Mistress Dasima (I) (1929)

Njai Dasima (I)

This film tells the story of a nyai (mistress) who becomes famous after the publication of a book in 1896, and then popularized through theatre and the traditional performance of lenong. Dasima, a girl who is originally from Kuripan, Bogor, is married to an Englishman named Edward William. From Tangerang, she later moves to Batavia (Jakarta). She becomes well known for her beauty and wealth. One of her suitors is Samiun who is married to Hayati. Dasima is persuaded by Mak Buyung to leave her "master". But when she becomes Samiun's second wife, she is neglected.

Date of release
1929-11-08
Genres
Drama
Director
Lie Tek Swie

Casting

Interesting facts

Njai Dasima is a 1929 silent film from the Dutch East Indies. It details the fall of a rich mistress at the hands of a greedy delman driver. The first film released by Tan's Film, the film – adapted from an 1896 novel – was a critical and commercial success. It was released in two parts, followed by a sequel, and remade another two times by 1940.

Production

Njai Dasima was the first film produced by Tan's Film, owned by ethnic Chinese. Directed at native viewers, Njai Dasima was filmed from September to October 1929.

The story was based on a novel written by G. Francis in 1896, which was advertised as based on a true story from 1813 Batavia. The story had previously been adapted by Toneel Melayu troupe. Tan's often adapted the troupe's work, and Njai Dasima was among their most successful. Like most native adaptations of the novel, Njai Dasima avoided the anti-Muslim undertones present in the original work.

Njai Dasima was directed by Lie Tek Swie and produced by Tan Khoen Yauw. Nurhani, who played Dasima, was cast from the general populace. Other stars included Anah, Wim Lender, and Momo. The cinematography was handled by Andre Lupias.

Read on Wikipedia · Text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Data from Wikidata.

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