Ponirah Terpidana
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

''Ponirah Terpidana'' (literally ''Ponirah is Convicted'') is a 1984 Indonesian drama film directed by
Slamet Rahardjo Slamet Rahardjo Djarot (born 21 January 1949) is an Indonesian actor, director, and screenwriter of Javanese- Bantenese descent. He is the elder brother of director, songwriter, and politician, Eros Djarot. Since his directorial debut in 1979 w ...
. Starring Nani Vidia, Rahardjo, and Ray Sahetapy, it follows a young woman named Ponirah who becomes a prostitute and is arrested for the murder of a rich businessman. The film, which combined traditional and contemporary elements, was a critical success in Indonesia. It won three Citra Awards at the 1984
Indonesian Film Festival The Indonesian Film Festival ( Indonesian: Festival Film Indonesia, 'FFI') is an annual awards ceremony organised by the Indonesian Film Board and the Ministry of Culture to celebrate cinematic achievements in the Indonesian film industry. Dur ...
, from a total of eleven nominations.


Plot

Since birth Ponirah has lived a cursed life. Her mother died while birthing her and her brother Permadi is hit by a truck while riding a bicycle with her. This leads her father, Jabarudi, to go temporarily insane and nearly stab her with a ''
kris The kris or is a Javanese culture, Javanese asymmetrical dagger with a distinctive blade-patterning achieved through alternating laminations of iron and nickelous iron (''pamor''). The kris is famous for its distinctive wavy blade, although ma ...
''. Their maid, Trindil ( Christine Hakim), brings Ponirah with her and escapes the city, settling in
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 ...
. Trindil becomes a
prostitute Prostitution is a type of sex work that involves engaging in sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, non-pe ...
to support herself and Ponirah; the two live at the
brothel A brothel, strumpet house, bordello, bawdy house, ranch, house of ill repute, house of ill fame, or whorehouse is a place where people engage in Human sexual activity, sexual activity with prostitutes. For legal or cultural reasons, establis ...
. When Ponirah (Nani Vidia) is in senior high school, she finds that the new teacher Guritno (
Slamet Rahardjo Slamet Rahardjo Djarot (born 21 January 1949) is an Indonesian actor, director, and screenwriter of Javanese- Bantenese descent. He is the elder brother of director, songwriter, and politician, Eros Djarot. Since his directorial debut in 1979 w ...
) is watching her closely. Unknown to her, he is in fact her uncle who was asked by Ponirah's late father to find her. After a misunderstanding with Trindil, Ponirah goes to
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 ...
with a charming young man named Jarkasi (Ray Sahetapy), who is actually a trafficker tasked with luring young women to work as prostitutes. Although he falls in love with Ponirah and refuses to do this task, Ponirah says she wants to be the most expensive prostitute in the city. They part. As Ponirah is picked up by a rich man named Franky Darling (
Teguh Karya Teguh Karya (born Steve Liem Tjoan Hok; ; 22 September 1937 – 11 December 2001) was an Indonesian film director. Starting his entertainment career in theatre, he made his directorial debut in 1971 with '' Wadjah Seorang Laki-Laki'' in wh ...
), Jarkasi meets Guritno and the two decide to save Ponirah. When they assault Franky's apartment, Ponirah – who has grown to hate men and intends to kill Franky – mistakes Guritno for her client and stabs her uncle with a pair of scissors, killing him. When the police come, Jarkasi tells them that he killed Guritno and prepares to be punished. However, the investigation reveals that Ponirah had delivered the killing blow and she is thus incarcerated.


Production

''Ponirah Terpidana'' was written and directed by Slamet Rahardjo for Sukma Putra Film. It was produced by Manu Sukmajaya and A. Gunawan, with Tantra Surjadi on camera and
editing Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written language, written, Image editing, visual, Audio engineer, audible, or Film editing, cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing p ...
by George Kamarullah. Rahardjo's brother
Eros Djarot Erros Djarot (born 22 July 1950) is an Indonesian songwriter, Film director, director and politician of Bantenese people, Bantenese descent. Beginning his music career with the soundtrack of ''Kawin Lari'' in 1976, Djarot became famous with the su ...
handled the musical arrangement, while Suparman Sidik handled sound. Benny Benhardi handled artistic direction. The film starred Nani Vidia and Bambang Hermanto, with other roles filled by Christine Hakim, Bambang Hermanto, Slamet Rahardjo, Ray Sahetapy, Teguh Karya, Nano Riantiarno, and Ratna Riantiarno. Much of the cast had worked together for Karya's Teater Populer, with Hakim, Karya, Nano Riantiarno, and Rahardjo having previously collaborated on films like '' Cinta Pertama'' (''First Love''; 1973). Hermanto had been in cinema for over thirty years, rising to fame after starring in D. Djajakusuma's '' Harimau Tjampa'' (''Tiger from Tjampa'') in 1953. Meanwhile, Vidia was a new actor, making her feature film debut with ''Ponirah Terpidana''.


Themes

Nauval Yazid of ''
The Jakarta Post ''The Jakarta Post'' is a daily English-language newspaper in Indonesia. The paper is owned by PT Bina Media Tenggara and based in the nation's capital, Jakarta. ''The Jakarta Post'' started as a collaboration between four Indonesian media ...
'' writes that ''Ponirah Terpidana'' has a "women-who-suffer-continuously theme", one common in Indonesian films. He compares the later critical hit '' Jamila dan Sang Presiden'' (''Jamila and the President''; 2009) to the film, noting that the latter film – following a prostitute who murders a rich government official – was reminiscent of ''Ponirah Terpidana''. Gotot Prakosa, another writer for ''The Jakarta Post'' describes it as an
art film An art film, arthouse film, or specialty film is an independent film aimed at a niche market rather than a mass market audience. It is "intended to be a serious, artistic work, often experimental and not designed for mass appeal", "made prima ...
, combining traditional and contemporary elements.


Release and reception

''Ponirah Terpidana'' received a wide release in 1984, although in 1983 it was screened at the
Three Continents Festival The Three Continents Festival ( French: ''Festival des 3 Continents'') is an annual film festival held since 1979 in Nantes, France, devoted to the cinemas of Asia, Africa, and Latin America. It was founded by Philippe and Alain Jalladeau.
in France. According to Prakosa, foreign reviews criticised a scene at the end which showed a
red-light district A red-light district or pleasure district is a part of an urban area where a concentration of prostitution and sex industry, sex-oriented businesses, such as sex shops, strip clubs, and adult theaters, are found. In most cases, red-light district ...
in Jakarta. Eleanor Mannikka of
allRovi RhythmOne , a subsidiary of Nexxen, is an American digital advertising technology company that owns and operates the web properties AllMusic, AllMovie, and SideReel. Blinkx was founded in 2004, went public on the AIM market of the London S ...
gave the film three and a half out of five stars. A 35 mm and
VHS VHS (Video Home System) is a discontinued standard for consumer-level analog video recording on tape cassettes, introduced in 1976 by JVC. It was the dominant home video format throughout the tape media period of the 1980s and 1990s. Ma ...
copy is stored 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 ...
in Jakarta.


Awards

''Ponirah Terpidana'' was nominated for eleven Citra Awards at the 1984
Indonesian Film Festival The Indonesian Film Festival ( Indonesian: Festival Film Indonesia, 'FFI') is an annual awards ceremony organised by the Indonesian Film Board and the Ministry of Culture to celebrate cinematic achievements in the Indonesian film industry. Dur ...
, winning three. It was defeated in four categories, including Best Director and Best Leading Actress, by
Sjumandjaja Sjumandjaja ( Perfected Spelling: Syumanjaya; 5 August 1933 – 19 July 1985) was an Indonesian director, screenwriter, and actor. During his career he wrote numerous films, directed fourteen, acted in ten, and produced nine; he also won ...
's '' Budak Nafsu'' (''Slave to Lust''; 1984), while Arifin C. Noer's '' Pengkhianatan G30S/PKI'' (''Betrayal of G30S/PKI''; 1984) took Best Screenplay. The film also won a special jury prize at the 1983 Three Continents Festival.


Footnotes


Works cited

* * * * * * * * * * * *


External links

*{{IMDb title, 1136918, Ponirah Terpidana Indonesian drama films Films directed by Slamet Rahardjo