Loetoeng Kasaroeng
| Loetoeng Kasaroeng | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Directed by | L. Heuveldorp |
| Cinematography | G. Krugers |
|
Production
company |
Java Film
|
|
Release date
|
31 December 1926 |
|
Running time
|
60 minutes |
| Country | Indonesia |
| Language | Silent |
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 of a young girl who falls in love with a magical lutung and stars the children of noblemen. Details on its performance are unavailable, although it is known to have been of poor technical quality and thought to have performed poorly. It was the first film produced in the country and the first to feature a native-Indonesian cast. It is likely a lost film.
Purbasari and Purbararang are sisters and in competition. Purbararang, the elder sister, teases Purbasari about the latter's lover, a lutung named Guru Minang; Purbarang's boyfriend, Indrajaya, is a handsome human. However, the girls discover that Guru Minang is actually a god who is more handsome than Indrajaya.
The first showing of films in the Dutch East Indies was in 1900, and over the next twenty years foreign productions – generally from the United States – were imported and shown throughout the country. Domestic production of documentaries had begun in 1911 but were unable to compete with imported works. By 1923 a local feature film production spearheaded by the Middle East Film Co. was announced, but the work was not completed.
Under pressure from imported works, in 1926 N.V. Java Film, a production house based in Batavia (modern-day Jakarta) which had previously produced a single documentary, Inlanders op de Krokodillenjacht (Native Crocodile Hunters), chose to make a feature film based on the Sundanese folktale Lutung Kasarung. The company's owner, L. Heuveldorp served as director and producer, while its laboratory head G. Krugers handled cinematography and processing. Little biographical information is available regarding the background of both men, although it was reported that Heuveldorp had previous experience from working in the United States.
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