Directed by the Dutchmen Albert Balink and Mannus Franken, it featured an amateur native cast and starred Raden Mochtar and Soekarsih.

Pareh resulted in a change in the cinema of Dutch East Indies, which had been Chinese-oriented for several years; films began to make more effort at targeting local audiences.

The American visual anthropologist Karl G. Heider considers Pareh and Terang Boelan the two most important cinematic works from the Dutch East Indies during the 1930s.

[3] This situation was created by the Great Depression, which had led to the Dutch East Indies government collecting higher taxes, advertisers asking for more money, and cinemas selling tickets at lower prices; this ensured that there was a very low profit margin for local films.

[9] Unlike earlier filmmakers in the country, Balink invested time and money in searching for the best locations and actors possible, without considering whether a person was already a celebrity.

[9] According to the Indonesian anthropologist Albertus Budi Susanto, the emphasis on Mochtar's title was meant as a way to draw a higher-class audience.

[12] Artistic direction and some of the screenwriting was handled by Mannus Franken, an avant-garde documentary filmmaker from the Netherlands, whom Balink had brought to the Indies.

There the original voices of the cast were dubbed by actors in the Netherlands, resulting in stilted language use and heavy Dutch accents.

Writing in 1955, the Indonesian author and cultural critic Armijn Pane opined that Pareh was technically unparalleled in contemporary Indies cinema, with careful continuity and dynamic cuts.

[2] Heider, John H. McGlynn, and Salim Said note that the film was of acceptable technical quality but is best remembered for changing the path of cinematic developments in the country.

The Teng Chun, who – together with Balink – continued to be the only active filmmaker in the country until 1937, began focusing on more modern stories and those which would be popular with native audiences.

[24] Terang Boelan proved to be the most successful local production until 1953's Krisis (Crisis), released after Indonesia had become independent.