Misbach Yusa Biran

Legendary directors Wim Umboh and Sjumandjaja, decided to experiment by producing a script being written at the same time of the shooting. Mama is a complex story with two seemingly unrelated narrative threads. The first story revolves around Sanca and Anani. The second is about Ulli and Pandji, and in between the two stories is a third narrative, about Ulla, a religious prostitute and Ulli’s sister, and Suwaka.

Containing eight songs, the film is like TV variety show of music and singers. Charma, an architecture student, falls in love with Anita. Thanks to advice from Bagio Sumarto, an old artist, Charma manages to win Anita, even though her mother, who has a royal lineage, considers that an artist would lower the family’s prestige. It was a strange assumption, present at the time of the film’s production. Charma then helps Bagio realise his dream of building a village for artists by staging a big successful show. And Anita turns out to be the daughter of Bagio who has long been separated from his wife.

Disappointed after seeing his homeland, Pasai, destroyed by the Portuguese, Fadhilah Khan, later known as Fatahillah or Fala Tehan, completes his education in the Holy Land, then joins Sultan Trenggono who rules the Sultanate of Demak. He gains a respectable position as a cleric, then marries the sister of the Emperor, Ratu Pembayun, and Ratu Ayu, the widow of Pati Unus, who died in the battle against the Portuguese in Malacca. The Portuguese want to establish a fort at Sunda Kelapa. But the Sultanate of Demak is determined to wage a war against the Portuguese. Fatahillah is elected as the commanding officer, and he conquers Sunda Kelapa, and changes its name to Jayakarta, which later became Jakarta.

Somad and Biang Terona are sent by their master at Krakatau martial arts school to look for the rebellious student, Bodin, who is Somad’s real father. Bodin manages to marry the wife of a landlord and takes over the wealth but he becomes a dictator. His son, Tirta, also manages to displace Surya as inheritor of Bodin’s wealth. Surya is the son of Tirta’s mother with her previous husband. Finally, Biang Terona defeats Bodin, and Somad reveals that Bodin is his father. The film ends with the eruption of the Krakatau Volcano.

When their children fail to come home, their parents start to worry. Due to their own neglect and unfulfilled promises, the children, Maria and Suzy, are getting some help from an old man, their former teacher, to go to the zoo and other entertainment centers by themselves. When the police are called, the kids are quickly found and returned to the parents, but the teacher is so heavily shaken by this experience that he admits himself to a mental asylum.

A anti-narcotics police captain trails a drug dealer to the Philippines.

The colonial court sentenced Tohir harshly on 22 September 1938. The sentence is made harsher because the prosecutor, Hasan, discriminates more on Tohir’s lineage than his crime. But in fact, Tohir commits his crime out of necessity as his wife is pregnant and about to give birth. He is sentenced to hard labor in exile so when he finds out that his wife and child are dead, Tohir escapes and kidnaps Hasan’s son, Husin. He raises the son in a life of crime, but lives like a respectable man. Husin also lives a double life. He is loved by an innocent girl in the village, but in other places, he plays around with women. In his old age, Tohir becomes a drunk and then he finds out that the government has awarded Hasan for his services. He uses Husin, nicknamed Boy, to avenge himself by sending him to rob Hasan’s house. Husin fails and is sent to trial. There, while drunk, Tohir reveals who Husin really is. Hasan and his wife then welcome Husin back.

Set on 24 March 1946 in Bandung, when the city was engulfed in explosions as if it was a sea of fire, the battle scenes between Indonesian and Dutch dominate the film. The main plot line is the conflict of Nani, a Red Cross nurse, who loves Priyatna, an ex PETA fighter. Meanwhile, Hidayat, the commander of Priyatna’s troop, also likes Nani. It is a small story, within a war, that ends with the death of Hidayat.