Review of The Act of Killing (2012) by Ryan K — 08 Jan 2014

The Act of Killing is one of the most terrifying and close-up examinations of a murderer ever. It is a scrutinizing observation of how criminals rationalize and cope with the horrific acts they have committed. The subject of the film is Anwar Congo, a mass murderer of Communists in Indonesia.

His story is told with nostalgia for the gangster life, which he possessed during his murdering spree. This fanciful worship for the gangster life that the film mocks taps into the themes of the media's influence on the public and individual ego. Here, film has influenced their lives as an underscore of their culture and as a means for propaganda, one authority they use to feel better about their killings.

The film takes place as these murderers involve themselves as actors in the production of a propaganda film specifically about their killing experiences, one that they all have the desire to tell objectively and truthfully even while the truth is so brutal. The murderers are surprisingly open about their experiences. This is shocking when they describe and point to where and how exactly their murders took place. It is also surprising in the sense that they are willing to openly question the morality of their actions. The film boils slowly to a point of catharsis as Anwar literally puts himself in the shoes of his victims as a part of his acting.

The documentary aspect of the film juxtaposes the impact that fiction films have on the erroneous justification of murder. While our camera cannot escape the horrific truth of the matter, fiction film can endorse and trivialize it. There is a psychoanalytical truth that the film cuts into as if we are exploring these criminals' subconsciousnesses. When the screen cut to black I was stunned, thoughtful, and sick to my stomach.