9/10
A powerful documentary with a brilliant approach
1 December 2012
Warning: Spoilers
Act of Killing (Jagal) is awesome: a documentary film showing real algojos (assassins) who killed many PKI (communist party members/supporters), in their own words.

It's unique story telling has successfully made important people, including current parliament members, admitting brutality, killing and on-going premanism (thuggery) that's clearly supported by the government, also in their own words, to the camera.

Director Joshua Oppenheimer approached the ex-algojo, Anwar Congo and his buddies, to play in a silly movie, even in woman's dress, without knowing that the real movie is actually the everyday conversation where he was proudly telling n showing what he has done in 65. The government assigned military and preman to support the coup-de-tat, raping and killing many innocents in the name of anti-PKI.

The movie's honest, satire and unprovocative documentation has ironically made us laugh and cry at the same time. Reality does bite: people do what they think is right, and make it right for them, no matter how wrong it is. Why? Because history is written by the winners.

All Indonesian production team remain anonymous and the movie is not publicly distributed in Indonesia.
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