''Djantoeng Hati'' (''Heart and Soul'') is a 1941 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 ...

directed by

Njoo Cheong Seng Njoo Cheong Seng (Perfected Spelling: Nyoo Cheong Seng; ; 6 November 1902 – 30 November 1962) was a Chinese-Indonesian playwright and film director. Also known by the pen name Monsieur d'Amour, he wrote more than 200 short storie ...

. A tragedy warning against modernity, it starred A Sarosa, Rr Anggraini, and Ariati

Plot

Two students – the traditional Karina (Rr Anggraini) and metropolitan Roesdjana (Ariati) – are in competition for Karina's husband Sobari (Chatir Harro). Eventually Karina wins out.

Production

''Djantoeng Hati'' was written and directed by

. The film was produced by Fred Young and SI Liem of Majestic Film. It was the company's first production. It starred A Sarosa, Rr Anggraini,

Soerip Soerip (Perfected Spelling: Surip; 22 October 1921 – 7 May 1992) was an Indonesian singer and film actress. Biography Soerip was born in Banyuwangi, East Java, Dutch East Indies, on 22 October 1921. She only completed two years of elementar ...

, and Ariati; Njoo's wife

Fifi Young Fifi Young (12 January 1915 – 5 March 1975) was an Indonesian actress of mixed French and Chinese descent who acted in at least 86 films over her 34-year career. Early life and stage career Young was born with the name Nonie Tan (; Tan Kim Nio) ...

, who had previously acted in all his films, was unable to act owing to health reasons. Most of its stars were of noble (''ningrat'') descent, an attempt to draw middle-class audiences, while the story focused on students to draw educated viewers. The

black-and-white Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white in a continuous spectrum, producing a range of shades of grey. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, and as technology improved, altered to color. ...

film was shot by

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

, one of Fred Young's friends from when he studied in the United States; The also allowed Majestic to use his studios in Batavia (modern-day Jakarta). The's brother Teng Liong served as sound director. The film featured seven ''

kroncong 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 ' ...

'' songs by R. Koesbini which were sung by the main cast.

Release and reception

''Djantoeng Hati'' was released in 1941. Majestic's second film, ''

Air Mata Iboe ''Air Mata Iboe'' (Perfected spelling: ''Air Mata Ibu''; Malay for ''A Mother's Tears'') is a 1941 film from the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) directed and written by Njoo Cheong Seng. Starring Fifi Young, Rd Ismail, Ali Sarosa, and Ali ...

'' (''Mother's Tears'') was released later in 1941. It was their last production before the Japanese occupation the following year. ''Djantoeng Hati'' is likely a

lost film A lost film is a feature or short film that no longer exists in any studio archive, private collection, public archive or the U.S. Library of Congress. Conditions During most of the 20th century, U.S. copyright law required at least one copy o ...

. 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 ...

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 roughl ...

's archives, and Biran 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, the ...

References

Footnotes Bibliography * * * {{refend Dutch East Indies films Malay-language films Films directed by Njoo Cheong Seng Indonesian black-and-white films