6) The Act Of Killing
Crap, after reading my 12 Years A Slave write-up only one page back, I’m already making myself out to be a liar. There was one more film on par with the moving nature of McQueen’s film, and that’s Joshua Oppenheimer’s documentary The Act Of Killing. I watch a lot of horror movies, as you may have seen from my short introduction, but no film terrified me more than this brilliant, genre defining documentary masterpiece. Some documentarians set out with a goal, achieve some of it, and are happy just to have a movie together, but Oppenheimer sneakily goes into his project with a plan, and not only gives us historical information on atrocious Indonesian killings, but exposes certifiable killers on camera breaking down with their own true, emotional realizations. This is “WOW” material, 100% of the way.
I can’t point out any one moment that defines The Act Of Killing because every moment seems to trump the last. Anwar Congo, the film’s focal point, is a film lover turned government death squad hero during a time in Indonesia where the idea was to exterminate all Communist threats. Anwar shows how it was done, displays the tools of the trade, dances about with joy, and always keeps a skip in his step – all this coming from a man boasting a personal body count in the hundreds. By the end of the movie, Anwar is, well, watching his “transformation” (along with the other characters) is what represents the greatest reward of Oppenheimer’s powerful, juggernaut of a life lesson. You really have to experience this film for yourself to understand. I’m honestly just going to leave it right there.
The Act of Killing is not currently playing in theaters, but will arrive on DVD and Blu-Ray January 7th. Read my full review of the film here.