The Act of Killing (Joshua Oppenheimer 2012): Denmark,Norway, United Kingdom

Reviewed by Vera-Luana Dubach. Viewed at Metro 4, Santa Barbara.

The Act of Killing is an documentary about hit men. The government in Indonesia employed 1965 gangsters to interview and kill communists and potential communists.

The director Joshua Oppenheimer and his crew pretended to make a movie about the crimes thy made in style of the Hollywood movies they like so much.

The ancient gangster and killers decided the scenes, costumes and location . Mostly they acted scenes by them self. Through this way a lot of their memories and thoughts were spoken out loud.

Joshua Oppenheimer keeps himself mostly in the background and let them do their thing only few time he asks them a question. This technique of documentation is really good because like that the opinion of the director doesn’t influence their talking too much.

This documentary is very intense. While watching this film you will be disgusted by the cruelty of some people. You will be angry about the injustice that happens on this world and  the people who are involved just get away. One thing is for sure this documentary you won’t forget too easily.


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