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The Three Maidens

Name: The Three Maidens
Director: Usmar Ismail
Released: 1956
Duration: 115 min

Representation Score

4.4/10

Fair

1956

Director

Usmar Ismail

Runtime

115 minutes

Average Rating

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New Showbiz Analysis

Usmar Ismail’s work is a foundational piece of Indonesian cinema that centers domestic life through a female lens. By focusing on the three sisters, the film gives its protagonists a level of control that was progressive for the mid-1950s. However, the film remains a product of its era, adhering to the assumptions that everyone is straight and cisgender. While it challenges Western cinematic dominance by centering Indonesian identity, it lacks the layered diversity seen in modern works. The score reflects a transitional period where the film moves away from strict hierarchies but stays within conventional romantic and social structures.

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Category Breakdown

Does The Three Maidens have LGBTQ+ representation?

Limited

The film focuses on heterosexual relationships and traditional dating customs. There is no indication of LGBTQ themes or non-binary gender identities in the story.

How does The Three Maidens portray gender?

Fair

Three sisters drive the emotional core, providing meaningful roles for women. The story explores the tension between women's independence and traditional household duties.

How racially and ethnically diverse is The Three Maidens?

Good

The film offers a localized, non-Western perspective by centering an Indonesian cast and setting. It reflects a specific post-independence cultural identity in Jakarta.

How does The Three Maidens represent religion and culture?

Fair

The narrative explores tensions between traditional family structures and a modernizing Jakarta. It subtly critiques the patriarchal household through a detached father figure.

Does The Three Maidens include disability representation?

Minimal

There is no evidence of characters with visible or invisible disabilities being central to the story.

Present on Screen

The film provides significant roles for its female protagonists.
It offers a localized, non-Western perspective on family and modernity.
The story provides a nuanced look at post-independence Indonesian cultural identity.

Limited or Absent

The narrative adheres strictly to traditional romantic structures.
The film lacks representation of non-cisgender identities or LGBTQ themes.
There is no visible representation of characters with disabilities.

Official Synopsis

Three sisters—Nunung, Nana and Nenny—are being raised by their grandmother in Jakarta after their mother's death. Though the sisters' father Sukandar lives with them, he is too involved in his own work to pay them heed.

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