El acto de matar

I have *never* seen anything like The Act of Killing. It is a documentary of sorts about the Indonesian death squads who killed millions of 'communists' in the 60s. Director Josh Oppenheimer worked with the squad leaders to make a 'film' about their involvement any way they wanted to make it. The result is staggeringly, devastatingly honest. I watched almost the entire the film with my jaw on the floor and my heart in my throat.

The massacres are so impinged upon the collective consciousness of Indonesia, even today, that it appears to permeate every aspect of every person's life. These squad leaders are still feared and celebrated, and their actions are institutionally supported, so, as a result, they get to run around patting themselves and each other on the back for their atrocities. It's bizarre on the highest order, and, though I wouldn't have thought of it, there probably isn't a better way to treat the subject matter than the way this film does.

There are some scenes that are actually hard to watch, too real, even when they're not. Watching Chinese immigrant shop owners getting shaken down by gangsters for money was particularly sad, as was seeing confused, scared children cry ceaselessly after participating in hyper- realistic reenactments of massacres.

Too often, when it comes to documentaries, people implore, "you have to see this one," citing its social, economic, personal, governmental, or scientific importance. Well this film is one everyone should see. It's really hard to believe sometimes that people like these death squad leaders really exist and travesties like this really have and continue to happen.

This film absolutely blew my mind. It is unquestionably one of the very best documentaries I've ever seen.

It seems almost trivial to "rate" a movie that is this important but like some of the tothers i have given it a 10 because people need to see it.

I have never been as completely chilled by a film in my life, and I have seen plenty of brutal documentaries. The atrocities committed by the Indonesian death squads, and so vividly re-enacted, are not easy to watch and I expect that many people would rather just turn away and ignore them, but you owe it to yourselves to sit through them.

I have just finished reading Steven Pinker's excellent book The Better Angels of Our Nature in which he argues that humanity is far less violent now than we have ever been. That may be so, but if you are looking for a compelling counter-argument you can start with this film. I can assure that that you will never forget it.

By omitting the historical context behind the 1965–1966 Indonesian killings and letting the Indonesian death squad leaders tell their own story, watching The Act of Killing evokes the Nietschean idea of 'gazing into the abyss'. That if one were to 'gaze long into an abyss, the abyss also gazes into you.' The Act of Killing is a deep ocean of ideas, constantly reflecting the human condition. Every scene was like a wave, with an entirely different idea, crashing over the previous scene and provoked a new thought in me. My thought train spiraled and branched off into different directions.

At first, I thought about the brutality of man. Then it went to how history is written by the victor.

And then I thought about the nature of cinema and storytelling. That in the act of telling their own story, the death squad leaders became conscious of their past actions through the task of having to present it to an audience. The aesthetic distance, interestingly enough, ends up being the distance these death squad leaders needed to truly examine what they have done.

And then I arrived at the nature of how extreme ideas in society prevail, despite of how illogical or inhuman they may be. That logic is relative, anyone can easily manipulate logic to justify any action. One can make anything sound logical to do whatever they desired in a given moment.

And like that, the film kept on giving infinitely and its themes continually deepened. The Werner Herzog brand of the 'ecstatic truth' is at play here. Each audience member will have their own individual experience of the film's ideas and themes, because the film allows it so. Director Joseph Oppenheimer never puts these men on trial and instead of burrows for something deeper to reflect humanity at its core. These men, like anybody, are just human. And I cared and became invested into their emotional journey through how Oppenheimer displays their humanity, which was perplexing at points. I had to remind myself that they were still mass murderers.

At a two and a half hour running time, the film is too long. It's hard to sit with such heavy material. There is a 115-minute theatrical cut that exists, which is 45 minutes shorter than this director's cut. Joshua Oppenheimer seemingly wants to cover more ground than needed and less definitely would have been more. I stuck with it alright because I was fascinated by the film's subjects, but it may test the patience of general audiences. That said, The Act of Killing is a great story told through subjects that I never ever want to meet in real life. It is an unsettling and powerful experience and is one of the best films of 2013, if not the most important.

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While I recommend you see "The Act of Killing", the context for the film is missing. I think the filmmakers felt that it wasn't necessary but I am pretty sure younger audiences will feel a bit confused by what has happened. So, the retired history teacher in me will briefly give an overview that I wish had come when the film began: President Sukarno was the first president of Indonesia He was a strong nationalist who worked to gain independence from the Dutch. As the years passed, his administration forged closer and closer alliances with the left--particularly the communists. However, when Suharto deposed Sukarno in a coup, he ushered in an era of fascist-like repression. Suddenly, murder squads sprung up throughout the country and communists and the Chinese minority were targeted for extermination. During this period (mostly from 1965-7), approximately a million people were murdered--often very brutally.

Now, decades later, filmmakers have come to Indonesia to interview folks who were responsible for some of these murders. And, surprisingly, they find that not only are these folks rather unrepentant, but that the culture of murdering the opposition still thrives. For example, Pancasila Youth is a paramilitary organization much like the Nazi SS and SA. They were the folks behind the murders and today STILL are several million member strong--and they are proud of this. What's worse, the government is strongly aligned with them and the film shows the nation's Vice President talking to them and giving his assent for their violence. While the filmmakers did not get interviews with these higher ups, they did get others responsible for the murders to be interviewed and even recreate the killings for the audience! Oddly, they seemed very cooperative and smiled throughout--as if they were very proud of being mass murderers.

As far as the film goes, it is an amazing portrait of evil--especially since many of these folks look very ordinary. Monsters can have families, friends and even be pillars of society...but they are monsters. This is the great message of the film. And, because of this it is invaluable and worthy of receiving the Oscar nomination for Best Documentary Feature. It is worth seeing.

While I strongly recommend the film as it is brave and outstanding in what it achieved, it also is overlong. And, sadly, while the film shows evil up close, after a while it all becomes rather boring. Shortening it a bit here and there would have made it more poignant. Still, it is a must-see film. With a slight editing, I would have scored this film a 10.

Mark Twain said "Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; Truth isn't." and in this film you are hit a raw and unbelievable impossible truth. You are left wondering how the hell the film makers got such confessions from such mass murderers who now seem more eccentric then evil.

" If we don't learn from history we are bound to repeat it" and I begin this paragraph with another famous but empty quote. But when you see this film you understand what that means. You may have read about political death squads, as I have, but I confess I never knew exactly what that meant. I thought they consisted of disciplined military units who targeted activists in a clinical way, and I thought that appalling. But death squads are unleashed thugs and these targeted communities, ethnic groups, communists and anyone else they wanted, to a tune of 2,5 million dead. This was another 20th century genocide and in the film the criminals still talk about "extermination" as if it was a good thing.

In such an ethnically diverse place like Indonesia politicians should not talk or hold in respect war criminals who participated in genocide and in this film they openly do. Do they realise they are sending a message out, that this behaviour is acceptable in certain circumstance, which generally means it will happen again. Also, the international community should insist these men are taken to account and brought to the court of human rights in The Hague, as "we" should also insist this is always unacceptable. I urge all to watch this film, it is disturbing, jaw dropping, and something you will never forget. After the last scene of the film and thinking about what I just seen I let the credits run and even there, a poignant message, the amount of "anonymous" from makeup artists, producers and even one of the 2 directors shout volumes.