Tan Tjoei Hock

Tan was born in Batavia (now Jakarta), Dutch East Indies, on 15 April 1908. He dropped out during his first year of senior high school.[1] By the late 1930s he had become a businessman,[1] spending his nights as an unpaid assistant at a drama troupe that frequently performed at Prinsen Park (now Lokasari); while working with this troupe Tan met The Teng Chun, who brought him to work at The's Java Industrial Film (JIF).[2]

Tan's first film with JIF was Dasima, a story about a woman who is taken advantage of by a man who marries her yet does not love her, which diverged from its source material,[3] the 1896 novel Tjerita Njai Dasima by G. Francis.[4] This was followed soon after by Matjan Berbisik (Whispering Tiger), a drama that followed two boys, raised as brothers, in violent competition for the love of a girl;[5] Sorga Palsoe, a drama following the internal strife in a Chinese family;[6] and Melati van Agam (Jasmine of Agam), the second adaptation of Parada Harahap's drama of the same name.[7]

In 1941, Tan directed several additional films, starting with Si Gomar in 1941. This film, following two long-separated siblings who nearly marry each other, was the feature film debut of Tan Tjeng Bok, a former theatre star with Dardanella.[8] Tan followed this with several films in 1941. These included Srigala Item (Black Wolf), an adaptation of The Mark of Zorro;[9] Matula, a film of love and magic;[10] Singa Laoet (Sea Lion), following a band of pirates;[11] and Tengkorak Hidoep (Living Skull),[12] which has been credited as the first horror film produced in what is now Indonesia.[lower-alpha 1][13] Although he was only active for two years, Tan was one of the most active film directors of the Dutch East Indies during this period.[14]

After the Japanese occupation, which led to nearly all studios in the country being closed, Tan focused on journalism;[2] however, he later told the Indonesian film historian Misbach Yusa Biran that he had completed Njoo Cheong Seng's Air Mata Iboe during the occupation.[15] Throughout this turbulent period that saw Indonesia achieve its independence, Tan wrote on sports and, later, retrospectives of life in the Indies.[1] He also wrote several films for Young in 1949, although he was no longer active as a director.[16] Throughout the 1950s he served as head editor of the magazine Djaja,[1] writing under the pseudonym Tanu Trh. He remained active until his death in 1984.[5]

Tan was involved in the production of twelve films in a period of ten years, nine as a director.[16] Many of his films were under JIF's subsidiary Action Film[17] and targeted at lower-class audiences.[18] Most are recorded as moderate successes,[2] although some, such as Sorga Palsoe, did not perform well.[6]

• Dasima (1940) – As director
• Matjan Berbisik (Whispering Tiger; 1940) – As director and screenwriter
• Sorga Palsoe (False Paradise; 1940) – As director
• Melati Van Agam (Jasmine of Agam; 1940) – As director
• Si Gomar (1941) – As director and storywriter
• Srigala Item (Black Wolf; 1941) – As director and storywriter
• Matula (1941) – As director and cinematographer
• Singa Laoet (Sea Lion; 1941) – As director, screenwriter, story writer, cinematographer, and sound manager
• Tengkorak Hidoep (Living Skull; 1941) – As director, screenwriter, storywriter, cinematographer, and sound manager
• Sehidup Semati (One Life, One Death; 1949) – As screenwriter
• Saputangan (Handkerchief; 1949) – As screenwriter
• Bengawan Solo (Solo River; 1949) – As screenwriter

Footnotes

Bibliography

• Tan Tjoei Hock at IMDb