Acting
Even though he was an orphan, Herman was serious about developing himself in the arts. Moreover, he received encouragement from Kustari, his mother's niece. Herman went to Jakarta to enter the film world. For a while, he stayed at Mukhsin's house. Later, Mukhsin was instrumental in bringing Kustari, who caught the attention of director Hendra. The pairing of Kustari and Herman was successful, the two new stars were liked by the audience.
Mukahar married a Marsih village girl. After Indonesia became fully sovereign, Mukahar and his wife moved to the city, but continued to live simply as if they were still in the village. This made his father angry. The father forces Mukahar to marry a city girl.
Add the Plot.
To get closer to Rukyah (E. Zaenah), a village girl he is interested in, city youth Kadir (M. S. Priyadi) disguises himself as a driver. Rukyah seems very difficult to tame, but finally succeeds, after going through a winding road. Among other things, Rukyah is accused of stealing a necklace, although it is later proven to be Kadir's mother's mistake.
Husein is brought to trial after trying to commit suicide. He refuses to give an explanation until he is forced to. Then he begins his story. Husein enters university with help from his unmarried brother, Hasan, who dedicates his life for Husein and his sister Munah who has a heart ailment. But when Hasan meets Rahimah, Husein’s friend, Wahab, gets jealous as he considers her as his girlfriend. Wahab is very bitter about this and swears revenge. At Munah’s urging, Hasan marries Rahimah. Their happiness is short-lived since Wahab starts to woo Rahimah. After Husein punches Wahab, the latter starts spreading slander. He tells Hasan that Husein is sleeping with Rahimah. Jealousy and rage start to build up and Husein and the pregnant Rahimah are thrown out of the house.
Hartoyo and Sanusi, who had been friends since they were TNI, registered themselves as development soldiers to be sent to Harapan Island. Sanusi's younger sister, Aesah, was Hartoyo's girlfriend. Sanusi's mother passed away and then Sanusi also passed away. This made Aesah like someone who had lost her memory, wandering "along Malioboro". Luckily Hartono returned and looked for Aesah.
Even though he had a son and a daughter from Suciati, Samsu was still tempted by other women. His wife and two children were left in Yogya, then Samsu went to Jakarta. Because of her suffering, Suci was blind and worked as a massage therapist. Suci migrated to Jakarta, and happened to be asked to massage Samsu.
Tells the story of Nenny's friendship with Mamat, a school bus driver. Mamat, who feels that Nenny resembles his son who was lost during the revolution, quickly becomes close to her. Nenny also defends Mamat when he gets into trouble and is about to be fired.
A hero of revolution returns to civilian life to find the new society very different from the ideals he fought for.
Tarmina is a selfish wife. She asks Hadi for a divorce after he goes bankrupt. She leaves him and daughter, Juriah, and remarries a tycoon. One day, the second husband has an accident near where Hadi is standing. Tarmina accuses Hadi of causing the accident. When the second husband learns about Tarmina's unkind nature, he divorces her. Then Tarmina marries a third time with a restaurant owner, but not long after, she divorces again. When Hadi is released from jail, he returns to a happy life with his daughter. In desperation, Tarmina tries to return to them. But she realizes that she has committed so many wrongs to her husband and child. Instead, she ends her life by plunging into the river.
Herman, a customs officer assigned to eradicate smuggling, often loses his temper. When a smuggler’s ship is reported, he immediately orders a search-and-destroy but it’s a reckless act that results in the easy escape of other ships. Then Herman is posted to the mainland as punishment. Here, he reunites with an old friend, Rusli, who offers him a bribe. Herman is now a suspect as several of smuggling ships are able to escape. But it is Herman’s strategy to gain Rusli’s trust so that he can eradicate smuggling at its root. He is reposted back to sea.
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.
Amidst the election rivalry of two villages for the village head post, Cigugur and Cijulang, a troupe of Ronggeng artists, with its prima donna, Sari, arrives at the sub-district center for their regular performance. Sari and Dadang, the son of the Village Elder of Cijulang, are in love with each other. Dadang is also running as a candidate in the village head elections. But Ohim, the son of the Cigugur Village Elder, is also madly in love with Sari. He gets even more daring after a humiliating incident when he tries to touch Sari’s hair bun on the ronggeng stage. The touching of the hair bun is one of the rituals in the traditional art of Ronggeng. Dadang’s father is angered by his son’s relationship with Sari, since it could jeopardize his candidacy as the head of the village.
Yudi has just got out of jail but Bono and the gang force him to commit another crime. Unlike the others in the gang who spend their money for fun right away, Yudi saves his money in the bank. He then meets Sari and starts changing his life. Bono and the gang are mad when they find out about it and they kidnap Sari’s sister. Then Yudi has to fight them and they all die, including Yudi.
