THE FILM 'NOMADS OF THE JUNGLE' (NOTJ - MALAYA, 1948): A REVIEW AND A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE NOMADIC GROUP'S LIFESTYLE AS PORTRAYED IN THE FILM AND AS OBSERVED IN THE PRESENT

The value of film as a research tool has long been recognized. It provides data which can be used as a primary source for study and research.;In investigating this film, which is considered "dated, but of historical interest," the study concentrated on two major goals: to review the film and to make a comparative study of the group's lifestyle as portrayed in the film and as observed in the present.;Specifically, the purposes of this study are threefold. Firstly, to write about the film--its history and historical context, the rationale behind its production, and its degree of ethnographicness. Secondly, to analyze the behavioral culture content portrayed in the film and use it as a "baseline" for comparison with the group's current behavioral culture. Thirdly, to locate and visually document the same group as it lives now, thereby contributing a new source for the study of an ethnic group.;This study is both interpretive and descriptive and employs historical research, literary sources, reviews of several ethnographic films, Heider's "Attributes Dimension Grid," Ekman's "VID-R System," Mead's "Study Culture at a Distance," Boasin's "Baseline model," and first-hand observation and interview.;The film "Nomads of the Jungle" (NOTJ), which portrays an aboriginal group in the Malaysian Peninsula, was originally produced in 1948 as a geography teaching aid and later categorized as an ethnographic film.;Among the major findings of this study are (1) The film's production was an answer to the audio-visual movement, the post-war promotion of world understanding, the geography awareness movement, the progressive education movement, and the "study culture from the distance" concept; (2) the film lacks ethnographic understanding and supporting printed materials, but its contents are authentic and it possesses "high ratings" in several ethnographic attributes; (3) the group's basic lifestyle has remained the same and change in its lifestyle is not rapid; and (4) obstacles to rapid change in the group's lifestyle include their weak leadership system and their attitudes toward life, people and development.