A documentary that challenges former Indonesian death squad leaders to reenact their real-life mass-killings in whichever cinematic genres they wish, including classic Hollywood crime scenarios and lavish musical numbers.
This extraordinary work serves up a series of shocking and surreal sequences, and uses the artifice of filmmaking to expose horrendous truths.
An astonishing documentary that’s essential viewing for anyone wishing to understand the darker aspects of the human condition.
Joshua Oppenheimer’s film leaves too many questions unanswered but it’s a chilling demonstration of the banality of evil and an eye-opening portrait of a corrupt nation.
It is a gut-churning film: and a radical dive into history, grabbing the past in a way a conventional documentary would not.
This is never an easy film to watch, not least because of the apparent complicity and co-operation of those who wreaked such inhuman havoc...after two hours, I was left dumbfounded.
Opppenheimer’s high-risk strategy of avoiding historical analysis and giving the film over to bragging mass murderers pays huge dividends.
The Act of Killing is a hugely challenging act of investigation, and one of the bravest, most disturbing films you’ll see for a long time – although it seems almost incomplete without an accompanying seminar on political reconciliation and documentary ethics.
An utterly fascinating, chilling, but important film.
The shock of the final scene must be left unspoken; suffice to say its impact exceeds even the nightmarish queasiness which this brilliant and horrible film has striven to contain.
It’s remarkable stuff.
Joshua Oppenheimer: 'You celebrate mass killing so you don't have to look yourself in the mirror'
General release. Check local listings for show times.
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