It is always interesting to get cinematic glimpses into Indonesia’s past, to see the ways things really used to be. (FYI if you haven’t seen it, be sure to check out this fascrinating documentary on Jakarta from the 1970’s)
“The Coveted East Indies” by Deane Dickson was recently uploaded to Youtube by the History Owl channel. Part of the Prelinger Archive of rare documentary footage, the film documents life in the then “Dutch East Indies” and Jakarta (then called Batavia) towards the very end of the Dutch colonial era, from 1938-1939.
If you’re trying to turn up the video’s volume, don’t bother. It’s a silent film, or at least whatever audio it had has been lost to the ages. Nonetheless, the warm color images of colonial era are absolutely striking if sometimes hard to understand.
Surprisingly, even though this film does spend a lot of time glorifying of the Dutch colonial government, the filmmaker also seem to have a great deal of sympathy for the Indonesians people under their oppression. Go to 8:34 for a heartbreaking example of this.
Without any audio, we know it can be difficult to watch this kind of video, so we’ve gone ahead and highlighted a few of what we thought were the most interesting bits
0:17: An overlay of the United States on top of Indonesia illustrates just how big the archipelago is.
0:57: Video of boats going along Batavia’s canals – it really does remind one of Venice or Amsterdam.
2:34: Street signs pointing toward: Batavia, Serang, Tangerang, Cheribon and Bandoeng followed by shots of a busy street (though no real macet!).
6:09: A long line of servants in white coming out to serve a Dutch family a meal. Perhaps a rijsttafel?
8:05: Shot of a man selling pinwheels and toys, followed by a heartbreaking shot of a young Indonesian boy carrying a heavy load while a presumably Dutch toddler that is only slightly younger watches with fascination. The look on the Indonesian boy’s face is hard to describe…
12:15-14:00: Shots of what life was like for rich Dutch families in Java – walking around a palatial mansion, watching an airshow, a woman petting a deer, playing tennis, swimming. picking flowers.
16:53: Javanese men in military uniforms marching and performing various drills, shots of children running into an underground bunker. Followed by shots of Dutch air force and army personnel.
23:00: Shots of Indonesian workers at a dock, Some are wearing very tattered clothing.
23:38: This guy is trying to look super serious for the camera but can’t keep it together.
24:20: Many young workers waiting in line, it looks like they are getting paid in rice.
25:00: More shots of a downtown street, plus we catch a glimpse of a pedicab.
26:45: Mickey Mouse had apparently already made his way to Indonesia by the late 1930s!
31:49: The film finally leaves Batavia for Djokjakarta (Yogyakarta) where we see some beautiful shots of rice paddies and Borobudur.
33:19: Shots of students learning traditional arts at a school including woodcarving and batik.
We hope you enjoyed this fascinating glimpse into the past and wish we could tell you more about it. If there are any historians reading this who can provide more insight into the film, please let us know on our Facebook page.
Reader Interactions