Unpacking history through Southeast Asian films

By Jovina Ang

SMU Office of Research & Tech Transfer – Films provide a novel way to inform a lot about ourselves, our history and culture.

Instead of poring over piles of manuscripts and historical documents, SMU Assistant Professor of Humanities (Education) Darlene Machell Espena unpacks the post-World War II and post-colonial history of Southeast Asia by watching films.

Professor Espena watched over 60 films before focusing on 45 landmark films that were directed by the three prominent filmmakers – P. Ramlee, Usmar Ismail and Lamberto Avellana – all of whom were instrumental in the birth of national cinemas in Malaya/Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines respectively.

Professor Espena told the Office of Research & Tech Transfer: “Films can narrate and make sense of human experiences; they can also provide an immersive experience of a story or stories of the time they are made.”

To understand the history and culture in the post-World War II and post-colonial era, Professor Espena selected films that were made in the period 1945 to 1967. She analysed how the films were framed, as well as took note of what were excluded to determine the dominant ideologies that were shaping and influencing international affairs and nation building in the three countries.

The technology of films was brought to the colonies in Southeast Asia by the different European colonial powers. It was first introduced in Indonesia before the technology spread throughout the region.

It was only when films became local – utilising local language, local music, local setting and local actors – before locals started to embrace and consume them.

“This explains why films such as the Indonesian ‘Terang Boelan’ (Full Clear Moon) and the Malaysian ‘Semarah Padi’ (Red ‘Angry’ Rice) were successful. They not only appealed to the local audience, but they also captured the local ethos and culture,” Professor Espena said.

She continued: “This was a turning point for films in Southeast Asia. Locals started to connect and relate to the films because they reflected who they were, their world and their conditions.”

“Before the Japanese occupation in Southeast Asia, what we saw were the nascent beginnings of national cinemas. When the Japanese occupation swept across the region in World War II, films were used to spread anti-Western sentiments and further inculcate nationalistic ideas among the nations in the region,” she explained.

After the war, many nationalistic groups emerged in Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines. Because of the nationalistic fervour, these groups began to lobby for independence from the colonial powers of the Dutch, the British and the Americans respectively. Filmmakers also started to share narratives of colonialism and nationalism for locals to craft and develop their national identities.

“This led to the emergence of national cinemas, which came about in conjunction with the emergence of the nation-building process in the post-colonial Southeast Asian nations,” Professor Espena added.

Soon after, in the 1950s and 1960s, national cinemas entered a golden era. The golden era was an era that saw filmmakers collaborating across the borders in Southeast Asia while sharing ideas on film-making and techniques, and political ideals.

One of the most notable films that was produced during the golden era was Sergeant Hassan. Sergeant Hassan was a film that resulted from the collaboration between Lamberto Avellana, a pioneering Filipino director and P. Ramlee, who was one of Malaysia’s greatest actor, composer, director and singer.

“Sergeant Hassan offered a glimpse into the social and political situation of Malaya, and opened the opportunities for more transnational co-productions in the region,” Professor Espena said.

“While many of the films were not intended as nation-building tools, but nevertheless, they served as a platform for that. An example is the Indonesian film ‘Darah dan Doa’ (Blood and Prayer). Even though Darah dan Doa was produced with only a budget of 350,000 Rupiah (US$1,002 at 1950 US dollar to Indonesian Rupiah rate), it depicted the struggles Indonesians went through to obtain independence. It also highlighted the many challenges Indonesians would face in building their post-colonial nation,” she continued.

“‘Victory Joe’ was a film that depicted the post-colonial anxieties in the Philippines. The film was centred on a love story triangle between a Filipino woman, Rosie, and an American soldier Bob, and her Filipino lover, Eduardo, who were missing but returned after the war. It reflected the post-colonial Philippines and provided hope for Filipinos to reconstruct their very own country that is independent and free.”

From the examples above, it is evident that films provide a treasure trove of stories, lived experiences and moving depictions of history and culture.

When asked what she would like us to take away from analysing films, Professor Espena has this to say: “Given that nation-building has remained an unfinished task for most of the nations in Southeast Asia, films can be used to provide an avenue to conjure up imageries and formations for where the nations would like to visualise their future states to be.”

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