2y ago

This 2012 movie is surreal. The filmmakers essentially “trick” Indonesian right-wing death squads into reenacting their 1965-66 killings in the style of a Hollywood movie.

watch.plex.tv The Act of Killing (2012)

A documentary which challenges former Indonesian death-squad leaders to reenact their mass-killings in whichever cinematic genres they wish, including classic Hollywood crime scenarios and lavish musical numbers.

2 comments

I'd recommend The Jakarta Method, by Vincent Bevins, for a really excellent look at this topic. People in Indonesia were excited to join the world-stage in the third wave of modernization of government (third-world was not a pejorative term at the time). Of course, a rightwing coup put a stop to that and the west pillaged resources, as usual.
- I preordered this physical book on release and was really excited to read it but I could never finish it unfortunately. Got bored somewhere in the middle.