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.
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.