The Act of Killing: Indonesian coup in which General Suharto – backed by the West – committed genocide

One of the most harrowing insights into the psychology of genocide and the men who torture and kill, The Act of Killing reveals the long-term consequences of the Indonesian coup in which General Suharto – backed by the West – committed genocide when he overthrew democratically elected Sukarno in 1965; a genocide for which the perpetrators have never been held to account. This must-see documentary focuses on the killers – death squad leaders now standing as pillars of the community - as they reflect on the mass killings and the ideology which they use to justify it to this day.

We watch these men who got away with mass murder, pontificating over the justifications for their actions and the glory of victory they appear to feel, while brushing off the nightmares and espousing twisted values. But despite that, watching the interviews and you can't help but be reminded of the humanity of these people – not in the sense of higher values, but rather in the fallability they demonstrate. They are deluded, superficial, flawed, normal – but there is nothing overtly "evil" about them, as if they too are somehow products of terrible circumstances.

It brings to mind the beaurocratic nature of the Holocaust, where death became something routine or even mundane, a normalized process quantified by lists and rosters and schedules; a statistical/logistical problem to be solved with the regimentation of a military division. Equally, the perpetrators have become as dehumanized as their victims - they might still be alive, but they have become simulacras of human beings. They are both agents and victims of a higher, doctrinal destructive force.

One of the most telling juxtapositions in the documentary is one which highlights The Act of Killing's main flaws – in describing his flair for killing, one of the executioners recounts his passion for American cinema as a source of inspiration for the imaginative methods he would use to kill people. The wider discussion – and one which gets to the root of the genocide in Indonesia – is the role played by America and other western nations in the slaughter which took place. While their role is briefly noted in titles at the beginning of the documentary, this much-needed context is neglected throughout, rendering the crimes – at least from the perspective of a Western audience – isolated in some foreign realm devoid of relevance to their own political lives.

It is justifiable that The Act of Killing has received such acclaim, despite it's lack of probity into the broader picture as to the origins of the atrocities in Indonesia. Accepting the geopolitical limitations of such a project, what it reveals about the nature of human cruelty, self-delusion and cultural mythologizing remains hugely relevant. Perhaps a braver documentarian might probe deeper in future – although I suspect funding such an expose might prove to be problemmatic…

http://orwellwasright.co.uk/2014/01/07/the-act-of-killing/

The Act of Killing: Indonesian coup in which General Suharto – backed by the West – committed genocide

The Act of Killing: Indonesian coup in which General Suharto – backed by the West – committed genocide

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