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Martijn Lakemeier stars in The East as a Dutch soldier who undergoes a harrowing experience during the Indonesian War of Independence. It’s a star making role for Lakemeier, and he talked to Deepest Dream about shooting this ambitious post-WII epic.
Johan (Martijn Lakemeier) is frustrated in Indonesia as he believed volunteering as a soldier would make an impact in his life. Searching for purpose, Johan does clandestine military operations for a lone wolf military official known as The Turk (Marwan Kenzari). Initially emboldedned by The Turk’s approach to war, Johan ultimately finds himself at a crossroads.
“It’s so cool to be able to dive into so much material, be able to find so much information about a certain hidden piece of history, that not a lot of people in Holland . . . ” said Lakemeir on researching The East. “Although it’s a Dutch piece of history, not a lot of people know about it. It felt like I was in this rabbit hole and I was finding out more and more. When you do look for it, there is a lot of information, but it’s not there firsthand. And it should be, definitely here in Holland, it should be in our histories. It should be in school being taught to the kids. That’s definitely one of the goals that the makers and the director (Jim Taihuttu) of this film have.”
Check out my interview with Lakemeier below, and for our CinemAddicts Patreon members, he also talked about the ending of the movie. The East is now out in theaters and is available for rental/purchase on Amazon. I will post the spoiler material tomorrow (August 14) for our Patreon members!
Topics covered during our talk include the “overwhelming” The East reaction he has received from viewers, Johan’s expansive character arc, and why The Big Lebowski is one of his favorite movies.
