November 1828

Celebrations of anti-colonial struggles are par for the course for cinema from emerging countries, but Teguh Karya's mini-epic about the Javan resistance against the Dutch in the early 19th century isn't just another 'worthy' Third World entry. Apart from the fact that it looks and sounds very accomplished, the movie displays an intelligent grasp of the dynamics of melodrama (there are 'family' tensions on both sides of the clash), and presents traditional Javan culture without recourse to folksy stereotypes.