The Look Of Silence (2014) by Justin Oppenheimer is a companion piece to his earlier and equally disturbing documentary, The Act of Killing. I found both films hard to watch because of the lack of remorse, nonchalance, and lack of introspection exhibited by the mass murders of communists in the purges of the mid 60s in Indonesia. This one is effective since the interviewer, Adi Rukun, is a man whose brother was killed in the cleansing and he knows who the murders are since they still live in the same community-he can confront them and make them come to terms with their actions many do not or refuse to do so when confronted and stop the interview and tell him to leave. I'm surprised that the May 1998 riots that erupted prior to Sukharto's resignation weren't referred to-I guess it's like apples and oranges, but essentially, it did happen again. many of these murders also are still free living among their victims. The amount of bloodshed from these two events is troubling, one can only wonder if it could happen yet again?
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