''Soegija'' is an

epic Epic commonly refers to: * Epic poetry, a long narrative poem celebrating heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation * Epic film, a genre of film with heroic elements Epic or EPIC may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and medi ...

history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...

drama of

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

, directed by the senior director of Indonesia

Garin Nugroho Garin Nugroho Riyanto (born 6 June 1961) is an Indonesian film director. Biography Nugroho was born in Yogyakarta, Special Region of Yogyakarta on 6 June 1961. He was the fourth child of postal workers Soetjipto Amin and Mariah, who eventually ...

, about

national hero The title of Hero is presented by various governments in recognition of acts of self-sacrifice to the state, and great achievements in combat or labor. It is originally a Soviet-type honor, and is continued by several nations including Belarus, Ru ...

Albertus Soegijapranata Albertus Soegijapranata, SJ (Indonesian: ; Perfected Spelling: Albertus Sugiyapranata; 25 November 1896 – 22 July 1963), better known by his birth name Soegija, was a Jesuit priest who became the Apostolic Vicar of Semarang and later ...

. The film, starring actors with a diversity of cultural backgrounds, is launched in Indonesia on 7 June 2012. With a budget of around Rp 12 billion ($1,2 million), the film became the most expensive movie directed by Garin Nugroho so far. The film was produced with the format that takes the story from the diary of the National Heroes character Mgr. Soegijapranata by taking the background

Indonesian National Revolution The Indonesian National Revolution, or the Indonesian War of Independence, was an armed conflict and diplomatic struggle between the Republic of Indonesia and the Dutch Empire and an internal social revolution during Aftermath of WWII, postw ...

and the establishment of the

United States of Indonesia The United States of Indonesia ( nl, Verenigde Staten van Indonesië, id, Republik Indonesia Serikat, abbreviated as RIS), was a short-lived federal state to which the Netherlands formally transferred sovereignty of the Dutch East Indies (except ...

during the period 1940–1949. The film was directed by veteran director

and shot within the regional background of

Yogyakarta Yogyakarta (; jv, ꦔꦪꦺꦴꦒꦾꦏꦂꦠ ; pey, Jogjakarta) is the capital city of Special Region of Yogyakarta in Indonesia, in the south-central part of the island of Java. As the only Indonesian royal city still ruled by a monarchy, ...

and

Semarang Semarang ( jv, ꦏꦸꦛꦯꦼꦩꦫꦁ , Pegon: سماراڠ) is the capital and largest city of Central Java province in Indonesia. It was a major port during the Dutch colonial era, and is still an important regional center and port today. ...

. Soegija is not a regular war movie with much combat, but describes the humanity behind the war. It shows how different people from Indonesia, Japan and the Netherlands, civil and military, were dealing with everyday life. Why those people made the choices they made, because of the different backgrounds they all came from.

Synopsis

Though raising the universal aspect of humanity rather than emphasize the religious aspects, this film is about

Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies ( nl, Nederlands(ch)-Indië; ), was a Dutch colony consisting of what is now Indonesia. It was formed from the nationalised trading posts of the Dutch East India Company, which ...

(now Indonesia) first indigenous bishop: Monsignor

SJ, from his inauguration until the end of Indonesia's independence war (1940–1949). This turbulent decade marked by the end of 350 years of Dutch occupation, entry and commencement of

Japanese occupation of Indonesia The Empire of Japan occupied the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) during World War II from March 1942 until after the end of the war in September 1945. It was one of the most crucial and important periods in modern Indonesian history. In May ...

, the

Proclamation of Indonesian Independence The Proclamation of Indonesian Independence ( id, Proklamasi Kemerdekaan Indonesia, or simply ''Proklamasi'') was read at 10:00 on Friday, 17 August 1945 in Jakarta. The declaration marked the start of the diplomatic and armed resistance of th ...

, and the return of the Netherlands who tried to get Indonesia back as part of their Dutch Empire, which led to the

. Soegija wrote all these events in his diary reflections, and also its participation in relieving the suffering of people in the midst of the chaos of war. He tried to play a role at all levels, local politics, national and international. ''(For his participation, President

Sukarno Sukarno). (; born Koesno Sosrodihardjo, ; 6 June 1901 – 21 June 1970) was an Indonesian statesman, orator, revolutionary, and nationalist who was the first president of Indonesia, serving from 1945 to 1967. Sukarno was the leader of ...

awarded him with the title of

National Hero of Indonesia National Hero of Indonesia ( id, Pahlawan Nasional Indonesia) is the highest-level title awarded in Indonesia. It is posthumously given by the Government of Indonesia for actions which are deemed to be heroic, defined as "actual deeds which can b ...

.)'' The film also shows the background and story of the Indonesian nurse Mariyem, Dutch soldier Robert, Dutch

war photographer ''War Photographer'' is a documentary by Christian Frei about the photographer James Nachtwey. As well as telling the story of an iconic man in the field of war photography, the film addresses the broader scope of ideas common to all those inv ...

Hendrick and Japanese colonel Nobuzuki, in their own struggle during one of the heaviest periods of Indonesian history.

Cast

* Nirwan Dewanto as

* Andrea Reva as Lingling * Annisa Hertami Kusumastuti as Mariyem * Butet Kartaredjasa as Koster Toegimin * Eko cockscomb as Suwito * Henky Solaiman as Lingling's grandfather * Landung Simatupang as Mr. Ward * Margono as Pak Besut * Marwoto as a Seller of Herbs * Muhammad Abbe as Maryono *

Nobuyuki Suzuki is a Japanese actor and member of EXILE's theater company (Gekidan EXILE). He is currently one of the two Guinness World Record holders for "Most marshmallows caught by mouth in one minute". He rose to fame by acting as a charming and handsome ...

as Nobuzuki * Olga Lydia as Lingling's mother * Rukman Rosadi as Lantip * Wouter Braaf as Hendrick *

Wouter Zweers Wouter is a Dutch masculine given name popular in the Netherlands and Belgium. It is the Dutch equivalent of the English name Walter and French name Gauthier, both of Germanic origin, meaning "ruler of the army", "army of the forest" or "bright ar ...

as Robert

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Soegija Indonesian drama films Indonesian biographical drama films Films directed by Garin Nugroho Films shot in Indonesia Maya Award winners