Max Havelaar

Fons Rademakers is a Dutch director known for his adaptations of Dutch literature. Earlier I already wrote reviews about his films "The dark room of Damocles" (1963) and "The assault" (1986). With "Max Havelaar" he adapts one of the icons of Dutch literature.

"Max Havalaar" was written in 1860 and is about the Dutch colonial government in Indonesia. It has strong autobiographical elements as the writer Eduard Douwes Dekker has been a civil servant in the Dutch East Indies himself. One of the purposes of the book is to find rehabilitation for injustices Douwes Dekker believes were done to him during his career. He published the book under the pseudonym "Multatuli", latin for "I suffered a lot". This personal motive does not harm however the literary value of the novel.

"Max Havelaar" is a multi faceted book. It covers the following topics.

The way the colonial government of the Dutch East Indies was organized.

The way native princes collaborated with the Dutch government producing an intimately intertwined system of exploitation of the population.

A story within a story about this population featuring the boy Saïdjah and the girl Adinda.

The hypocrisy of Dutch traders in oriental spices, interpreting exploitation as development aid and beleiving it themself, as represented by the character of "Droogstoppel" (dry stubble).

A description about the essential element of bureaucracy as not including bad news in official reports because later you could be held accountable for not doing anything about it. This discription of bureaucracy is surprisingly topical for a novel from 1860!

The movie does not (and could not) treat al these elements. It is above all the story of a good Dutch civil servant (Max Havelaar played by Peter Faber), who tries to protect the native population, and a bad native prince (Adipati played by Adendu Soesilaningrat), who exploits the people. The other elements of the story are hinted at at best. The hypocrisy of Droogstoppel is magnificently illuminated by church services (with very hypocritical preaching) at the beginning and the end of the film.

For the Dutch film industry "Max Havelaar" is on the crossroad of the careers of two prominent Dutch directors. Fons Rademakers, the director of this film, was in the later stages of his career. Paul Verhoeven was the upcoming director at that time. Verhoeven himself was not involved with "Max Havelaar", but some people who would later become his regular "crew" were. I can mention scenario writer Gerard Soeteman, actor Rutger Hauer and cinematographer Jan de Bont. Nevertheless the film is "signature" Rademakers. The scene in which Havelaar saves a dog out af the sea with sharks nearby or the scene in which a native prince tries to blackmail a Dutch civil servant using beautiful young native dancing girls would have been done much more spicy by Verhoeven.

I saw this film once, thirty years ago, when it first came out. It was regarded as avantgarde at the time, and was shown in a small "alternative" movie theaters in Aarhus, Denmark. I have never forgotten the power of this film, and can remember it in amazing detail, in particular the ending. No, it's not a happy film, full of complete heroes who win the day. It is like the world today, and is as relevant now as it was then. I can remember that it was one of the rare films that did not have a musical score. The sound was what actually took place; the sound of machinery,walking, the weather, music played in the film. It is sad that this seems to have become a forgotten film. I don't know one other person who has seen this film. It is unknown and unavailable in all the local movie rental places. Not even Netflex had a copy. I would love to see this film again, and if anyone knows how to get a copy I hope they post that info here. Brian

An idealistic Dutch colonial officer posted to Indonesia in the 19th century is convinced that he can make the kinds of changes that will actually help the local people he is in charge of, but soon runs into massive corruption on both sides.

MAX HAVELAAR, AN OLD DUTCH MASTERPIECE. VIewed at the Seattle Film Festival, June, 2007 .

Fons Rademaker's Dutch masterpiece "Max Havelaar" (The Netherlands, 1976, RT 170 minutes). Fons Rademaker was perhaps the greatest Dutch director and, based on this towering epic, clearly one of the greatest of all European directors. He died only a few month's ago (in 2007) and "Max Havelaar" is the Seattle film festival's fitting tribute to his memory. Rademakers "Havelaar" is a magnificent sweeping epic, based on a novel of the same name, telling a tale of Colonial oppression in the Dutch East Indies — today's Indonesia — in the mid 1850s. Max Havelaar was a Dutch colonial administrator with a sense of justice who struggled against a corrupt local Raja and his own corrupt racist fellow officials in favor of the ruthlessly exploited local farmers. Other than Rutger Hauer in a small role, there are no name actors known outside of Holland, although Peter Faber in the title role is superb and firmly believable as Max, and the large cast of Indonesian actors, male and female, young and old, are completely authentic, unlike Hollywood's phony depictions of such "natives". In short"Havelaar" is a classic of world cinema whose nearly three hours of screen time flit by timelessly. If one were to see only one Dutch film this one is it. Not to miss if it ever comes your Way.

"Max Havelaar" is a 19th century novel about the Dutch colonial rule in Indonesia - specifically, about one man's fight against the oppressive, bureaucratic and inhuman nature of the Dutch/Indonesian rule in the poor province of Lebak. The novel is (rightfully) considered one of Holland's most enduring and powerful works of literature; Fons Rademaker's 1976 cinema adaptation, however, has been largely forgotten.

This is a shame. While the script is ponderous and the pacing definitely not for the impatient, it is a haunting movie thanks to its big star: beautiful Indonesia itself, one of the most lush, mysterious places on earth. Beautifully photographed by Jan "Speed" de Bont, you can practically feel the tropical heat emerge from your screen... And to see the fair-skinned Dutch try to make sense of this environment makes you wonder how they built this empire in the first place. The recreation of the 19th century is also very well done - you can tell the budget must have been unusually high for a Dutch film of this period.

In any case, my advice is to sit through it, maybe in 3 sessions. I'd recommend "Max Havelaar" in particular for anyone interested in Indonesian history and culture.

In my opinion, this is one of the most powerful, beautiful and magnificent movies ever made, on every possible level: the way the story has been adapted from the book, to its incredible cinematography, character depiction, and the sensitive awareness of the complexities in the situation it describes, i.e., the finally brutal Dutch colonizing of Indonesia.

The contrasts between the beauty of the islands and its people with the horror of the disastrous situations brought on by the Dutch, are enormously moving and emotionally wrenching. Be careful about seeing it: it may change your life, as the book it was based on started to change Holland's awareness of the price, to themselves and the people of the islands, of its exploitation of these defenseless peoples. Never seen anything better, really.