The Rape of Malaya
'Mata Hari' was Malay Film Productions’ second war movie based on the Japanese invasion of Malaya/Singapore in 1941-42, released a few months after the resounding success of Lamberto Avellana and P. Ramlee’s 'Sergeant Hassan'. Written by Abdul Razak (who did the scripts for the 'Pontianak' film series) and directed by the prolific Ramon Estella, the movie stars beauty queen Maria Menado (of Pontianak fame) as ‘Matahari’, the daughter of a kampong headman who is captured by the Japanese. She witnesses the atrocities committed by the invaders, who tortured her father to death and rounded up innocent women to become prostitutes and mistresses for their commanders. Not wanting to cower to the enemy, Matahari (which means the sun in Malay and was also the name of a real-life WWI German spy) decides to form and lead a guerrilla force to fight the Japanese.
- Overview
- Cast
- Crew
The Rape of Malaya
- Overview
- Cast
- Crew
Status
Released
Release Date
Aug 31, 1959
Runtime
2h 0m
Genres
History, War
Original Title
Mata Hari
Director
Ramon A. Estella
Description
'Mata Hari' was Malay Film Productions’ second war movie based on the Japanese invasion of Malaya/Singapore in 1941-42, released a few months after the resounding success of Lamberto Avellana and P. Ramlee’s 'Sergeant Hassan'. Written by Abdul Razak (who did the scripts for the 'Pontianak' film series) and directed by the prolific Ramon Estella, the movie stars beauty queen Maria Menado (of Pontianak fame) as ‘Matahari’, the daughter of a kampong headman who is captured by the Japanese. She witnesses the atrocities committed by the invaders, who tortured her father to death and rounded up innocent women to become prostitutes and mistresses for their commanders. Not wanting to cower to the enemy, Matahari (which means the sun in Malay and was also the name of a real-life WWI German spy) decides to form and lead a guerrilla force to fight the Japanese.
