Details

Release year: 2020

Storyline

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.

Top credits

Directors

Jim Taihuttu

Writers

Cast

Martijn Lakemeier — Johan de Vries
Marwan Kenzari — Raymond 'The Turk' Westerling
Jonas Smulders — Mattias Cohen
Abel van Gijlswijk — Sjaak 'Charlie' Rondhuis

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Did you know

• The "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.

• The Dutch production shot for 2.5 months on location in Indonesia. The shoot was plagued by many complications: heavy rainfall caused river floods that washed away parts of the set; locations that were guaranteed to be safe were teeming with crocodiles; cast and crew got sick with typhus, food poisoning and sun strokes, and the director's assistant (the director's sister) was bitten by a scorpion. Calls to prayer coming from nearby mosques also caused constant disruptions, so most of the sounds and dialogues had to be redone in post-production.

• Raymond Westerling (played by Marwan Kenzari), also known as "The Turk", was a real historic figure. As depicted in the movie, he lead several missions in Indonesia to quell the local uprisings, making ample use of the right to perform summary executions, and became an opera singer after his return to the Netherlands (the final scene is completely fictionalized, though). Branded a war criminal by many, he remained a controversial figure but was never formally indicted. He died from cardiac arrest in 1987. Even though the Indonesian government had no demands concerning the screenplay, they did request that Westerling's not be mentioned during the shoot in Indonesia, as he is still regarded as the personification of evil there.