05 · Films

Purbawara

Historical and legendary dramas

Semerah Padi 1956

In a village ruled strictly by the law of the land, the headman Penghulu Hitam (Daeng Idris) betroths his daughter Dara (Saadiah) to his champion Taruna (Nordin Ahmad), although she loves Taruna's closest friend, Aduka (P. Ramlee). After an adulterous couple is put to death under the village code, the condemned man's brother, Borek (Salleh Kamil), takes his revenge by abducting Dara while Taruna is away at court. Aduka rescues her, but sheltering from a storm the two give in to temptation, and Dara confesses to her father. Omar Rojik's original story ends with the deaths of all three; P. Ramlee's film has the headman sentence his own daughter and Aduka to a hundred strokes of the rotan. The censors later cut several scenes.

Songs: ‘Sekapur Sireh Seulas Pinang’, ‘Makan Sireh di Semerah Padi’, ‘Lenggang Kangkong Baru’

Best Film; Best Director — Bintang magazine, 1956
Best Supporting Male Artiste (Nordin Ahmad) — Utusan Film and Sport, 1956

Sumpah Orang Minyak 1958

P. Ramlee plays Si Bongkok, a painter.

In the village of Tualang Tiga in 1901, the disfigured Si Bongkok (P. Ramlee) is mocked and beaten by the villagers; only old Bang Selamat (Daeng Idris), for whom he designs batik, and the girl Afida (Sri Dewi) show him kindness. Raging at his father's grave, he is taken into the realm of the orang bunian and granted one wish: to be handsome, on condition that he commits no crime. Back in the village he seeks to marry Afida, and the fight that follows leaves many dead, Afida among them. Left invisible, he accepts the devil's offer to restore him if he violates twenty-one women in a week, and becomes the dreaded 'oily man', until the bunian chief captures him one victim short. (Synopses after Ahmad Sarji, Erti Yang Sakti, 1999.)

Best Black-and-White Photography (Abu Bakar Ali) — 5th Asian Film Festival, Manila, 1958
Best Film; Second Best Song, ‘Tudong Periok’ — Kisah Bintang dan Filem magazine, 1958