Mention a historical film about the Dutch existence in Indonesia that has an angle on the story from the Dutch side, and include The East in it! The film, which is also known as De Oost, was made by focusing on the outline of the story, based on one of the famous events during the War of Independence (1945-1949), namely the special operation by Raymond Westerling and his team in South Sulawesi (1946-1947). This historical film mixed with thrillers, wars, and a dash of drama (family) is directed by Jim Taihuttu (a Dutch citizen of Maluku descent), with a screenplay written by him and Mustafa Duygulu. Both are not names that are often heard making fiction films.
Before directing The East, it turned out that Jim had been working on short videos. There are only a few fiction films and documentaries. However, another name deserves to be in the spotlight besides the two of them, namely one of the film producers named Shanty Harmayn (Woman of the Land of Hell). The East involves many companies in its production, including Base Entertainment, Ideosource Entertainment (Aruna & Lidahnya), Kaninga Pictures (Night Bus), Salto Films (The Photograph), and three others from overseas, New Amsterdam Film Company, Wrong Men North, and XYZ Films. The cast of Dutch characters may be foreign to Indonesian audiences, such as Martijn Lakemeier, Marwan Kenzari (Murder on the Orient Express), Jonas Smulders, and Coen Bril. Still, the names that play several Indonesians are Putri Ayudya, Lukman Sardi, and Ence Bagus.
After the defeat of Japan in World War 2, the Dutch again set foot in the Indies (Indonesia) with the excuse of protecting the people and maintaining peace in the colonies. Even though he clearly stated this reason, it did not make the Dutch mission a success to be accepted with open arms by the public. Even the harshest rejection gave birth to extremist groups from within the country with movements that endangered others. The moral compass of Johan de Vries (Martijn Lakemeier) also reacts. It appeared in the mind of one of the soldiers sent from the Netherlands to assist in any way and any form to the Indies. Until one day, his first meeting with De Turk – a Turk – aka Raymond Westerling (Marwan Kenzari), started a series of collaborations that led to a choice.
Compared to (only a few) films about Indonesian history – especially during the colonial period until the war of independence, The East succeeds. At the very least, the makers of this film have provided good material to reopen discussion spaces regarding the country’s history (to be honest) through one of the events from a different angle.
Given that the content of The East is a history that occurred in Indonesia, then, of course, there are also Indonesian citizens in it. A wise decision by involving names widely known by the cinema audience to portray the people of Indonesia. Starting from Ence Bagus, Putri Ayudya, to Lukman Sardi. The latter also often appears in several historical films.
At first, the first half of The East felt like most historical films with the style, tone, and storytelling it has come to. It’s just from the angle of the Dutch army soldiers. It shows the impact of colonialism at several points, the rejection of the people in the country, and a series of words from the soldiers. But in the second half of the story, this film seems strange with many confusing scenes. Bad, but also good at the same time. This is bad; those used to the general format of historical films will find it a historical film with a strange style. The execution is interesting by telling (almost) the two timelines of the central character. While still a soldier and after returning to the Netherlands.
Alignments to some of the characters have even become grey because they hide their respective intentions. It is not clear who the enemy and friend are. At least that’s what happened until the last minute before the ending. More or less, The East feels like films from filmmakers who like absurd styles in ‘mixing’ their works. But (specifically) for The East, there are indeed several awkward scenes jumps because it feels like it’s coming from nowhere, even though the motivation for its appearance is relatively weak. The ending is even surprising (in another sense). There is no truly satisfactory solution, except for balanced revenge from the last meeting (farewell) between Johan and Raymond. Then it was resolved with the form of moral compass accountability from Johan.
Suppose the audience of The East is completely blind or has no historical insight about the massacre by Westerling in South Sulawesi. In that case, they are certainly confused about the specifics of the time setting. When exactly did the events in this film take place? People will only know that the time setting takes place around the aftermath of the defeat of Japan and the return of the Netherlands. But only to that extent. Without clear specifications, the range is too long to guess the time setting used in the film. Fortunately, this greyness does not occur in the background of the place (in Indonesia). But is it only Semarang, Bali, Jakarta, and Celebes (Sulawesi)? Because what is visible is only these four areas.
Maybe some films are not too specific to show when the story’s setting takes place. But doesn’t The East talk about one of the important events in the history of the early days of Indonesian independence? And not all cinema audiences in the country are really (cover both sides) literate in history. They especially knew about an operation carried out by a man named Westerling in South Sulawesi. Moreover, the figure, background, and motivation.
The East deserves to be one of the historical films worth watching, among other films about Indonesian history – which are not many. Especially for the people in their own country. The point of view of this film is also an interesting aspect because, so far, similar films only present stories dominated by angles from the Indonesian side. Appreciation is also for Dutch citizens who are honest about the history of ‘that’ times through this film.
