The Act of Killing

"War crimes are defined by the winners," is said in The Act of Killing, the breath-taking film by Joshua Oppenheimer, which is the first of this year's Oscar nominees for Best Documentary Feature that I'll be discussing. For indeed, throughout history, it's the defeated who are tried for war crimes, not the victors.

That is the situation in Indonesia. In 1965, the government of Sukarno, who led the country to independence, was overthrown by a military coup led by Suharto. In at attempt to block dissent, the government employed paramilitary groups and gangsters to exterminate anyone who was accused of being a "communist." Communist meant anyone who supported the old government, intellectuals, union members, and ethnic Chinese. The number of dead is said to be around one million people. Because it was anti-communist, it received support from the west, including the United States.

Though Suharto is now dead, the government is still in place, and so those who committed the killings are seen as heroes. Oppenheimer, shrewdly, allows those who did the killing to re-enact the murders as they see fit. They decide to make a movie.

The result is one of the more bizarre and chilling films I've ever seen. In some ways, if it weren't so horrifying, it could be considered black comedy. The killers actually boast about their deeds, as if they were bragging about a particularly good game of golf. The central character is Anwar Congo, now a kindly old grandfather who at times resembles Nelson Mandela. He was a "movie ticket gangster," which meant he sold black market movie tickets. The leftist government banned American movies, which hurt his business. Thus, he was happy to do the bidding of the government, even if he probably didn't know what being a communist was.

Congo takes Oppenheimer to the places where he did the killing, and shows him how he hit upon piano wire to strangle his victims, because beatings resulted in too much blood. Congo makes an appearance on a local TV show and gets applause for his innovation, which is complimented on its efficiency and humanity to the victims. Later, a surreal musical number has Congo, to the tune of "Born Free," receiving a medal by the ghost of one of his victims, thanking him for sending him to heaven.

What's so amazing about this is how open they all are. Not only do they admit to killing, but about corruption. Oppenheimer tags along with another man who shakes down Chinese merchants. Another man runs for office, openly revealing that he wants to win so he can get money from local businesses. It furthers the notion of the "banality of evil," expressed by Hannah Arendt.

The killers decide to make a movie, based on their beloved Hollywood films. They get actors to play the victims, and here is where things get interesting. When someone plays the victim, all of a sudden they understand something, even if it's simply in the act of play. A child, used as an actor in the re-enactment of the burning of the village, continues to cry even after "cut" is called. Another man who is so caught up in the phony torture that he cries real tears. And when Congo himself plays a victim--well, I don't want to spoil it.

The film is a little long--it sags in the middle, when the repetition begins to weight it down--but the ending is startling and moving.

I will take a look at three of the films very shortly, as they are all available on DVD (one, The Square, is not available yet). It would be a good year for documentaries if any are as good as The Act of Killing.