Review of The Act of Killing (2012) by Sean B — 08 Apr 2014

HOLY CRAP! I cannot decide what emotion this film stirred in me the most: Disgust or amazement!

Let me make sure I understand the premise: Indonesian government sponsored gangsters were empowered to murder over a million residents in 1965 and they have not only gone unpunished for their crimes, they are actually looked up to as heroes for it and are now making a movie to recount, relive and boast about what they did? So it's kind of like being in Germany had the Nazi's won? SERIOUSLY?!?!?!

One scene that sums up the absurdity of the world these people inhabit was when the filmmaker played back interview footage to one of the murderers who watches himself onscreen demonstrate how to strangle someone. Expecting him to show remorse or guilt for what he did, I was nauseated to see his reaction focus on the fact that he shouldn't have worn white pants to the interview and decides that he should dye his hair for a more youthful look. WTF???

This is an incredible achievement in film making and should have won the Oscar for Best Documentary. I've never seen anything like it or experienced such a sustained physical reaction to a movie. It's actually hard to believe it's a documentary. If this same movie was released as fiction it would be ripped to shreds as being absurdly unbelievable.