Dibalik Tjahaja Gemerlapan

Even though he is not a "left wing" student, Nurhadi, nicknamed Hadi, insists on becoming a volunteer in the fight against Malaysia. Wati, his lover, tries to stop him, but fails. She pretends to be pregnant so that Hadi marries her. But Hadi still goes to Malaysia. Hadi’s group is detected by a Malaysian patrol, when they are about to land in Malaysia, which leads to a firefight. Everyone dies except Hadi, who is found unconscious by Latifah at the beach. Hadi is taken care of by Latifah and his father, Somad. He claims that he is a fisherman who has been stranded and is named Mohamad Noor. The confrontation between Indonesia and Malaysia then ends. Wati still believes that her husband is alive and goes to Malaysia to find him. She finds Hadi already married to a pregnant Latifah. Wati goes home in disappointment.

An impending visit from a VIP causes chaos and confusion in the small, isolated village of Sukaslamet. Things take a hilarious turn when the herbal medicine seller is mistaken for the exalted guest and is accorded a ceremonial welcome in the most elaborate Javanese style.

Siti Zahrana’s academical success makes her parents worried. Zahrana hasn’t married by her early thirties. There have been many men who solicited her, but she has refused them all politely. Zahrana’s conflicting issues spring up: to follow her parents’ wish or to pursue her own dreams. Actually she has relented once. She turns down a teaching post at Gadjah Mada University. The reason, her parents who live in Semarang don’t want her to be away. So Zahrana teaches at a Semarang university and stays with them. Then she also passes up a doctoral scholarship opportunity from China.

Ahmad and Nuri work in the same bank in Jakarta. Ahmad loves Nuri, but Nuri has set her heart on Yanto from Bandung. Unfortunately, Yanto is attracted to Lila, while Lila is interested in Darso, the brother of Nuri. This five-sided love story becomes more colourful when Lila’s father’s cheque disappears. Then the bank sends Ahmad to investigate the case.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

Agus leaves his wife and the three children. After many years, Agus wants to return but he has to apologise to his wife and children, namely Anwar, Dani and Aini. But Anwar, the oldest son, who has been supporting his family all these years, rejects him.

Parodying the TV police character Kojak, Leman, identifies himself with Kojak by his hat and lollipop, firmly stuck in his cheeks. He tries to help a woman by picking up a package that falls from her bag, and the package is filled with flour that he thinks is morphine. The woman turns out to be a flirtatious widow who wants to become a photo model. All the stories in the film are spoofs, and the suspected bandits reveal themselves as filmmakers.

Two businessmen, Burhan and Benny, are rivals and Burhan hires Joko, an ex-convict who is trying to reform. Joko is asked to investigate Benny, through Leila, a hostess that Benny usually goes to. But then Joko and Leila fall in love and things do not go as planned. A accident happens and Leila is shot by Joko. Burhan dies in a car accident while Benny runs away out of the country. The reason of enmity between Burhan and Benny is unclear, nor that of Leila’s role, who knows so much about Benny’s secrets.

Drawing from the novel, lenong (play) and the previous film (Njai Dasima I), this new film version has heightened erotic scenes considered the boldest for its time. But as mentioned by the director, the eroticism is meant to reveal the psychological aspects of the characters. Unlike the previous version, that mainly highlights conflict between love and witchcraft, this one features social and psychological conflicts. For example, how Dasima feels like an outsider with Edward Williams’s friends, or how she prefers leaving their house to live with her maid in the village. It also shows more background of the Samiun and Hayati characters - Samiun is a black market trader with a lot of debts and Hayati is a woman obsessed with gambling to get rich. When his debts are due and he is unable to pay, Samiun asks his friend, Puasa, to “rob” him while he is returning to their village with Dasima.