Rally Around The Flag

American Conor Allyn is part of the team bringing Indonesia’s independence struggle to the big screen in the Merdeka trilogy of movies. In writing and co-directing the movies, Allyn has developed a growing understanding of the meaning of Indonesia.

 By Bruce Emond

 Photo By Ricky Yudhistira At almost 2 meters tall and with striking blond good looks, Conor Allyn was probably used to being the big man on campus at Georgetown University, where he studied history. But only six days after graduating in Washington DC, he landed in Jakarta with a colossal project before him: putting on film Indonesia’s battle for independence from the Netherlands and its allies.

Born and raised in Dallas, Texas, Allyn knew about Indonesia from visiting his father, Rob, who worked here. The story goes that Rob Allyn, while visiting the office of businessman Hashim Djojohadikusumo, remarked on the photos of two men in uniform on the walls. He was told they were the uncles of Hashim, who were killed during the struggles.

One thing led to another, and the film project was put into motion, with Conor Allyn eventually assigned to write and direct the trilogy of movies. It began with last year’s Merah Putih (Red and White), telling of a diverse group of young men banding together in the quest for freedom. Next up in September is Darah Garuda (Blood of Eagles).

The distribution rights were sold to several European countries, including the Netherlands during the Cannes Film Festival. Here Allyn tells the tale behind the tale of making movies.

So give us the concise version of how a Georgetown history major comes to be making movies about Indonesia's Independence War. How much did you actually know about the war?

My father had been working in Indonesia since 2004 and I spent a summer in Jakarta working for him in 2007. So when I was in my last year of university and he asked me if I wanted to come back to Indonesia and work on a war movie, the answer was immediate: yes!

Truthfully, I knew very little about the Indonesian Revolution when I first started researching the script. It is not well-known outside Indonesia and, frankly, not that well-known inside Indonesia either. And that was part of our goal: to tell the epic story of how Indonesia won its freedom both domestically and internationally.

What can viewers expect in Darah Garuda, and then the third and final movie?

Each movie is bigger and grander than the one that came before. In both sequels, our heroes meet new allies and new foes, must conquer larger challenges, and fight their way through intrigue and mystery and personal struggles. And the action of the sequels becomes more epic in scope; by the end of the trilogy, our heroes will have fought the Dutch on land, sea and air!

The theme of pluralism is at the heart of the movies.

Absolutely. Unity in diversity, nationalism, patriotism, tolerance and brotherhood are all key themes of the trilogy. Like Indonesia, our heroes must become one, to become free.

Some movies don't travel well outside of their cultural context, but war movies do. Why do you think that is? Everybody loves a bit of blood and guts?

Certainly, war movies travel better internationally than romantic comedies or personal dramas because they have elements that almost any culture can relate to in the film. Themes like patriots fighting against tyranny or David versus Goliath are common to almost every culture, and so most war films can easily be related to wherever they are shown. Audiences of any country that had a revolution against colonial oppression will easily relate to Merah Putih.

It has always been crucial for our success to get this film abroad. And I’m not talking about financial success. Our executive producer and the real founder of the trilogy, Hashim Djojohadikusumo, wanted this story told, inside and outside the country. Pak Hashim wanted Indonesians to remember the sacrifices their fathers made for their country and he wanted this film to put Indonesia on the map for foreigners.

Will the female characters get more of a look-in in the latter two movies than the first one?

Absolutely. The first film is essentially about four cadets from different backgrounds who must learn to bond before they can learn to fight. But the second and third films include more stories about the revolution as a whole and the films involve female and Dutch characters in depth. One female character even becomes a soldier alongside the men.

What was it like to be traveling around the country, and working with a band of up-and-coming Indonesian actors?

I loved traveling around the country. After being stuck in Jakarta for months on end working on preproduction, it was to exciting to tour Java shooting the films. Jungles, mountains, rivers, beaches, islands, monsoons … we saw it all and filmed it all.

And our actors were terrific. You could not ask for a better group of rising stars.

What has been the reaction to the movies? Do you read the bad reviews?

With more than 1 million in box office attendance nationwide, the reaction to the first film was fantastic … and I have even bigger hopes for our second film coming out on September 8. We had particularly good feedback from the Veterans Legion. It was simply amazing to receive such high praise from men who had really been there and fought in the war.

They loved the first film so much they threw themselves back into another war and helped us with the production on the second and third films. They helped us get guns, planes, tanks, and even ships as well as giving us invaluable details and information about what life was like in those trying times.

Like any writer, I always read the reviews, good or bad. You can’t always please everyone. Some want more drama, some more action, some more love, some more humor. What’s important is that you always strive to improve upon what you’ve done. And to do that, all feedback is crucial.

You've done your homework on the war and Indonesia, but were there times when others would say "that's not how it's done here"?

Certainly. Despite all my research and the research done by others on this project, the history, the war, the people of those times, there were many things that had to be watched closely. Language, accents from different islands, mannerisms, proper batik patterns to list just a few, all had to be carefully checked by Indonesian members of the crew, who know far more about their country and their culture than I ever will.

What do you say to those who argue it should be Indonesians telling the story of their fight for independence, not foreigners?

First of all, I say that it was Indonesians telling the story. All told, there were probably more than 500 people who worked on the trilogy and the vast majority was Indonesian. But that doesn’t mean there was no place for the few Americans, Brits, Australians, Germans, Thais, or Chinese that worked on the film as well. Like our story, like Indonesia, a modern-day film involves hundreds of people with a wide variety of skills working together. On the trilogy, we had people from all over the world working just as hard as Indonesians to tell this story.

With a series of major movies to your name, what's next? Is it goodbye to history for good?

Never. I love history. There are certainly some challenges to producing a period film but I find it particularly rewarding.

Do you plan to keep up your Indonesian connection?

Absolutely. Indonesia is a fabulous place to make films. The creative talent, the hard work ethic, the depth of acting talent and the diverse beauty of the country all make Indonesia the place to be for filmmaking in Southeast Asia.

Indonesia is not well-known outside the region. It is a blank slate for most people in the world. After two years here, I have learned that the world is missing out on this beautiful gem of an island chain.

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