Tjoet Nja' Dhien

This movie made Christine Hakim as a living legend in Indonesia, although it has been years away but the movie present one of the best cinematography ever made in Indonesia, support by powerful acting, excellent scene and storyline.

I love this movie very much and saw it while I was kid. But I was knowing only a little to appreciate movie, but I found myself impressed. After several years this movie still in my mind, the scene of Christine Hakim in the jungle showered under the rain and shaking in pain with amazing facial expression I considered as the best scene I ever watched.

9/10

Do you think taking picture after massacring people is satanic? I think all good people would think that way too. And this was the fact, the photographs are well documented. If you happened to read some Aceh-dutch war books you would find those pictures among photographs depicting Aceh-dutch war. I have read some in Bahasa and those pictures are real. It was terrible. It was Van Daalen's war style. I even wonder if the word 'vandalism' derived from his way of war in Aceh. You could imagine what Dutch had done during more than 300 years of Dutch colonialism through out the country. It was written in history that when Aceh was still independent with its own sultanate, the people population was recorded about 9 million people. When Indonesia got its independence, the population of Aceh remained about 4 millions only.

That's it. It was terrible and satanic but it was the fact.

In the Tjoet Nya Dhien film we see indeed a scene where Dutch soldiers pose amidst a large number of dead bodies that were slaughtered by these soldiers. A reader in Australia comments about this scene and wonders whether that scene was just fantasy. The scene was set more or less exactly as shown in a photo that was made by Dutch soldiers after they had slaughtered these villagers. The photo has appeared in many magazines and became the subject of intense debates at the Dutch government in these days. I have seen the photo and beside that I was involved in the preparation of the movie, first to write the Dutch dialogs, then did the casting for those actors who would play a Dutch role. And after that I played myself in the movie, not as Snouck Hurgronje but as Captain VELTMAN, who was the man who "captured" Tjoet Nya.

This is great Film from Director Eros Djaros, his first and last Film. Best photography by George Kamarullah who shoot excotic Jungle panorama of Aceh at Sumatra island. Best Music Score by Idris Sardi. Tjoet Nja' Dhien is great epic from Aceh. Strong woman who fight at 1887-1910 to stop collonialisme of Nederland in Aceh. In the end of her struggle, she is betrayed by her chief army (Panglima Laot). She is arrested by Nederland in the old, sick, and blind condition. To avoid and stop any struggle from her followers, Nederland moved place where she is arrested to Sumedang West Java. She was died and burried in Sumedang.

This film is far most the authentique story about the Aceh war which brought the Netherlands almost in bankruptcy. The character of Lieutenant Voorneman created to represent more Dutch officers who were only posted there for several years and would become confusing for the audience who in fact is the villain against Teuku Umar and Tjoet Ny;a Dhien.. This role became my destiny in this picture. Besides that I used video 8 recordings to check immediately the shots as waiting for the rushes to be developped in Singapore would take to much time to review taken shots. With best friend Rudy Wowor who played Captain Veltman I translated and wrote dialogs after direction of Director Eros Djarot and training the extras some military training to make it look like real soldiers Shooting locations were in several parts of Aceh and in Pelabuhan Ratu area West Java and in Jakarta Museum Fatahillah. It took almost 2 years before the premiere was held. This year it was revived in the cinemas again. Unfortunately so many actors contributing in this movie had past away. By Roy H Karyadi.