A story about armed conflict based on original historical events usually attracts a lot of people. Including a movie from the Netherlands titled De Oost or The East.

As the title implies, De Oost tells the story of Dutch soldiers who were sent to their former colony in the east, Indonesia after the Dutch was freed from the shackles of Nazi Germany's colonial rule after World War II.

Many Indonesians are familiar with the name Westerling, the historical figure from the Dutch army who was notorious for systematically massacring tens of thousands of Indonesians with a smile.

Iwan Fals' song entitled Pesawat Tempurku satirized him with the lyrics "Westerling Pun Tersenyum" or Westerling also smiled because the man was famous for his sadistic smile in every photo. Here’s the review of De Oost!

A Rare theme About Indonesian Independence War from the Perspective of Dutch Army

Usually films that tell about the Indonesia independence war tell about the Indonesian fighters who fought against foreign nations who colonized Indonesia. But De Oost carries a rare theme, looking at the Indonesian independence war from the perspective of Dutch soldiers who returned to Indonesia after World War II.

It tells the story of Johan de Vries, a former fighter of the Dutch partisan underground movement when fighting the Nazi Germany's occupation, who couldn’t get a job in the Netherlands after the European War ended.

Johan's last choice was to join the military and was sent to the colonies, namely the Dutch East Indies or Indonesia to restore peace there. Initially, Johan was consumed by Dutch propaganda which informed that many Indonesians were influenced by Soekarno as a Japanese collaborator against the Allied troops.

In fact, after months of serving in Semarang, Johan did not find any Indonesian fighters at all, instead he was often entertained by the hospitality of local residents.

The Japanese, who were still in Indonesia, still liked to act arbitrarily against the people of Semarang even though they had lost the war, such as looting their wealth with violence, and that caused Johan to clash with the Imperial Japanese Army.

The feud was stopped by the arrival of Westerling who was nicknamed "De Turk" because he was a mixed Greek-Dutch born in Turkey.

Like Watching Far Cry 3 Live-Action

Johan and Westerling's meeting brought them closer to carry out various secret missions against a group called the Black Crow who killed Dutch soldiers and also local residents who were labeled traitors for cooperating with the invaders.

Until finally the Dutch created a special force called the Depot Spesial Troepen or DST where Captain Westerling became one of the leaders and invited Johan to work together in Sulawesi.

The mission carried out by Westerling with the Depot Spesial Troepen was none other than a systematic massacre by killing tens of thousands of Sulawesi people and burning their houses.

Aiming to suppress the fighters' resistance by terrorizing the population with massacre, Westerling who doubled as a security officer, prosecutor, judge, and executioner immediately executed every civilian suspected of being a fighter with a short trial process without a defense attorney.

This was considered legitimate by Westerling who analogized the struggle for independence as a cancer that had spread to the civilian and had to be amputated so that it would not spread throughout the body of the state.

Johan's inner conflict as a peace-loving person flared up when he opposed the Westerling massacre, he was even considered a traitor and Westerling spread the rumor that Johan’s father was a Nazi collaborator so the army hated Johan.

If you played Far Cry 3 from Ubisoft, De Oost will remind you of the game. Because,  apart from being set in armed conflict in Indonesia, the cruel Westerling provides the same energy as the Far Cry 3 psychopathic villain named Vaas Montenegro.

He released Johan who deserted to the forest and then ordered his troops to hunt and kill him just like Vaas did to the main character of Far Cry 3, the protagonist of De Oost must survive by taking out his chasers one by one. 

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Westerling Played by a Hollywood Actor

The controversial De Oost as a bold Netherland production with a rare theme reveals the cruelty of its soldiers who want to try to re-colonize Indonesia received a lot of criticism and praise. The daughter of Westerling even sent an open letter to protest this film, even though the figure of the father was played by the Hollywood artist who played Jafar in the Disney Aladdin live-action, Marwan Kenzari.

A young actor named Martijn Lakemeier who became the main protagonist Johan de Vries is in tandem with Indonesian-blooded artist Denise Aznam who played Gita. The veteran film star named Lukman Sardi also appears in this film as Bakar.

Produced by an Ambonese-blooded director named Jim Taihuttu, De Oost is based on a historical tragedy with a new, different perspective, fun to enjoy even though it has a long duration of more than 2 hours like the movie Titanic, but because of its slick presentation, you won't be bored. 

The back and forth plot that tells Johan's experience after World War II in the Netherlands, then his tenure in Indonesia and his efforts to atone for his sins when he returned to the Netherlands is presented in a sequence that makes you want to watch De Oost film over and over again.

De Oost film provides a variety of unique experiences in a war film that is rarely found in other similar genre films.

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