch East Indies. Established by Chinese-Indonesian businessman Jo Eng Sek and Chinese cameraman Cho' Chin Hsin in 1940, it produced five black-and-white films in 1940 and 1941; two of these were directed by Jo, and the remainder were directed by Wu Tsun. Another film was under production when the studio was closed following the Japanese occupation of the Dutch East Indies. Star helped establish the careers of actors such as S Waldy and Elly Joenara, and produced screenplays written by Rd Ariffien and Saeroen; its output, however, is probably lost.
Soeara Berbisa is a 1941 film from the Dutch East Indies. Produced by Ang Hock Liem for Union Films and directed by R Hu, this black-and-white film stars Raden Soekarno, Ratna Djoewita, Oedjang, and Soehaena. The story, written by Djojopranoto, follows two young men who compete for the affections of a woman before learning that they are long-lost brothers.
Oriental Film was a film production company in Batavia, Dutch East Indies. Established by ethnic Chinese businessman Tjo Seng Han in 1940, it completed four black-and-white films before it was closed in 1941. All the company's films were screened into the 1950s but may now be lost. They were directed by two men, Njoo Cheong Seng and Sutan Usman Karim, and launched the careers of actors such as Dhalia and Soerip.
Louis Victor Wijnhamer, better known as Pah Wongso, was an Indo social worker popular within the ethnic Chinese community of the Dutch East Indies, and subsequently Indonesia. Educated in Semarang and Surabaya, Pah Wongso began his social work in the early 1930s, using traditional arts such as wayang golek to promote such causes as monogamy and abstinence. By 1938, he had established a school for the poor, and was raising money for the Red Cross to send aid to China.
Julia Adolfs was the first woman to pass her law examinations in the Dutch East Indies. She began to practice in 1927 and gained a reputation for practicing criminal law. Acting as an attorney for Chinese clients and Royal Dutch Shell she became prominent, investing her earnings in rental properties. When Indonesia gained independence, her properties were nationalized and she eventually moved to Amsterdam. A scholarship bearing her name is presented by the University of Amsterdam as a research grant for law students.