PONIRAH

Indonesia, 1983, 100 minutes, Colour.
Directed by Slamet Rahardjo.

Ponirah is an Indonesian melodrama. It was directed by actor Slamet Rahardjo. It is a lavish production, filmed in Panavision with atmospheric locations including the Indonesian countryside, provincial town and Jakarta settings. It is very reminiscent of Hollywood melodramas of the '40s and '50s - with the touch of the modern style in the final episodes with frankness and violence.

The film starts in the Soekarno era, moves into the '70s and '80s and has comment on traditional Indonesian way of life, the changes in post-war society and the strong westernisation of the Indonesians, especially in Jakarta. However, the film has a universal story and explores universal values.

1. An interesting and entertaining melodrama? A focus on women? Women's issues and oppression? Spanning twenty gears of contemporary Indonesian history?

2. Colour photography, use of locations and atmosphere? Panavision and the Indonesian countryside, towns, Jakarta? Editing and pace? Special effects? The atmospheric musical score?

3. The title and the focus on the little girl - who had no name but was given one by her adopted mother Trindel? The film opening with the anxiety about her birth? Her father's return. the mother dying in childbirth. her being neglected by her father, tended by her nurse, the love between herself and her brother? The rejection but the delight in playing with her brother? Her sense of responsibility with her brother's death? Her being banished by her father. coming in on him with his women? The journey with the nurse? Going on the road, the carnival, the prostitutes? Her growing up amongst the prostitutes? Her education? The teacher taking an interest in her, trying to find out information, photographs? The atmosphere of the prostitutes, her mother looking after her, her innocence? The attentions of the pimp? The clashes with her mother? Her illness? Ponirah's decision to go to Jakarta? The possible marriage? Her trying to be a woman of the world. her decision to become a prostitute. to get revenge? Her setting up the gangsters? The irony of her killing of her uncle trying to seek her? The legal case? The verdict on her? The portrait of a victimised young woman?

4. The social setting. the prologue and the train ride, the crowds in Indonesia. the anxious father, the birth of the child and the death of the mother? The picture of Indonesian families? The world of prostitution and exploitation? The white slavery of provincial girls going to Jakarta? Pimps and gangsters? The contemporary society and its vice and corruption? violence? The ugliness of the world?

5. The sympathetic portrait of Trindel? her work for Ponirah's father, her devotion? Her taking responsibility for the little girl, lining up for prostitution? Her being a skilled masseuse? Her contacts, her relationships with the girls, the mother figure? Her devotion to Ponirah, giving her a name, looking after her? The clash between the two, the misunderstanding, the hurt? Her hanging herself? A humane character and the pessimism of the portrayal of her life?

6. The portrait of Indonesian men - the devoted husband, yet his resentment of his wife's death. resentment of his son's death, his rejection of his daughter and nurse? The clientele of the prostitutes? The young man and his dealings with Trindel his being a go-between for the gangsters in Jakarta and the white slave traffic. his exploiting of Ponirah, her rejection of him, the change of heart, his passion for her. wanting to save her? The contrast with her uncle and his kindness when she was a child, his role as the teacher, her resentment of him in class. the irony that she killed him by mistake? A grim picture of male-female relationships?

7. The attention to detail - the children's games at the opening? The school sequences? The range of prostitutes with their problems and relationships? The train sequence in travelling to Jakarta? The Jakarta gangsters and their style? Nightclubs and the world of vice?

8. The violence of the ending and its impact on the audience? The pathos and the sympathy for Ponirah and all that she symbolised?