''Singa Laoet'' (

Perfected Spelling Indonesian orthography refers to the official spelling system used in the Indonesian language. The current system uses the Latin alphabet and is called (EYD), commonly translated as ''Enhanced Spelling'', ''Perfected Spelling'' or ''Improved Spel ...

: ''Singa Laut''; Indonesian for ''The Sea Lion'' or ''The

Merlion The Merlion () is the official mascot of Singapore. It is depicted as a mythical creature with the head of a lion and the body of a fish. Being of prominent symbolic nature to Singapore and Singaporeans in general, it is widely used to represen ...

'') is a 1941 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 ...

(today Indonesia). Directed by Tan Tjoei Hock and produced by

The Teng Chun The Teng Chun (; 18 June 1902 – 25 February 1977), also known by his Indonesian name Tahjar Ederis, was an Indonesian film producer. Born to a rich businessman, The became interested in film while still a youth. After a period as an expo ...

, it starred Tan Tjen Bok,

Mohamad Mochtar Mohamad Mochtar (1 July 1918 – 1 December 1981), usually credited as Moh Mochtar, was an Indonesian film actor active from 1939 until his death in 1981. Biography Mochtar was born in Cianjur, West Java, Dutch East Indies, on 1 July 1918. ...

, and

Hadidjah Hadidjah (EYD, Perfected Spelling: Hadijah; 13 June 1920 – 10 October 2013) was an Indonesian film actress best known for partnership with Moh Mochtar in seven films released by Java Industrial Film between 1939 and 1941. She was the mother of ...

Plot

Robin is exiled from society after he is accused of murdering a man named Ibrahim in a fight. Twenty years later Ibrahim's son, Mahmud, begins a search for his father's killer. He soon reaches the island of Sampojo, where he finds Robin. The exile has taken up piracy and now uses the name "Singa Laoet" (The Sea Lion). After one of Robin's men, Hasan, kidnaps a girl whom he loves, Mahmud tracks the kidnapper down and fights him to the death. It is later revealed that Hasan, not Robin, was the one who killed Ibrahim.

Production

''Singa Laoet'' was directed by Tan Tjoei Hock, a

Chinese-Indonesian Chinese Indonesians (), or simply ''Orang Tionghoa'' or ''Tionghoa'', are Indonesians whose ancestors arrived from China at some stage in the last eight centuries. Chinese Indonesians are the fourth largest community of Overseas Chinese in th ...

director who had been attached to

's Java Industrial Film since 1940; They produced the film for Action Film, a subsidiary of Java Industrial Film. Tan is also credited with the screenwriting, cinematography, and sound editing of this 76-minute-long

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. Production of this film was mostly finished by October 1941. The film starred Tan Tjeng Bok,

, Bissu, and

. Three of the actors had extended experience with Java Industrial Film: Bissu had made his screen debut for the company in 1938's '' Oh Iboe'', Hadidjah had joined with her husband Mas Sardi in 1939 for '' Roesia si Pengkor'', and Mochtar had appeared in '' Alang-Alang'' later that year after being discovered in a barbershop. Tan Tjeng Bok, a former stage star with

Dardanella "Dardanella" is a popular song published in 1919 by McCarthy & Fisher, Inc., a firm owned by Fred Fisher, lyricist, for music composed by Felix Bernard and Johnny S. Black. Bandleader Ben Selvin (1898–1980) recorded "Dardanella" for several ...

, was a more recent hire, only having made his film debut in the company's 1941 production ''

Srigala Item ''Srigala Item'' (Indonesian for ''Black Wolf'', also advertised with the Dutch title ''De Zwarte Wolf'') is a 1941 film from the Dutch East Indies that was directed by Tan Tjoei Hock and produced by The Teng Chun for Action Film. Starring Hadi ...

''.

Release and reception

''Singa Laoet'' was released in late 1941, having reached

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 ...

by November. In the city it was advertised as capable of making viewer's blood pump faster through their veins, while the panoramas of the Indies were described as picturesque and beautiful. The film was open to audiences of all ages. A reviewer in the Surabaya-based '' Soerabaijasch Handelsblad'' found that the film would likely be popular with ethnic Chinese and Native audiences. Theatrical screenings of ''Singa Laoet'' continued as late as 1945. According to J.B. Kristanto's ''Katalog Film Indonesia'', a 35 mm copy of the film is held 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.

References

Works cited

* * * * * * * * {{Tan Tjoei Hock 1941 films Dutch East Indies films Films directed by Tan Tjoei Hock Indonesian black-and-white films