Should you watch The Act of Killing?
Who it’s good for, who it isn’t, and what’s in it. No ratings, no scores.
The Act of Killing
Documentary · 2012
After befriending documentarian Joshua Oppenheimer, former Indonesian death squad leaders reenact their real-life mass killings in the style of various American film genres. As they recreate their past atrocities, the line between reality and performance blurs, exposing the lingering impact of Indonesia's 1965-66 anti-communist purge and the unsettling psychology of its perpetrators.
The sides of The Act of Killing
- Men who led death squads in 1965 Indonesia
- Their killings restaged as film scenes
- A country where the killers were never tried
The Act of Killing is good for you if…
- you want history told by the people who carried it out.
- you can sit with a story that offers no comfort at the end.
- you want to see who stayed in power after the killings.
The Act of Killing is bad for you if…
- you can't take mass killing described calmly by the men who did it.
- over two and a half hours of this is too much for one evening.
- you won't read subtitles, and the film is in Indonesian.
About: impunity · memory · guilt
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