An Indonesian documentary directed by Joshua Oppenheimer.
Indonesian gangsters who were executioners during the political upheaval in 1965 are given a camera crew to make a movie about what happened. This is the making of their film.
This strange and slow, but worth it in the end. The subject matter and director were the same as Look of Silence (2014). This film starred different executioners and only a small number of them who still work together as gangsters. The most interesting element was attitude development over the duration. The main character has completely changed how he thinks of the 1965 communist genocide by the end. I won't spoil the ending any more than that, but it was the best part and an extremely powerful scene. One scene that I can mention without spoiling things is Herman brushing his teeth. It's hilarious! The video in this was not as good as Look of Silence. There were more informal and handheld shots. The audio was in Indonesian and the English subtitles were a little difficult to see. Overall, an emotionally powerful film. You have to wait for it, but it gets there. I rate this good. Watch it! In fact, watch both of them as a series.
An Indonesian documentary directed by Joshua Oppenheimer.
A man whose brother was killed during a political change interviews his mother, father and the men responsible for the mass murder of people.
This was strange and slightly difficult to understand. The plot or story followed no real, coherent order. It was just a bunch of interviews back to back and seemed very raw and lightly edited. The interviewees were very honest about what happened as they described chopping off heads and drinking blood. I got the feeling that the filmmaker was intentionally pissing them off just by bringing up the subject. There was lots of talk about healed wounds being opened again. They all restrained themselves well and didn't lash out at him too hard. I think that dude's got nards of steel to approach these people like this and film it. The video was very well done. They used multiple cameras and edited it seamlessly. The audio was in Indonesian with English subtitles. Overall, the interest is hidden on a deep dialogue level. I rate it o.k. because it's not something to just throw on and watch. You need an interest in the subject matter or documentary films and the dedication to read subtitles the whole time because very little of the story is told visually.
