Shark Woman was a terrible title for this -- better to see it listed here as Samarang. There is a shark, and there most certainly is a woman, but there isn't really any reason to put them together except to sound like some kind of film that this isn't. I should point out this movie is SILENT with an orchestral track tacked onto the Alpha video release. That music has nothing to do with the story or setting, but honestly the movie manages to retain some (very) minor interest despite this. Intertitles explain the story and add some commentary.
Despite it's categorization here on imdb, it's not a documentary. More-or-less a rip-off of Murnau's TABU, but with even less effort at being a real-life story, and with a somewhat happier ending. Fairly cute in its way, with some interesting insert shots. Lovely locations and the principal actors have the looks and build to run around half-dressed (a la Joel McCrea and Delores Del Rio in 1932's Bird of Paradise). I'm not convinced that our principals are actually the same ethnicity as the rest of the village; 'Ahmang' looks quite European, and when he and 'Sai-Yu' both put their hands on his little brothers back, it's rather obvious that they're both much paler than he. Also, sometimes 'Sai-yu' has rather different skin tone from one shot to another (e.g., she appears rather darker when she climbs out of the water dripping wet) but that may owe to different film stock.
Plot includes a love triangle, pearl diving and -- well, why not -- cannibals. Lots of animal shots to help pad the running time -- not to be confused with time the principals spend running, which is quite a bit when they're being chased by cannibals. Continuity errors run fairly high regarding the dryness of Sai-Yu's hair, and the choice of her bikini tops, which tend to change from shot to shot. Most notable is when she dives in wearing one top, swims to a boat, and then emerges with no top at all. There's no explanation for this, but no matter; nobody gives this the slightest notice, and it spontaneously reappears later on. In between is 15 minutes of the two principals running around on a tropical island, which may very well be the film's intended selling point. There is some drama to give it some conclusion (and it's not really giving anything away to tell you that it involves a shark), but otherwise a largely cheerful Pacific Island-type movie with plenty of boa constrictors and orangutans. And that rounds out SAMARANG.
