This is among the
oddest documentaries I’ve seen, a sometimes goofy take on a most grim subject.
With over 200 million inhabitants, Indonesia is, to Americans generally, surely
the most mysterious of the world’s populous nations. Even the well-informed may
not know about the 1965 coup that resulted in the mass executions of hundreds
of thousands of suspected communists, with the assistance of lists provided by
“western governments,” as the brief title states. Joshua Oppenheimer does not
explore the history that preceded the Suharto dictatorship or the role of the
CIA in facilitating it. Instead, he examines a few of the men who committed the
atrocities. But rather than just interviewing them, he gets them to re-create
their crimes, providing them with professional make-up artists, sets, and
letting them direct.
The “star” of the
film is one Anwars Congo, a genial, gentle-seeming host who seems to have aged
well. In an early segment, he explains — and demonstrates — the method he
devised to quickly strangle some 1000 (by his own estimate) victims. Congo
still pals around with another of his anti-communist comrades, a overweight and
jolly man with a penchant for dressing up like a woman during colorful musical sequences
staged by himself and the others.
I confess to being
less enthralled by this film than I had expected, given its widespread acclaim.
Despite their crimes, Congo and the other men are not characters of great depth; it’s
hard to tell whether they felt any strong emotion when killing. Only Congo, who
says he sometimes has bad dreams, seems to have even the dimmest qualm about
it. The lack of introspection no doubt allowed them to kill easily. Possibly
I’d have preferred more history to be included. What is maybe more striking
than these unrepentant men, who seem to embody the banality of evil, is that
they live in a country than seems as blind to the horror of its past as its
perpetrators. The dictator is dead, but there have been no apologies for the
past, no truth and reconciliation committees, and obviously no imprisonments.
Those empowered by the coup, and their descendants, are still in power, ruling
over a corrupt country where people are paid to attend political rallies and,
in one of the most astonishing segments, a talk-show host born after 1965
praises her elders for their humane way of eliminating the supposed communists,
who remain enemies today. As the numerous credits to “Anonymous” attest,
Indonesia is still living with its cruel past.
viewed 7/25 at Gershman Y
[PFS screening and reviewed 7/26–8/6/13
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