“Edge of the World” is a biopic about James Brooke, the British
ex-officer who became the Rajah of Sarawak in 1842. The film allows you
to have a look at an obscure figure who was something of an outlier in
the emerging British Empire even if it is through a funhouse mirror. He
is portrayed as a benign figure who only agreed to become a Rajah to put
an end to the slavery and beheading in a region in the northwest corner
of the island of Borneo.
When he read a reference to Brooke in a footnote in a George MacDonald
Fraser novel back in 2009, screenwriter Rob Allyn became consumed by the
idea of making a film about a “good” colonist. When the film begins,
Brooke and several other British army veterans arrive on the beach in
Sarawak with the sole intention of collecting rare plants and animals,
not extending the rule of Queen Victoria. If you’ve seen “Master and
Commander: The Far Side of the World”, you’ll be struck by his
similarities with Russell Crowe’s ship surgeon who was far more
interested in discovering new species than in seizing territory on
behalf of the Crown. Not only that, Allyn’s Brooke repeatedly referred
to his disillusionment with the role the British played in India—like
Daniel Ellsberg breaking with imperialism after seeing the reality of
Vietnam as a Marine.
full: https://louisproyect.org/2021/06/06/edge-of-the-world/
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