The Act of Killing

IMDb RATING

8.2/10

42K

YOUR RATING

A documentary that examines a country where death squad leaders are celebrated as heroes, challenging them to reenact their real-life mass killings in the style of the American movies they love.

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A documentary which challenges former Indonesian death-squad leaders to reenact their mass-killings in whichever cinematic genres they wish, including classic Hollywood crime scenarios and l... Read allA documentary which challenges former Indonesian death-squad leaders to reenact their mass-killings in whichever cinematic genres they wish, including classic Hollywood crime scenarios and lavish musical numbers.A documentary which challenges former Indonesian death-squad leaders to reenact their mass-killings in whichever cinematic genres they wish, including classic Hollywood crime scenarios and lavish musical numbers.

Directors
Stars

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

8.2/10

42K

YOUR RATING

Directors
Stars

See production info at IMDbPro

Nominated for 1 Oscar
- 55 wins & 46 nominations total

Trivia
The project started with a focus on the family of the victims, but many were arrested as Joshua Oppenheimer was doing the interviews with them. In that process he started meeting torturers, so he decided to refocus the story on them.

Quotes
Anwar Congo: Did the people I tortured feel the way I do here? I can feel what the people I tortured felt. Because here my dignity has been destroyed, and then fear come, right there and then. All the terror suddenly possessed my body. It surrounded me, and possessed me.
Joshua Oppenheimer: Actually, the people you tortured felt far worse, because you knew it's only a film. They knew they were being killed.
Anwar Congo: But I can feel it, Josh. Really, I feel it. Or have I sinned. I did this to so many people, Josh. Is it all coming back to me? I really hope it won't. I don't want it to, Josh.

Crazy credits
The name Anonymous appears 49 times under 27 different crew positions in the credits. This was done to protect the identities of those crew members who feared retribution from the former Indonesian death squad leaders.

Alternate versions
The 115-minute version is generally the theatrical version. It was presented at the Telluride and Toronto Film Festivals. The 159-minute version competed at the CPH:DOX festival and won its main award. It is also the main version being released in Indonesia.

Connections
Edited into P.O.V.: The Act of Killing (2014)

Soundtracks
Theme for the Act of Killing
Composer: Karsten Fundal
Published by Edition Wilhlem Hansen
Performed by Clara Bryld, Andreas Estrup, Frederik Teige, Katinka Fogh Vindelev
Technician: Lars Falck
Recording Studio: Copenhagen Studios

User reviews159

Review

Featured review

10/10

You must see this movie, you simply must

It seems almost trivial to "rate" a movie that is this important but like some of the tothers i have given it a 10 because people need to see it.

I have never been as completely chilled by a film in my life, and I have seen plenty of brutal documentaries. The atrocities committed by the Indonesian death squads, and so vividly re-enacted, are not easy to watch and I expect that many people would rather just turn away and ignore them, but you owe it to yourselves to sit through them.

I have just finished reading Steven Pinker's excellent book The Better Angels of Our Nature in which he argues that humanity is far less violent now than we have ever been. That may be so, but if you are looking for a compelling counter-argument you can start with this film. I can assure that that you will never forget it.