Review of The Act of Killing (2012) by Ricky P — 02 Mar 2014

This is a strange, disturbing film with many implications. It is marred by a lack of almost any structure, but is still engaging throughout its two hours.

From what I can tell, filmmaker Joshua Oppenheimer approached some aged Indonesian gangsters who were responsible for personally killing thousands of suspected Communists and Chinese during the 1960's, and got them to cooperate in the making of a staged movie about the good old days. What he didn't explain is that it was the informal discussion and confessions that would really form the core of the movie. So for two hours, a few superficially likeable old guys talk about their days of killing. They demonstrate how shooting and stabbing was too bloody, so they eventually relied on strangulation by wire - even using the director at one point to show their methods.

Today these men are well off. They live without fear because the paramilitary organization they worked through remains powerful and feared in Indonesia - and much time is spent with the garishly uniformed "Pancacila Youth" . They proudly declare themselves to be "gangsters" - which they say translates to "free men". We follow the retired murderers as they support themselves by shaking down Chines merchants. They dramatize, in full costume and makeup, torturing and killing victims, and then share the videos with their grandchildren on screen.

There are many themes explored. I could not help but imagine that this is what Nazi Germany might look like today had the country kept its genocide within its own borders. The killers are comfortable, entrenched in power, and convinced of their rectitude. Hanna Arendt's comment about Eichmann and her notorious phrase "the banality of evil" could not better be illustrated, as we see these guys pal around, act like decent family men, and regard their acts as normal and necessary.

Of the men featured, only one, Anwar Congo, seems haunted. He confesses to having nightmares. When he volunteers for a mock strangling, the experience chills him. He claims to know what his victims must have felt. When Oppenheimer insists that, no, Anwar knew this was all staged and his victims knew they were going to die, Anwar denies any difference in their experience.

Like several of this year's Oscar nominated documentaries, this was a dangerous film to make. During closing credits, half the crew is listed as "Anonymous", illustrating how these paramilitaries remain fearsome.

The weakness in the movie is that it mostly just rambles along. It's a "week in the life", edited and focused, but without any narrative drive. At two hours, it makes its point early on... and then keeps on going. But it gets under your skin.