Carl Abrahamsson: The Act of Killing: A Killer Documentary

Indonesia, 1965. Civil war and a military coup that led to over one million deaths in a mere year's time. Then it just kept on rolling. The estimation is that 2,5 million people were killed by the military and various paramilitary groups during that first phase of dictatorship. And also by freestyle gangsters who joined the fun for empowerment and a fierce hatred of communism. Perhaps not so much for the overall political ideas but because they had been told that the communists would ban American movies. Reason good enough for you?

This surely sounds like insane chaos and violence en masse. No one really in charge and everyone out to slaughter someone. This was of course a perfect environment for small time hoodlums like Anwar Congo and his buddies. They made a living scalping cinema tickets, but soon found new friends in the (para)military world. Why? Because they had no objections whatsoever to killing plenty of people, as long as these were communists. And as there were indeed many communists around, Anwar and his new cohorts were suddenly busier than ever. Blood lust, cash-flow, and securing all American movies in the cinemas.

Zoom forward to 2012. Anwar Congo and his friends are still alive and well in Indonesia and are being interviewed by documentary filmmaker Joshua Oppenheimer about their killing spree days back in the 1960s. Some regret it, some don't. They are fully supported by people in government and administration all over Indonesia still, not forgetting the mighty Pancansila Youth paramilitary organization, whose leaders were once killing buddies of Anwar & co.

This in itself would have been enough great fodder for a documentary. But this is only when the fun begins. Oppenheimer lets the aged mass murderers reenact the killings, complete with details about how to best strangle, club or knife someone to death. And they want to do it in a realistic way, yet also make a good movie out of it. Meaning, emulating American gangster movies, musicals and war films. So suddenly we're in the midst of real killers reenacting brutal memories and at the same time nourishing some kind of strange movie star fantasies. Anwar Congo mentions his own liking and likeness of Sydney Poitier on a local TV show to promote their coming blockbuster. I wonder what Mr Poitier would think of the association.

These reenactments mean the surfacing of emotional debris for those sensitive enough. Most of them aren't. They should be grateful. But head henchman Anwar becomes almost possessed by all this suppressed guilt within himself and suddenly acts like a man in serious need of A) an exorcism and B) a fierce trial at the Hague.

But, of course, it doesn't end here either. The movie within the movie not only contains bloody slaughters and painful decapitations, helped out by local make up artists and gore-wizards. For some reason they also start to integrate dream sequences (?) of religious prayers by waterfalls (seeking forgiveness?), seductively dancing hula girls, Anwar as a priest-like figure and his fellow murderer Herman in colorful drag (at times hauntingly resembling John Waters' superstar Divine). It's a heavy mind jolt to watch.

The Act of Killing is a bizarre film. Just like his co-producer of this film, Werner Herzog, Oppenheimer seeks out people who are so cast out they can never find their way back "in" again. And then just let the cameras record what happens. Although this is never a guaranteed formula of documentary success, I have to say that the integration of these insane murderers' meta-movie is absolutely amazing and makes the film more than a success. It's a complete sui generis experience. The weirdness of The Act of Killing makes it an absolute must-see. To become acquainted with these primitive hooligans and see how they function when they get a chance to express themselves artistically is priceless. And, I should add, quite terrifying.

The Act of Killing, Joshua Oppenheimer, Denmark, 2012. Out on DVD in all civilized countries just about now. Probably not in Indonesia though.