The Look of Silence (The Act of Killing follow-up)

johnny_ultimate

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aA_ZHAs4M9k

The Act of Killing was one of the few times I've ever left a cinema feeling legitimately shellshocked. Joshua Oppenheimer's film was such an extraordinary, devastating, ambitious, shocking, hilarious and informative film, one that something truly new with the documentary form.

Almost two years later, we're a week away from the wide release of the follow-up, The Look of Silence (after a lengthy festival run that seemed to actively bypass Ireland). Whereas the previous film provocatively looked at the Indonesian mass killings from the perspective of the perpetrators, this time the victims have their say.

Smack bang in the middle of the blockbuster season, this is looking like it could be by far the summer's most essential film if its predecessor is anything to go by. It's out next Friday, although there's also a satellite Q&A session with Oppenheimer, hosted by Louis Theroux, on next Sunday, including some Dublin cinemas. Listed here.

johnny_ultimate

Saw this today, and unsurprisingly it is completely extraordinary, and almost certainly the most essential film of the year so far.

There are fewer explosive moments than its precursor, not as many surreal tangents. Yet the Look of Silence emerges as a trickier, perhaps even considerably more rewarding film as a result. In terms of form, it's a masterpiece, expertly constructed by Oppenheimer (and his anonymous co-director) in terms of camerawork and editing so the thematic and emotional subtleties are allowed space to emerge quietly yet devastatingly. The 'optometry' symbolism / conceit that is prevalent throughout the film is also well judged - giving the film a cohesive symbolic framing but without overplaying it. While the interviews themselves are the most captivating moments, the beautiful, tranquil transition shots planted here and there are the quiet moments we need to process a lot of what we've just seen and heard.

The testimonies of the perpetrators of the mass killings remain almost unbelievable - the gleeful, proud and remorseless way they recount the most horrific acts of violence is rarely less than revolting. Yet, in expanding the focus considerably, this is a much more dynamic film. When confronted with the actual humans who felt the brunt of their actions, the responses of the killers are surprising - some deflect (one almost farcically dismissing any 'political' talk), others become embarrassed or angry, some remain defiant. Some are fragile, suffering from ailments or senility, but they all erect barriers to defend the indefensible. Yet there are more people involved here too - there are the family members, survivors, those involved indirectly with the killings (one of the most jaw-dropping scenes sees a man whose nephew was murdered under his 'guard' unconvincingly plead ignorance), and more who all react differently when forced to face up to the horrors of the mid-1960s afresh. Above all there is an admirable empathy to the piece. While Oppenheimer never plays up the emotions (not a single music cue to be heard until the end credits), there's a lot of complex humanity up there on screen, perhaps in a perfectly judged close-up or cutaway that sees a character drop their guard for a fraction of a second. Everything that needs to be said is contained in that brief twitch.

Even more so than the Act of Killing, The Look of Silence is an urgent call to action. It's a film that focuses on the present as much of the past. From a modern classroom of Indonesian children being taught horrid propaganda to the credits full of 'anonymous' credits, there is no doubt the consequences of the mass killings still massively influence Indonesian society, still with little space for dissent (one politician warns 'it will happen again', almost with giddy anticipation in his eyes). The Look of Silence shows many people still coming to terms with the past, but you will not see another film this year that feels so crucially grounded in the present and future.

Chain Smoker

Thanks for the review, sounds like it's everything I was hoping (?) it'd be. Was in Hungary a few weeks ago and definitely got the feeling some places were seriously conflicted about how to portray the events of WW2 (e.g. timelines very awkwardly skipping past the war to the plight of communism), totally different circumstances of course but it very much brought this film back to the front of my most anticipated list.
Probably gonna check out the Act of Killing again before going to it next week, they seem very much like a collected experience. I only saw the 110 minutes version, would anyone recommend the extended version?


Also, I definitely mentioned this one here before, but The Emperor's Naked Army Marches On is a fascinating documentary that deals with somewhat similar ground (character study of a man dealing with repressed horrors from his nation's past)

tigger123

Really looking forward to seeing this.

I enjoyed The Act of Killing, it didn't have the impact on me as it did other people. I think I'd heard too many times how earth shattering it was before I saw it.

darced

This post has been deleted.

SuperGrover

Great review, Johnny. The Act of Killing slayed me.*

This sounds unmissable.


* nice

johnny_ultimate

Also, I definitely mentioned this one here before, but The Emperor's Naked Army Marches On is a fascinating documentary that deals with somewhat similar ground (character study of a man dealing with repressed horrors from his nation's past)

I shall track it down!

darced wrote: »

I turned into a farce when they started to film the renactment scenes then fell away badly for me

I think the fact that the reenactments are a farce is what helped it have such a significant impact on me. Despite its inherent darkness, Act of Killing is at times a surreal, funny experience. It's hard not to be aware of the absurdity of it all. Yet Oppenheimer plays with this, and as the film goes on the reenactments become no less absurd but considerably more disturbing. As gimmicky as it could be perceived (and I know the film has its critics), it's the reenactments that ultimately allow the film to achieve its uniquely cinematic insights.

Curious to hear how you respond to Look of Silence, it's an altogether more subtle film.

Chain Smoker

I thought the reenactments had a few different purposes. It was the kind of thing that managed to flatter the egos of the killers enough to warm up to Oppenheimer some, the process of staging the reenactments significantly opened up space to catch them letting their guard down when describing the killings, the gulf in understanding between how most viewers perceive them to how they perceive them, even seeing how they've managed to somehow think the whole scenario was a whole lot cooler looking than it almost certainly was... I dunno, I haven't really thought about it too much but I thought it was a twist that allowed them to probe a hell of a lot deeper than a straight documentary could've done.



I'm sorta hazy and tired so I'm gonna spoiler most of my review thing here but I saw The Look of Silence Earlier

So I'd say this documentary is closer to being that straight documentary about the whole Indonesia situation in the 60s. Can be viewed by itself I'm sure but benefits from seeing the Act of Killing first imo, very much a complementary piece. It's a very quiet meditative film and I'd say a difficult watch but my attention rarely wavered, I think its largely down to the sparse but effective sound editing work, things like the sound of a knife hitting a plate being far more effective than a soundtrack ever could be.

The scene in the school absolutely floored me with how ridiculous it was but I think the quieter moments of the killers families showing complete disbelief at the idea these things happened, despite surely being aware of it all on some level, and the subsequent attempts to dodge or quickly gloss over the issues were pretty shocking. Oppenheimer and Rukun managed to approach people in a way which showed no lingering resentment but wasn't afraid of challenging them to the point of causing trouble. In fact, the only time I can think of where Rukun showed genuine anger towards someone or something was when he was talking to his son(?) about the history lesson. To me the film seemed pretty focused on the younger generations, how there's a clear divide between two groups of people in the country and there's absolutely no efforts being made by anyone to address it to the point that one side are almost blissfully ignorant of it.