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''Gagak Item'' (; Vernacular Malay for ''Black Raven'', also known by the Dutch title ''De Zwarte Raaf'') is a 1939 bandit film from the
Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies (; ), was a Dutch Empire, Dutch colony with territory mostly comprising the modern state of Indonesia, which Proclamation of Indonesian Independence, declared independence on 17 Au ...
(now Indonesia) directed by Joshua and Othniel Wong for
Tan's Film Tan's Film was a film production house in the Dutch East Indies (modern Indonesia). 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 ...
. Starring
Rd Mochtar Hajji Raden Mochtar (born 31 May 1918), often credited as Rd Mochtar, was an Indonesian actor. Of noble descent, Mochtar was discovered by Albert Balink and first cast in the commercial failure ''Pareh'' (1936). Rising to popularity after the ...
, Roekiah, and Eddy T. Effendi, it follows a masked man known only as "Gagak Item" ("Black Raven"). The
black-and-white Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white to produce a range of achromatic brightnesses of grey. It is also known as greyscale in technical settings. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, ...
film, which featured the cast and crew from the 1937 hit ''
Terang Boelan (; Indonesian language, Indonesian for "Full Moon", ''Terang Bulan'' in the Enhanced Spelling of the Indonesian Language, Enhanced Spelling System) is a 1937 film from the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia). Written by Saeroen, directed by Albe ...
'' (''Full Moon''), was a commercial success and received positive reviews upon release. It is likely lost.


Production

''Gagak Item'' was directed by brothers Joshua and Othniel Wong; filming the work in
black-and-white Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white to produce a range of achromatic brightnesses of grey. It is also known as greyscale in technical settings. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, ...
, they also handled sound editing. It was produced by Tan Khoen Yauw of
Tan's Film Tan's Film was a film production house in the Dutch East Indies (modern Indonesia). 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 ...
and starred
Rd Mochtar Hajji Raden Mochtar (born 31 May 1918), often credited as Rd Mochtar, was an Indonesian actor. Of noble descent, Mochtar was discovered by Albert Balink and first cast in the commercial failure ''Pareh'' (1936). Rising to popularity after the ...
, Roekiah, Eddy T. Effendi, and Kartolo. The Wongs and cast had first worked together on
Albert Balink Albert Balink (3 August 1906 – 8 February 1976) was a Dutch journalist and filmmaker who contributed to early Indonesian cinema. Born in the Netherlands, he began a career in film journalism in the Dutch East Indies. A self-taught filmmaker, ...
's 1937 blockbuster ''
Terang Boelan (; Indonesian language, Indonesian for "Full Moon", ''Terang Bulan'' in the Enhanced Spelling of the Indonesian Language, Enhanced Spelling System) is a 1937 film from the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia). Written by Saeroen, directed by Albe ...
'' (''Full Moon''), before joining Tan's Film in 1938 for the highly successful ''
Fatima Fatima bint Muhammad (; 605/15–632 CE), commonly known as Fatima al-Zahra' (), was the daughter of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and his wife Khadija. Fatima's husband was Ali, the fourth of the Rashidun caliphs and the first Shia imam. ...
''; ''Gagak Item'' was their second production with the company, which hoped to mirror ''Terang Boelan'' success. Through these prior films Mochtar and Roekiah had become an established screen couple.
Saeroen Saeroen (EYD, Perfected Spelling: Saerun; fl. 1920s–1962) was an Indonesian journalist and screenwriter. Born in Yogyakarta, he became a journalist after a time working at a railway station. By the mid-1930s he had established the daily ''Pem ...
, a journalist-turned-screenwriter for ''Terang Boelan'' and ''Fatima'', returned to write the script to ''Gagak Item''. The film, a love story, followed a girl and a masked man known as "Gagak Item" ("Black Raven") and was set in rural Buitenzorg (now
Bogor Bogor City (), or Bogor (, ), is a landlocked city in the West Java, Indonesia. Located around south of the national capital of Jakarta, Bogor is the 6th largest city in the Jakarta metropolitan area and the 14th overall nationwide.
). The titular bandit was similar to
Zorro Zorro ( or , Spanish for "fox") is a fictional character created in 1919 by American Pulp magazine, pulp writer Johnston McCulley, appearing in works set in the Pueblo de Los Ángeles in Alta California. He is typically portrayed as a dashin ...
, a character popular in the Indies at the time; such figures had been a staple of travelling theatre troupes beginning in the early 1930s. When writing the script Saeroen continued the formula he had used in ''Terang Boelan'', including action, music, beautiful vistas and
physical comedy Physical comedy is a form of comedy focused on manipulation of the body for a humorous effect. It can include slapstick, clowning, mime, physical stunts, or making funny faces. Physical comedy originated as part of the Commedia dell'arte. It is ...
. The film had six songs performed by Hugo Dumas' musical troupe Lief Java; the troupe was known for its ''
keroncong Kroncong (pronounced "kronchong"; , ) 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 ''kroncong''). A ''kroncong'' ...
'' performances, mixing traditional music with Portuguese influences. ''Gagak Item'' featured vocals by ''kroncong'' singer
Annie Landouw Annie Landouw (also Landauw, 1913 – 17 August 1982) was an Indonesian '' keroncong'' singer and film actress. Biography Landouw was born in Surakarta, Central Java, in 1913. She lost her sight following an extended illness as a child, and ...
.


Release and reception

''Gagak Item'' was released in late 1939 and was screened in Batavia (now
Jakarta Jakarta (; , Betawi language, Betawi: ''Jakartè''), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta (; ''DKI Jakarta'') and formerly known as Batavia, Dutch East Indies, Batavia until 1949, is the capital and largest city of Indonesia and ...
), the capital of the Indies;
Medan Medan ( , ) is the capital city, capital and largest city of the Indonesian Provinces of Indonesia, province of North Sumatra. The nearby Strait of Malacca, Port of Belawan, and Kualanamu International Airport make Medan a regional hub and multi ...
, Northern Sumatra; and
Surabaya Surabaya is the capital city of East Java Provinces of Indonesia, province and the List of Indonesian cities by population, second-largest city in Indonesia, after Jakarta. Located on the northeastern corner of Java island, on the Madura Strai ...
, Eastern Java.; ; Some screenings of the film, also advertised under the Dutch title ''De Zwarte Raaf'', had Dutch-language subtitles. A novelisation of the film, published by the
Yogyakarta Yogyakarta is the capital city of the Special Region of Yogyakarta in Indonesia, in the south-central part of the island of Java. As the only Indonesian royal city still ruled by Hamengkubuwono, a monarchy, Yogyakarta is regarded as an importan ...
-based Kolff-Buning, soon followed. ''Gagak Item'' was one of four domestic productions released in 1939; the film industry had undergone a significant downturn following the onset of the
Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...
, during which time cinemas mainly showed
Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...
productions, and had only begun recovering following the release of ''Terang Boelan''. ''Gagak Item'' was a commercial and critical success, although not as much as Tan's earlier production. An anonymous review in ''
Bataviaasch Nieuwsblad The ''Bataviaasch Nieuwsblad'' (; Batavian Newspaper) was one of the leading and largest daily newspapers in the Dutch East Indies. It was based in Batavia (now Jakarta) on Java, but read throughout the archipelago. It was founded by the famous ...
'' praised the film, especially its music. The reviewer opined that the film would be a great success and that the film industry in the Indies was showing promising developments. Another review in the same paper found that, although "one may shake one's head over the cultural value of indigenous films", the film was a step forward for the industry. The review praised Roekiah's "demure" acting. Following the success of ''Gagak Item'' the Wongs, Saeroen, Roekiah, and Mochtar continued to work with Tan's Film. Their next production, ''
Siti Akbari ''Siti Akbari'' is a 1940 film from the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) directed by Joshua and Othniel Wong and produced by Tan Khoen Yauw. Starring Roekiah and Rd Mochtar, it follows a couple while the husband commits adultery. Plot Siti ...
'' (1940), was similarly successful, although again not as profitable as ''Terang Boelan'' or ''Fatima''. Saeroen, Joshua Wong, and Mochtar left the company in 1940: Wong and Mochtar after payment disputes, and Saeroen to return to journalism. Through 1941 Tan's Film produced fewer movies than its competitors, and was ultimately shut down following the Japanese occupation in early 1942. ''Gagak Item'' was screened as late as January 1951. The film is likely lost. In common with the rest of the world, movies in the Indies were then shot using highly flammable
nitrate film Nitrocellulose (also known as cellulose nitrate, flash paper, flash cotton, guncotton, pyroxylin and flash string, depending on form) is a highly flammable compound formed by nitration, nitrating cellulose through exposure to a mixture of nitri ...
, and after a fire destroyed much of Produksi Film Negara's warehouse in 1952, old Indies films shot on nitrate were deliberately destroyed. The American visual anthropologist
Karl G. Heider Karl Heider (born January 21, 1935) is an American visual anthropologist. Life and education Heider was born in Northampton, Massachusetts. Heider is the son of psychologists Fritz and Grace (née Moore) Heider. He had two brothers; John and S ...
writes that all Indonesian films from before 1950 are lost. However, JB Kristanto's ''Katalog Film Indonesia'' (''Indonesian Film Catalogue'') records several as having survived at
Sinematek Indonesia Sinematek Indonesia, or Sinematek for short, is a film archive located in Jakarta. Established in 1975 by Misbach Yusa Biran and Asrul Sani, the archive was the first in Southeast Asia, and remains the only one in Indonesia. It is home to rough ...
's archives, and 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 Minangkaba ...
writes that several Japanese propaganda films have survived at the
Netherlands Government Information Service The Netherlands Government Information Service (''Dutch:'' Rijksvoorlichtingsdienst, abbrev.: RVD) is a Dutch government agency. The RVD is the official information service of the Dutch government and is the spokesbody for the prime minister, th ...
.


Explanatory notes


References


Works cited

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External links

* * {{Portal bar, Film, Indonesia, Netherlands 1939 films 1939 lost films Dutch black-and-white films Films directed by the Wong brothers Indonesian black-and-white films Lost Indonesian films Tan's Film films Films about outlaws