‘The Act of Killing’ documents appalling 1960s Indonesian massacres

An extraordinary and chilling documentary, “The Act of Killing” chronicles exactly that in unprecedented ways. Several Indonesian men reenact, unabashedly, even proudly, describing ways they brutally tortured and murdered individuals in Indonesia's 1965-66 purge primarily of communists, among other targeted groups such as local Chinese workers. Some killers now hold office, with no punishment for their heinous acts.

After an unsuccessful coup in 1965, dubbed the 30 September movement, the military eventually overthrew Indonesia’s President Sukarno in March 1967. Major General Suharto took control. After October 1965, first in Jakarta and then expanding throughout Java and into Bali, death squads massacred upwards of one million people. The documentary focuses on Anwar Congo and his friends, all deeply involved in the genocide.

Protracted, deeply disturbing stagings of massacres and individual killings dominate the film. Under the direction of the original killers, actors are cast to play the roles for a village destroyed and burned (the Kampung Kolam massacre). The effect of the reenactment is gut wrenching for the actors and all sensitive audience members. Meantime, various killers focus on their appearance, modeling themselves after John Wayne and American movie gangsters. In one surreal episode, a bizarre musical number takes over, musicals another genre the killers loved.

Unrepentant and unpunished, these men continue to intimidate shop owners and local citizens, while being celebrated by their followers, as shown at a local rally. It’s not surprising, then, that the credits read “Directed by Joshua Oppenheimer, Christine Cyn, and Anonymous,” the latter because one co-director, along with approximately 20 crew members who also listed themselves as anonymous, fear retaliation, since many death squad leaders still enjoy considerable power in Indonesia, intimidating people without retaliation for their actions, as also shown in the film.

The inhumane ugliness and casual cruelty of the death merchants is horrendous, including a demonstration of strangling with wire. This horrid chapter in Indonesian history is little known there or around the globe before this somber, sobering film. It will now be shown at Webster University in the extended 167 minute director's cut, the version the rest of the world saw in contrast to the original U.S. release that was 40 minutes shorter. More fully documenting the gruesome events, the impact builds in intensity with more complete information. In Indonesian with English subtitles, of “The Act of Killing” screens at Webster University’s Winifred Moore auditorium one night only, Thursday, November 21, at 6:30. For more information, you may visit the film series website at: Webster.edu/filmseries.