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The Act of Killing

2012

Joshua Oppenheimer, Christine Cynn ...

Documentary

7.8

8,116

Documentary A documentary that challenges former Indonesian death squad leaders to reenact their real-life mass-killings in whichever cinematic genres they wish, including classic Hollywood crime scenarios and lavish musical numbers. Anwar Congo and his friends have been dancing their way through musical numbers, twisting arms in film noir gangster scenes, and galloping across prairies as yodelling cowboys. Their foray into filmmaking is being ... [+]

	Media	Author	Review
		Peter Debruge Variety	"Never before has anyone made a documentary like 'The Act of Killing', [it] is a film that begs to be seen, then never watched again"
		Stephen Dalton The Hollywood Reporter	"Crime but no punishment in remarkably revealing film about Indonesian death squads"
		Catherine Shoard The Guardian	"Almost every frame is astonishing (...) Rating: ★★★★★ (out of 5)"
		A. O. Scott The New York Times	"Dogged, inventive, profoundly upsetting and dismayingly funny documentary about the Indonesian massacres that began in 1965"
		Tim Robey Telegraph	"This movie is essential (...) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 5)"
		David Edelstein New York Magazine	"Bizarre to the point of trippiness, yet it's one of the most lucid portraits of evil I've ever seen"
		FilmAffinity	An acclaimed documentary with excellent reviews. Director Werner Herzog said about it: "I have not seen a film as powerful, surreal and frightening in at least a decade". Oscar Documentary Winner Errol Morris: “Like all great documentaries, The Act of Killing demands another way of looking at reality. It starts as a dreamscape, an attempt to allow the perpetrators to reenact what they did, and then something truly amazing happens. The dream dissolves into nightmare and then into bitter reality. An amazing and impressive film".

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