A compelling and chilling documentary about the shocking Indonesian genocide which saw over 1 million people killed between 1964-1965. The documentary follows an optometrist (Adi) who visits the men who ordered and carried out the killing of thousands of Indonesian "communists" including his brother (Ramli). A follow up to the Academy Award nominated The Act of Killing, The Look of Silence is a defining work in Joshua Oppenheimer's fledgling career and one which marks a significant moment in documentary film. The insights into the human psyche, and the justification of mass murder are both enlightening and terrifying.
The Look of Silence is a film about the Indonesian genocide, but more than this it is a study of human conscience, power and ideological and religious beliefs.
I watched the UK premiere along with thousands of others in a simultaneous multi-cinema roll out, this was introduced by Louis Theroux and in his introduction he made an apt and insightful point that the film is so fascinating and enthralling due to the natural human inquisition about human nature and specifically about what evil looks like. The ability of regular people with families and, in this case, strong religious beliefs, to brutally murder millions of people, is baffling to the human mind. The questions that flick through your mind when watching this film are not ones that have a single answer: Why would someone do this? How could someone do this?, this film goes a long way to answering these questions. Through the meetings which Adi has with the death squad leaders who ordered his brother and so many others to be killed, there is a total belief by them that what they did was just and right. Never have I seen such unwavering belief in a cause set on destruction.
The focus on one mans murder brings the national tragedy into perspective. An often quoted statement by Stalin that 'The death of one man is a tragedy. The death of millions is a statistic' rings true and Oppenheimer has used the tragedy of the murder of Ramli to accentuate the murder of a million others and to show the personal struggle which millions of others have had to go through in the 50 years since the genocide.
Many comparisons will likely be made between this documentary and those detailing the Jewish Holocaust in the 1940's, however this is a very different case. The power which the perpetrators of the Indonesian genocide still have within the country allows them the status of heroes and explains the complete conviction of those involved. The "heroes" who are spoken to dehumanise the people they killed talking of them as if animals, they describe with great detail how they killed them often laughing, as if a justification to themselves that what they did was natural and casual. They are free, free from persecution as they hold the power, free from criticism as they instil fear in the people. Through the meetings between Adi and these men, Oppenheimer is able to anthropomorphize them and position what they have done in the realm of understanding. Often with documentary films about atrocities such as this, the perpetrators are portrayed as monsters who have committed unspeakable crimes, Oppenheimer's method of speaking openly about the killings with the people who carried them out gives the film a gravitas not seen since Shoah. This is the great strength of the film, the honesty of it.
The Look of Silence is a film about the Indonesian genocide, but more than this it is a study of human conscience, power and ideological and religious beliefs.
I watched the UK premiere along with thousands of others in a simultaneous multi-cinema roll out, this was introduced by Louis Theroux and in his introduction he made an apt and insightful point that the film is so fascinating and enthralling due to the natural human inquisition about human nature and specifically about what evil looks like. The ability of regular people with families and, in this case, strong religious beliefs, to brutally murder millions of people, is baffling to the human mind. The questions that flick through your mind when watching this film are not ones that have a single answer: Why would someone do this? How could someone do this?, this film goes a long way to answering these questions. Through the meetings which Adi has with the death squad leaders who ordered his brother and so many others to be killed, there is a total belief by them that what they did was just and right. Never have I seen such unwavering belief in a cause set on destruction.
The focus on one mans murder brings the national tragedy into perspective. An often quoted statement by Stalin that 'The death of one man is a tragedy. The death of millions is a statistic' rings true and Oppenheimer has used the tragedy of the murder of Ramli to accentuate the murder of a million others and to show the personal struggle which millions of others have had to go through in the 50 years since the genocide.
Many comparisons will likely be made between this documentary and those detailing the Jewish Holocaust in the 1940's, however this is a very different case. The power which the perpetrators of the Indonesian genocide still have within the country allows them the status of heroes and explains the complete conviction of those involved. The "heroes" who are spoken to dehumanise the people they killed talking of them as if animals, they describe with great detail how they killed them often laughing, as if a justification to themselves that what they did was natural and casual. They are free, free from persecution as they hold the power, free from criticism as they instil fear in the people. Through the meetings between Adi and these men, Oppenheimer is able to anthropomorphize them and position what they have done in the realm of understanding. Often with documentary films about atrocities such as this, the perpetrators are portrayed as monsters who have committed unspeakable crimes, Oppenheimer's method of speaking openly about the killings with the people who carried them out gives the film a gravitas not seen since Shoah. This is the great strength of the film, the honesty of it.
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