''Eulis Atjih'' is a 1927 film from the

Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies ( nl, Nederlands(ch)-Indië; ), was a Dutch colony consisting of what is now Indonesia. It was formed from the nationalised trading posts of the Dutch East India Company, which ...

(modern-day Indonesia); it was the second feature film produced in the country, after ''

Loetoeng Kasaroeng ''Loetoeng Kasaroeng'' is a 1926 fantasy film from the Dutch East Indies (modern-day Indonesia) which was directed and produced by L. Heuveldorp. An adaptation of the Sundanese folktale ''Lutung Kasarung'' (''The Lost Lutung''), the film tells o ...

'' in 1926. The

silent film A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, when ...

follows the lives of a

native Indonesian Native Indonesians, also known as ''Pribumi'' (), are Indonesians whose ancestral roots lie mainly in the archipelago, distinguished from Indonesians of known (partial) foreign descent, like Chinese Indonesians (Tionghoa), Arab Indonesians, India ...

family sent into poverty by the husband's splurging. ''Eulis Atjih'' was a commercial success in the Indies, but failed in international markets.

Premise

man leaves his beautiful young wife Eulis Atjih and their child to lead a life of partying. She falls into poverty and, when he returns several years later, he is also poor.

Production

''Eulis Atjih'' was produced by Java Film Co., which had made the first film in the Dutch East Indies, ''

'', in 1926. The earlier film had left Java Film Coy in a poor financial after it underperformed; as such, for ''Eulis Atjih'' the company had to find financial backers. The film was directed by

G. Krugers Georg Eduard Albert Krugers (4 November 1890, in Banda Neira – 10 August 1964, in The Hague; also written as G. Kruger) was a cameraman and film director active in the Dutch East Indies (modern Indonesia) during the early 20th century. He is rec ...

and based on the novel by

Joehana Akhmad Bassah (also Bassakh; ; fl. 1923–30), best known by the pen name Joehana (; EYD, Perfected Spelling: Yuhana), was an author from the Dutch East Indies who wrote in Sundanese language, Sundanese. He worked for a time on the railroad befor ...

. The film featured

actors, including Arsad and Soekria. It was a black and white, silent film. ''Eulis Atjih'' was the second film to include native Indonesians in its cast, and the second feature film produced in the country. The native role was emphasised in the film's promotion; a poster for a screening at the Orient Theatre in

Surabaya Surabaya ( jv, ꦱꦸꦫꦧꦪ or jv, ꦯꦹꦫꦨꦪ; ; ) is the capital city of the Provinces of Indonesia, Indonesian province of East Java and the List of Indonesian cities by population, second-largest city in Indonesia, after Jakarta. L ...

, for example, wrote that the film's native cast was equal to any American or European one. Of note is the film's use of the word "Indonesia", which was not to be formalised as a preferred term for the archipelago until the

Youth Pledge The Youth Pledge ( id, Sumpah Pemuda) was a declaration made on 28 October 1928 by young Indonesian nationalists in the Second Youth Congress (). They proclaimed three ideas: one motherland, one nation and one language.Ricklefs (1982) p177 Back ...

in 1928.

Themes

The Indonesian film historian

Misbach Yusa Biran Misbach Yusa Biran (11 September 1933 – 11 April 2012) was an Indonesian writer, director and columnist who pioneered the Indonesian film archives. Personal life Biran was born in Rangkasbitung, in the Lebak Regency, to a Minangkabau f ...

writes that the film educated Dutchmen through its depiction of native Indonesian rites, including funerals and marriage, as well as sent a message to native audiences that splurging would only result in poverty.

Release and reception

''Eulis Atjih'' was released in 1927, being screened in

Bandung Bandung ( su, ᮘᮔ᮪ᮓᮥᮀ, Bandung, ; ) is the capital city of the Indonesian province of West Java. It has a population of 2,452,943 within its city limits according to the official estimates as at mid 2021, making it the fourth most ...

in August and in Surabaya in September. It was a critical and commercial success in the country, especially among the

ethnic Chinese The Chinese people or simply Chinese, are people or ethnic groups identified with China, usually through ethnicity, nationality, citizenship, or other affiliation. Chinese people are known as Zhongguoren () or as Huaren () by speakers of s ...

community; the newspaper ''Pewarta Soerabaja'' wrote that the actress who played Eulis was "beautiful when her life was carefree, but looked like a villager when she fell poor." In Surabaya, the film was accompanied by music from the ''

keroncong Kroncong (pronounced "kronchong"; id, Keroncong, nl, Krontjong) is the name of a ukulele-like instrument and an Indonesian musical style that typically makes use of the kroncong (the sound ' comes from this instrument, so the music is called ' ...

'' group under Tuan Kayoon. For international release, the Java Film Co. and Krugers emphasised the

ethnographic Ethnography (from Greek ''ethnos'' "folk, people, nation" and ''grapho'' "I write") is a branch of anthropology and the systematic study of individual cultures. Ethnography explores cultural phenomena from the point of view of the subject o ...

aspects of the film. It was shown in Singapore, but was a commercial failure.

Notes

References

;Footnotes ;Bibliography * *

External links

*{{IMDb title, 0346951, Eulis Atjih 1927 drama films 1927 films Dutch East Indies films Dutch silent feature films Films directed by G. Krugers Indonesian drama films Dutch black-and-white films Silent drama films Indonesian black-and-white films