Peter Faber got a new set of dentures during filming, but Producer and Director Fons Rademakers insisted he put the old ones back in because the new pair made his face look different.
When critics noticed that the Indonesian language spoken in this movie was modern Malay instead of the dialects of 1860, Producer and Director Fons Rademakers countered that the Dutch language heard in this movie was also more modern than the way it would have sounded in the original time frame.
Julien Schoenaerts was supposed to play Max Havelaar, but was dropped when he refused to shave off his beard. Another contender was Rutger Hauer, who eventually got a supporting part.
According to Peter Faber, the Indonesian noblemen attending Max Havelaar's rousing speech were impoverished local extras who had little notion of film, and even less that they were in one. Upon Havelaar's urging to the nobility to treat the local populace better, they initially believed that it was real, and started cheering for Faber as their savior. The scene had to be re-shot several times as a result.