Siti Noerbaja
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by Marah Roesli
- Asmanah
- Momo
- Soerjono
| Siti Noerbaja | |
|---|---|
 Newspaper ad, Surabaya | |
| Directed by | Lie Tek Swie |
| Based on | Sitti Nurbaya by Marah Roesli |
| Produced by | Tan Khoen Yauw |
| Starring |
|
Production company | Standard Film |
Release date |
|
| Country | Dutch East Indies |
| Language | Indonesian |
Siti Noerbaja (Perfected Spelling: Siti Nurbaya) is a 1941 film from the Dutch East Indies. Directed by Lie Tek Swie, it was the first film adaptation of Marah Roesli's 1922 novel of the same name. Starring Asmanah, Momo, and Soerjono, it follows two star-crossed teenage lovers.
In Padang, childhood friends Samsoelbahri and Siti Noerbaja fall in love and kiss on the veranda, but are soon parted by their parents. Samsoelbahri goes to Batavia (Jakarta) to study, while Noerbaja must marry the contemptuous Datuk Meringgih so that he will forgive her father's debts.
Writing to Samsoelbahri, Noerbaja tells him that they can never be together as she has married. However, when she realises Merringih's violent nature she runs away to Batavia to join Samsoelbahri. They fall in love again, but must part after Noerbaja hears of her father's death. She hurries back to Padang, where Meringgih's men kill her with poisoned food. Receiving news of her death by letter, Samsu seemingly commits suicide.
Ten years later, Meringgih leads an uprising against the Dutch colonial government to protest a recent tax increase. During the uprising, Samsoelbahri (now a soldier for the Dutch) meets Meringgih and kills him, but is mortally wounded himself. After he dies he is buried next to Noerbaja.
Production
Siti Noerbaja was directed by Lie Tek Swie and produced Touw Ting Iem of Standard Film. It starred Asmanah, Momo, Soerjono, A Thys, and HA Rasjid. The black-and-white film was shot in 1941[1] and advertised as containing Padang-style pencak.[2]
Siti Noerbaja was the first adaptation of Marah Roesli's 1922 novel Sitti Nurbaya.[1] The book, which Indonesian critic Zuber Usman writes was inspired by the writer's heartbreak after his family rejected him taking a non-Minangkabau wife,[3] was one of Balai Pustaka's most popular works, and had previously been adapted for the stage.[4][5] Lie Tek Swie had previously directed two film adaptations, Njai Dasima in 1929 and Melati van Agam in 1931.[6][7]