I don't normally write about other media on here but sometimes something strikes me so deeply that I have to share it. I saw 'The Act of Killing' by Joshua Oppenheimer last year, a 3.5 hour directors cut, with an interview with Joshua beforehand. He described filming the movie as if "I'd wandered into Germany 40 years after the holocaust, only to find the Nazis still in power."
I have to say I smirked at this description, but for the next 3.5 hours my jaw dropped and my heart contorted into every shape imaginable. He had described it perfectly. This is a story of a revolution and of a genocide. This is a story of the victors relishing in their might and of the rest of the population afraid of their own shadows. This is the story of Indonesia today!
Some might say that they do not wish to hear such sad and horrible stories but this is not some fictional tale. This is history. This is what has happened during many of our lifetimes. We do not have the right to look away. It's our duty to at least know this story and Joshua Oppenheimer describes it ingeniously in this film. This is essential viewing.
Read about the film in Joshua's own words in The Guardian:
“I’d wandered into Germany 40 years after the holocaust, only to find the Nazis still in power.”
