''Pahit-Pahit Manis'' ("Bitter Sweet") is a 1952 Indonesian

romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a subgenre of comedy and slice of life fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount most obstacles. In a typica ...

directed by and produced for the Banteng Film Corporation. Starring

Titien Sumarni Raden Ajeng Titien Sumarni (28 December 1935 – 13 May 1966) was an Indonesian actress active in the 1950s. Born in Surabaya, she moved to Tasikmalaya as a child and developed an interest in stage acting, trained by her uncle and future hu ...

, Chatir Harro, , and S. Poniman, it follows a man named Ariffien as he attempts to woo his boss' daughter but falls for another woman.

Plot

Ariffien (), in an attempt at earning a promotion, is attempting to curry favor from his boss, Hendro, and woo his daughter. One day, Hendro sends a letter that they will visit him the following day. Ariffien asks his housemate, the newlywed Bachtiar (Chatir Harro), to take his wife on a date while his boss is over; he fears that his prospective father-in-law will take issue with a woman living at his home. Bachtiar agrees. Night falls, and Ariffien and Bachtiar are surprised to find a car broken down in front of their home, leaving a young woman named Fatmah (

) stranded with her driver. The two men attempt to fix the vehicle, but they puncture the tyres. Ultimately, although he finds Fatmah disagreeable, Ariffien agrees to let her spend the night on the condition that she leave promptly at dawn. By 8:30 the following morning Fatmah has yet to leave the house. Furthermore, Hendro and his daughter arrive early. Shocked at Ariffien allowing a woman to stay at his home, the two make a scene and leave. Ariffien is furious with Fatmah, though she accepts his tirade with a smile before apologizing and leaving. Fatmah and Ariffien later fall in love, and Fatmah's father is pleased with him as he had tried to help her fix her car. It is revealed that Bachtiar had deliberately arranged the romance between Ariffien and Fatmah.

Production

''Pahit-Pahit Manis'' was produced by Banteng Film and produced by King Hay Ping. It was the company's third and final production, following ''K.M. 49'' and ''Apa Salahku''. This

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 written and directed by L. Inata. The film starred Titien Sumarni, Chatir Harro, Turino Djunaedy, and S. Poniman.

Release

''Pahit-Pahit Manis'' was released as early as 11 October 1952, when it was screening in the

Jakarta Jakarta (; , bew, Jakarte), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta ( id, Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta) is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Lying on the northwest coast of Java, the world's most populous island, Jakarta ...

area. Banteng closed after the release of ''Pahit-Pahit Manis''. Inata and Sumarni were soon hired by

Djamaluddin Malik Djamaluddin Malik (13 February, 1917 – 8 June, 1970) was a prominent Indonesian film producer, politician, entrepreneur. He founded the Jakarta Indonesian company Persari Film. Personal life Malik was born in Padang, Indonesia, Padang, West S ...

's Persari, later respectively directing and starring in the company's 1953 film ''

Lagu Kenangan ''Lagu Kenangan'' ('Song of Memories') is a 1953 Indonesian film directed by and produced by Djamaluddin Malik for the Persari Film Corporation. Starring Titien Sumarni and A. N. Alcaff, it follows the domestic troubles of a composer and his wif ...

''. In a 1954 interview, Sumarni considered ''Pahit-Pahit Manis'' to be her favourite of her films to date.

References

Works cited

* * * * . *

External links

* {{IMDb title, tt1279471 1952 films 1952 romantic comedy films Indonesian-language films Indonesian romantic comedy films Indonesian black-and-white films