The Great Post Road

Overview

Road movie-style documentary about the Great Post Road (De Groote Postweg). Pramoedya Ananta Toer (1925), one of the most important Indonesian authors of recent decades, wrote an essay about the Groote Postweg at the request of director Bernie IJdis. This thousand-kilometer road across Java was built at the beginning of the last century under the leadership of the Dutchman Daendels and cost the lives of thousands of Indonesian forced laborers. Because Toer, as a former political prisoner, is restricted in his freedom of movement, the filmmakers act as his eyes and ears during a trip along the Postweg. During the journey, parallels between Indonesia in the past and present slowly unfold. In addition, as the film progresses, the grimness of Toer's situation and the situation in his country becomes palpable.