Cinema
The Long March
Darah dan Doa
Usmar Ismail · 1950
Synopsis
Based in central Java after the Renville Agreement, the Siliwangi Division is resting after crushing the communist rebellion at Madiun; its commander, Captain Sudarto, becomes involved with Connie, a young woman of mixed descent from Bandung. When the Dutch attack Yogyakarta, the division must return on foot to the west of the island: Sudarto leads his men, together with women and children, for more than two hundred kilometres, marching morning and evening under air raids, hungry, and falls in love along the way with a nurse, Widya.
Context
Filming began on 30 March 1950 at Subang, and the following day the director founded his company to produce the film, which is based on a short story by the poet Sitor Situmorang. Lacking money, the crew shot with an old Akeley camera and nearly stopped before a cinema owner, Tong Kim Mew, advanced the funds in exchange for the distribution. Released in September 1950, the film was attacked by other divisions of the army, could reappear only with Sukarno's agreement, cut of several scenes, and was a commercial failure.
Who it is for
A black-and-white film, in Indonesian; copies are held at the Sinematek Indonesia and at the Cinémathèque française.
Prizes and reception
Regarded as the first national film, which the Japanese critic Tadao Sato compared to the films of Wajda; its first day of shooting is the date of Indonesian Film Day.