Saturday, January 11, 2014

The Act of Killing (2012)

Director(s): Joshua Oppenheimer, Anonymous. 115 min. Not rated. Denmark/Norway/UK/Finland. Documentary. 

In a documentary film-making match made in heaven (produced by Werner Herzog and Errol Morris), mass murderers proudly confess and re-enact their US-backed crimes of massacring up to one million so-called Indonesian "communists" in 1965. Deeply disturbing on so many levels: about how humans will do anything when there's no fear of retribution, about how crowds who were victimized themselves by these thugs 40 years ago now cheer during the re-enactments, about the power of the camera to lure you into becoming a movie star at all costs. And most alarming: The film helps you understand the murderers' philosophy.

PS: The opening quote says it all:

"It is forbidden to kill; therefore all murderers are punished, unless they kill in large numbers, ... and to the sound of trumpets."

Mo says:
MoMagic!

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