Si Ronda

Si Ronda was adapted from a lenong (a Betawi oral tradition similar to a stage play) popular with ethnic Chinese and native audiences of the time. The Ronda stories follow the Betawi bandit of the same name, who is skilled at silat (traditional martial arts) and reputed to take from the rich to give to the poor.{{harvnb|Filmindonesia.or.id, Si Ronda}}; {{harvnb|Biran|2009|pp=104–05}}; {{harvnb|van Till|1996|p=470}} The Indonesian film scholar Misbach Yusa Biran suggests that Ronda was selected for adaptation because of its potential action sequences. In the domestic cinema, such sequences had generally been inspired by American works and been well received by audiences.{{harvnb|Biran|2009|p=108}}; {{harvnb|Sen|1995|p=15}}

Similar stories to Si Ronda's include those of Si Jampang and Si Pitung;{{sfn|JCG, Ronda, Si}} these stage plays centred on extraordinary men (referred to as jago) who, though living outside the law, generally fought for the common populace.{{sfn|Gouda|1999|p=169}} Adaptations of the genre, manifested as bandit films, became popular in domestic cinema following the release of Si Tjonat by Batavia Motion Picture in 1929. This release was followed by the Wong brothers' Rampok Preanger (also 1929), and an adaptation of the Si Pitung stories in 1931.{{harvnb|Sen|1995|p=15}}; {{harvnb|Biran|2009|pp=105, 111, 113}} Not all films in this genre, which consisted of a quarter of all domestic releases for 1929–1931, maintained the heroic qualities of the central character: the Wongs' adaptation of Si Pitung, for instance, portrayed him as a simple bandit and not the Robin Hood figure of stage.{{harvnb|Biran|2009|pp=379–80}}; {{harvnb|van Till|1996|pp=461–68}}

Si Ronda was directed by Lie Tek Swie and produced by Tan Khoen Yauw of Tan's Film.{{sfn|Filmindonesia.or.id, Kredit Si Ronda}} The two had previously worked together on the company's highly profitable Njai Dasima in 1929.{{sfn|Biran|2009|pp=99–100}} Cinematography was handled by A. Loepias. Shot in black-and-white,{{sfn|Filmindonesia.or.id, Kredit Si Ronda}} this silent film starred Bachtiar Effendi, a set decorator with Tan's, in his on-screen debut playing the title role.{{sfn|Said|1982|p=138}} It also featured Momo, an actor who had appeared in the film Njai Dasima.{{sfn|Filmindonesia.or.id, Momo}}

File:Bachtiar Effendi p104.JPG, who played the title role in Si Ronda]]

Si Ronda was released in 1930;{{sfn|Filmindonesia.or.id, Si Ronda}} Effendi stated that it was released before Tan's Nancy Bikin Pembalesan (Nancy Takes Revenge), a sequel to Njai Dasima, began screening in May 1930.{{sfn|Biran|2009|pp=104–05}} Dutch newspapers indicate that it had screened in Medan, North Sumatra, by 1932.{{sfn|De Sumatra Post 1932, Kunst en Vermakelijkheden}} Biran writes that the film received little coverage; he notes that Sinematek Indonesia has no news clippings related to Si Ronda.{{sfn|Biran|2009|pp=104–05}}

After Si Ronda, Lie and Tan collaborated on three further films.{{sfn|Said|1982|pp=142–43}} Lie left Tan's in 1932, reportedly as his approach no longer matched Tan's low-class target audience and caused the works to go over budget.{{sfn|Biran|2009|p=111}} Effendi continued to work with Tan's until 1932, when he left to head the cinema magazine Doenia Film.{{sfn|Said|1982|p=138}} Momo continued acting until 1941, first with Tan's and later with Standard Film.{{sfn|Filmindonesia.or.id, Momo}} The film is likely lost. The American visual anthropologist Karl G. Heider writes that all Indonesian films from before 1950 are lost.{{sfn|Heider|1991|p=14}} However, JB Kristanto's Katalog Film Indonesia (Indonesian Film Catalogue) records several as having survived at Sinematek Indonesia's archives.{{sfn|Biran|2009|p=351}}

Another film based on the Ronda stories, titled Si Ronda Macan Betawi (Ronda the Betawi Tiger), was released in 1978.{{sfn|Filmindonesia.or.id, Si Ronda}} Directed by Fritz G. Schadt, it starred Dicky Zulkarnaen in the title role and Lenny Marlina as his lover. In this adaptation Ronda uses his silat skills to fight corrupt land owners and colonial government workers.{{sfn|Filmindonesia.or.id, Si Ronda Macan Betawi}}

{{reflist|30em}}

{{refbegin|40em}}

• {{cite book

| title = Sejarah Film 1900–1950: Bikin Film di Jawa

|trans-title=History of Film 1900–1950: Making Films in Java

| language = Indonesian

| last = Biran

| first = Misbach Yusa

| authorlink = Misbach Yusa Biran

| location = Jakarta

| publisher = Komunitas Bamboo working with the Jakarta Art Council

| year = 2009

| isbn = 978-979-3731-58-2

}}

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|title=Gender, Sexuality and Colonial Modernities

|chapter=Gender and 'Hyper-masculinity' as Post-colonial Modernity during Indonesia's Struggle for Independence, 1945 to 1949

|last=Gouda

|first=Frances

|isbn=978-0-203-98449-9

|editor1-last=Burton

|editor1-first=Antoinette

|editor-link=Antoinette Burton

|publisher=Routledge

|year=1999

|location=London

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}}

• {{cite book

|url=https://archive.org/details/indonesiancinema0000heid

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|isbn=978-0-8248-1367-3

|last1=Heider

|first1=Karl G.

|year=1991

|publisher=University of Hawaii Press

|location=Honolulu

}}

• {{cite web

|title = Kredit Si Ronda

|trans-title = Credits for Si Ronda

|language = Indonesian

|url = http://filmindonesia.or.id/movie/title/lf-s007-30-376864_si-ronda/credit

|work = filmindonesia.or.id

|publisher = Konfiden Foundation

|location = Jakarta

|access-date = 28 April 2013

|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131215111701/http://filmindonesia.or.id/movie/title/lf-s007-30-376864_si-ronda/credit

|archive-date = 15 December 2013

|ref = {{sfnRef|Filmindonesia.or.id, Kredit Si Ronda}}

|url-status = dead

}}

• {{cite news

|title=Kunst en Vermakelijkheden

|trans-title=Art and Entertainment

|language=Dutch

|url=http://kranten.kb.nl/view/article/id/ddd%3A011023834%3Ampeg21%3Ap005%3Aa0110

|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130703130618/http://kranten.kb.nl/view/article/id/ddd:011023834:mpeg21:p005:a0110

|url-status=dead

|archive-date=3 July 2013

|work=De Sumatra Post

|location=Medan

|page=5

|date=7 January 1932

|publisher=J. Hallermann

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|ref={{sfnRef|De Sumatra Post 1932, Kunst en Vermakelijkheden}}

}}

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|language = Indonesian

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|work = filmindonesia.or.id

|publisher = Konfiden Foundation

|location = Jakarta

|access-date = 28 April 2013

|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160306191450/http://filmindonesia.or.id/movie/name/nmp4b852da934003_momo/filmography

|archive-date = 6 March 2016

|ref = {{sfnRef|Filmindonesia.or.id, Momo}}

|url-status = dead

}}

• {{cite encyclopedia

|url = http://www.jakarta.go.id/web/encyclopedia/detail/2623/Ronda-Si

|title = Ronda, Si

|language = Indonesian

|encyclopedia = Encyclopedia of Jakarta

|publisher = Jakarta City Government

|access-date = 28 April 2013

|archive-date = 7 January 2013

|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130107121611/http://www.jakarta.go.id/web/encyclopedia/detail/2623/Ronda-Si

|ref = {{sfnRef|JCG, Ronda, Si}}

|url-status = dead

}}

• {{cite book

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|trans-title=Profile of Indonesian Cinema

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|publisher=Grafiti Pers

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|year=1982

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}}

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|first1=Krishna

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|location=London

}}

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|language = Indonesian

|url = http://filmindonesia.or.id/movie/title/lf-s007-30-376864_si-ronda

|work = filmindonesia.or.id

|publisher = Konfiden Foundation

|location = Jakarta

|access-date = 22 July 2012

|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131202204203/http://filmindonesia.or.id/movie/title/lf-s007-30-376864_si-ronda

|archive-date = 2 December 2013

|ref = {{sfnRef|Filmindonesia.or.id, Si Ronda}}

|url-status = dead

}}

• {{cite web

|title = Si Ronda Macan Betawi

|language = Indonesian

|url = http://filmindonesia.or.id/movie/title/lf-s018-78-423638_si-ronda-macan-betawi

|work = filmindonesia.or.id

|publisher = Konfiden Foundation

|location = Jakarta

|access-date = 28 April 2013

|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131215111552/http://filmindonesia.or.id/movie/title/lf-s018-78-423638_si-ronda-macan-betawi

|archive-date = 15 December 2013

|ref = {{sfnRef|Filmindonesia.or.id, Si Ronda Macan Betawi}}

|url-status = dead

}}

• {{cite journal |title=In Search of Si Pitung: The History of an Indonesian Legend |first= Margreet |last=van Till |journal=Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde |jstor=27864777 |year=1996 |volume=152 |issue=3 |pages=461–482 |doi= 10.1163/22134379-90003007 |issn=0006-2294 |oclc=770588866 |doi-access=free }} {{subscription required}}

{{refend}}

{{Portal|Film}}

• {{IMDb title|1846736|Si Ronda}}

{{Lie Tek Swie}}

Category:1930 films

Category:1930 lost films

Category:Dutch silent feature films

Category:Fictional outlaws

Category:Films directed by Lie Tek Swie

Category:Indonesian black-and-white films

Category:Lost Indonesian films

Category:Silat films

Category:Tan's Film films