REVIEW: Indonesian war epic 'Red And White'

The first part in the Red and White trilogy based around the Indonesian war for independence gets it's DVD release on the 7th of February, but is it off to a good start?

Reviewer: Pierre Badiola
Rated: 15 (UK)
Director: Yadi Sugandi
Cast: Doni Alamsyah, Rahayu Saraswati, Lukman Sardi

In the wake of Japan's surrender in World War II, Indonesia was left fighting again against Dutch colonialists who in 1947 attempted to re-assert ownership of the region. Red And White, the first part of an upcoming trilogy, uses this bloody backdrop to tell the fictional story of a group of ragtag army recruits from different walks of life who unite to take down their aggressors and help achieve independence in the country.

The film seems less intent on contextualising the war and it’s effect on the nation of Indonesia than it does on delivering an emotionally fraught action story, which is fine. However when the Dutch antagonists are depicted as massacre-happy, soulless villains and the protagonists similarly single-minded, with obvious motivations and clear character types, the one-dimensionality of the whole thing may be a little too much for some.

Within the motley crew of inexperienced trainees is a spirited, Christian farmer, a college educated, well-to-do officer, a spiritual near-pacifist, a teacher and a fat person used for comic relief. It’s about as contrived a set-up as they come, with the differences between them in class/status/religion played up for added tension. Will they be able to overcome their differences in order to unite against a common enemy? Will they conquer their fears and fulfil their duty as soldiers come crunch-time? It may be obvious what direction the film takes, but for the most part it’s a fairly entertaining experience, with character arcs and relationship dramas playing out at a nice pace, never bogging down in it’s own self-importance even though there are a couple of moments of moral proselytising here and there.

The whole style of the film actually feels quite classical, recalling polished, heroic American war films of the ‘40s and ‘50s rather than the gritty realism of modern war pictures (odd considering the American producers and writers have worked on such films as Saving Private Ryan and Blackhawk Down). The cinematography is bright and vivid and the action is dealt with in an appropriately inexplicit, 15-rated manner. The filmmakers obviously were aiming for this to appeal to as wide an audience as possible and while it contains all the makings of a mainstream hit, I wonder if there wasn’t a more compelling, real life story that could’ve been told in it’s place, one that wasn’t so steeped in well-trodden movie-convention.

movie rating: 3/5

Red And White is out on DVD and Blu-Ray on the 7th of February.

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