Tiga Dara

Tiga Dara
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Directed byUsmar Ismail
Written by
Starring
CinematographyMax Tera
Edited bySoemardjono
Music bySaiful Bahri
Distributed byPerfini
Release date
  • 24 August 1957 (1957-08-24)
Running time
115 minutes
CountryIndonesia
LanguageIndonesian

Tiga Dara (Indonesian for Three Maidens) is a 1957 Indonesian musical drama film starring Chitra Dewi, Mieke Wijaya, and Indriati Iskak. Directed by Usmar Ismail for Perfini, the film follows three sisters who live with their father and grandmother. When the eldest sister, Nunung, shows no interest in marrying, her family tries unsuccessfully to find a husband for her. Nunung initially rejects the advances of a young man named Toto, who instead dates her younger sister. However, when he becomes jealous and travels from Jakarta to Bandung to profess his love, she agrees to marry him.

Produced using government credit and written in an attempt to cover Perfini's outstanding debts, Tiga Dara was intended to be commercial despite Ismail's disapproval of such works. After it was released on 24 August 1957, the film was an immense popular success, launching the careers of its stars, earning the highest box office returns of any Perfini film, and being screened in first-class cinemas. However, even though Tiga Dara was shown at the 1959 Venice Film Festival and received Best Musical Arrangement at the 1960 Indonesian Film Week, Ismail considered it a compromise of his initial vision for Perfini.

Since its release, Tiga Dara has been considered a classic of Indonesian cinema, with themes which remain relevant for modern Indonesian society. It was remade as Tiga Dara Mencari Cinta (Three Maidens Seek Love) in 1980 by Djun Saptohadi and influenced Teguh Karya's Pacar Ketinggalan Kereta (Lover Left by the Train, 1989). A second remake, Ini Kisah Tiga Dara (This Is the Tale of the Three Maidens), was produced by Nia Dinata and released in September 2016. In 2015 Tiga Dara was restored and converted to 4K digital by L'immagine Ritrovata Laboratory.