Si Ronda

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Si Ronda
Directed by Lie Tek Swie
Produced by Tan Khoen Yauw
Starring
Cinematography A Loepias
Studio Tan's Film
Release dates
  • 1930 (1930) (Dutch East Indies)
Country Dutch East Indies

Si Ronda (literally The Watchman) is a 1930 silat film from the Dutch East Indies. Directed by Lie Tek Swie and starring Bachtiar Effendi, it follows a martial arts expert known as Si Ronda. The silent film, now thought lost, was based on an existing stage play popular in Batavia (now Jakarta). It received little coverage in the media of the time. A second film based on the story, Si Ronda Macan Betawi, was made in 1978.

Premise

Si Ronda focused on the activities of a Betawi silat (traditional martial arts) expert of the same name.[1]

Production

Si Ronda was directed by Lie Tek Swie and produced by Tan Khoen Yauw of Tan's Film.[2] The two had previously worked together on the first instalment of Njai Dasima in 1929.[3] Cinematography was handled by A Loepias. The silent film was shot in black-and-white.[2] The film starred Bachtiar Effendi, a decorator with Tan's, as Si Ronda. The film was Effendi's debut.[4] Si Ronda also featured Momo, who had previously appeared in Njai Dasima.[5]

Si Ronda was adapted from a lenong (Betawi stage play) popular with ethnic Chinese and native audiences at the time.[1][6] The story was selected because of its action sequences, a proven fan favourite in the colonial capital of Batavia (now Jakarta).[7] Similar stories include Si Jampang and Si Pitoeng;[8] the latter was filmed by the Wong brothers in 1931.[9]

Release and legacy

Bachtiar Effendi would later leave Tan's Film to head a magazine.

Si Ronda was released in 1930;[1] Effendi stated that it was released before Tan's Nancy Bikin Pembalesan (Nancy Takes Revenge), a sequel to Njai Dasima.[6] Dutch newspapers indicate a 1932 screening in Medan, North Sumatra.[10] Indonesian film historian Misbach Yusa Biran writes that it received little coverage; he notes that Sinematek Indonesia does not have any news clippings related to the film.[6]

After Si Ronda Lie and Tan collaborated on three further films.[11] Lie left Tan's in 1932, reportedly as his approach no longer matched Tan's low-class target audience and caused the works to go over-budget.[9] Effendi continued to work with Tan's until 1932, when he left to head the cinema magazine Doenia Film.[4] Momo continued acting with Tan's until the 1940s.[5]

The film is likely lost. The American visual anthropologist Karl G. Heider writes that all Indonesian films from before 1950 are lost.[12] 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.[13]

A film based on the same story, Si Ronda Macan Betawi (Ronda the Betawi Tiger), was released in 1978.[1] The film was directed by Fritz G. Schadt and starred Dicky Zulkarnaen in the titular role and Lenny Marlina as his lover. In this film Ronda used his silat skills to fight corrupt land owners and colonial government workers.[14]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Filmindonesia.or.id, Si Ronda.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Filmindonesia.or.id, Kredit Si Ronda.
  3. ↑ Biran 2009, pp. 99–100.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Said 1982, p. 138.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Filmindonesia.or.id, Momo.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Biran 2009, pp. 104–105.
  7. ↑ Biran 2009, p. 108.
  8. ↑ JCG, Ronda, Si.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Biran 2009, p. 111.
  10. ↑ De Sumatra Post 1932, Kunst en Vermakelijkheden.
  11. ↑ Said 1982, pp. 142–143.
  12. ↑ Heider 1991, p. 14.
  13. ↑ Biran 2009, p. 351.
  14. ↑ Filmindonesia.or.id, Si Ronda Macan Betawi.

Works cited

  • Biran, Misbach Yusa (2009). Sejarah Film 1900–1950: Bikin Film di Jawa [History of Film 1900–1950: Making Films in Java] (in Indonesian). Jakarta: Komunitas Bamboo working with the Jakarta Art Council. ISBN 978-979-3731-58-2. 
  • Heider, Karl G (1991). Indonesian Cinema: National Culture on Screen. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. ISBN 978-0-8248-1367-3. 
  • "Kredit Si Ronda" [Credits for Si Ronda]. filmindonesia.or.id (in Indonesian). Jakarta: Konfiden Foundation. Archived from the original on 28 April 2013. Retrieved 28 April 2013. 
  • "Kunst en Vermakelijkheden" [Art and Entertainment]. De Sumatra Post (in Dutch) (Medan: J. Hallermann). 7 January 1932. p. 5. Retrieved 28 April 2013. 
  • "Momo". filmindonesia.or.id (in Indonesian). Jakarta: Konfiden Foundation. Archived from the original on 28 April 2013. Retrieved 28 April 2013. 
  • Said, Salim (1982). Profil Dunia Film Indonesia [Profile of Indonesian Cinema] (in Indonesian). Jakarta: Grafiti Pers. OCLC 9507803. 
  • "Ronda, Si". Encyclopedia of Jakarta (in Indonesian). Jakarta City Government. Archived from the original on 28 April 2013. Retrieved 28 April 2013. 
  • "Si Ronda". filmindonesia.or.id (in Indonesian). Jakarta: Konfiden Foundation. Archived from the original on 22 July 2012. Retrieved 22 July 2012. 
  • "Si Ronda Macan Betawi". filmindonesia.or.id (in Indonesian). Jakarta: Konfiden Foundation. Archived from the original on 28 April 2013. Retrieved 28 April 2013. 

External links

Works by Lie Tek Swie
Book
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