IMDb RATING
6.8/10
7.1K
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A young Dutch soldier deployed to suppress post-WWII independence efforts in the Netherlands' colony of Indonesia finds himself torn between duty and conscience when he joins an increasingly... Read allA young Dutch soldier deployed to suppress post-WWII independence efforts in the Netherlands' colony of Indonesia finds himself torn between duty and conscience when he joins an increasingly ruthless commander's elite squad.A young Dutch soldier deployed to suppress post-WWII independence efforts in the Netherlands' colony of Indonesia finds himself torn between duty and conscience when he joins an increasingly ruthless commander's elite squad.
- Awards
- 2 wins & 9 nominations
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe "Federatie Indische Nederlanders (FIN)" or Federation of Dutch Indonesians filed a lawsuit against the movie. FIN claims the movie is a fictional and overly evil depiction of the Dutch intervention in Indonesia, which was meant to put an end to waves of terror coming from local militia. Dutch veteran organizations were also dismayed by the depiction of Dutch soldiers spouting racial slurs and frequenting prostitutes, Special Forces wearing black "Nazi-like" uniforms (dark green in reality), and Raymond Westerling (Marwan Kenzari) sporting a "Hitleresque" mustache. The FIN asked for a disclaimer at the start of the movie, stating the film is fictional. The producer of the movie did not agree with adding such a statement (apart from the standard disclaimer at the end that parts of the story had been fictionalized for dramatic purposes), and the Dutch court finally decided an additional disclaimer was not necessary. Director Jim Taihuttu defended himself against the allegations, stating that the behavior and language of the soldiers was based on diaries given to him by an actual soldier in the war. He had also showed the movie to several Dutch veterans and army leaders, who all praised the film for its authenticity.
- GoofsThe Dutch called the capital of the Dutch Indies 'Batavia.' No Dutch soldier would call it by its Indonesian name 'Jakarta,' as one does in the movie.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Twee voor twaalf: Episode dated 7 October 2022 (2022)
Featured review
The movie starts off great. Not many historical flaws and a very balanced execution between the different perspectives. Sadly, the second part of the movie takes a Tarantino-esq turn in tone and story (like Inglorious Basterds) and this almost ruined the movie for me. Either commit to one style or the other. Furthermore, the second half is extremele unbalanced and depict the Dutch Special Forces troops as coldblooded murders basically the whole time. If you look at the actual historical facts about Westerling, you'd see that alot of nuance is left off the table. The ending is also very strange and basically pure fiction. This wouldn't be a bad thing because Tarantino did this with Inglorious Basterds aswell and that worked out great. However, Tarantino maintained his tone and story throughout the whole movie. This movie does not. Which makes it feel very disjointed.
Speaking of acting, visuals, story and music: The acting is great (for Dutch standards) and the visuals and music are also very good. The story is very well done (for the first half) but then descends into fiction for a big part. Without spoiling it, yes there were alot of war crimes being committed at that time and place, but a whole lot of other stuff was left out. The second half felt like a montage of war crimes by the Dutch special forces without any actual story being told.
All in all, the movie is still good. The first half especially is very much worth the watch. I would still recommend it, just be warned about historical inaccuracies and lack of nuance.
Speaking of acting, visuals, story and music: The acting is great (for Dutch standards) and the visuals and music are also very good. The story is very well done (for the first half) but then descends into fiction for a big part. Without spoiling it, yes there were alot of war crimes being committed at that time and place, but a whole lot of other stuff was left out. The second half felt like a montage of war crimes by the Dutch special forces without any actual story being told.
All in all, the movie is still good. The first half especially is very much worth the watch. I would still recommend it, just be warned about historical inaccuracies and lack of nuance.
- jasperkwint
- May 14, 2021
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Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Official site
- Languages
- Also known as
- De Oost
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Gross US & Canada
- $180
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $46
- Aug 15, 2021
- Gross worldwide
- $160,187
- Runtime2 hours 17 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.39 : 1
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