'The Look Of Silence' A Review

The Look Of Silence is a documentary about the 1960's Indonesian mass killings, a companion piece to 2012's The Act Of Killing. The film follows Adi an optometrist whose brother was killed in the conflict before he was born. He discuss his brother's death with his aging parents, battles the government sponsored propaganda's influence on his children, and confronts the perpetrators directly involved with his brother's killing.

The majority of the film is taken up with Adi's confrontations with the men involved in the killings, most make excuses, deflect, and justify. The phrase "the past is the past" is repeated by almost every individual Adi speaks with. What Adi is seeking is not revenge but acknowledgement, not righteousness but regret. His parents are also a major center piece of the film. Their age, their worry, and their pain show how much of a toll the death of their son took, and how the silence within the community and country at large regarding the killings, has taken on them. The scenes of Adi in conversation discussing the past are intercut with long silent shots of the jungle and the community in which he lives as well as protracted sequences of Adi watching interviews with the killers where they describe the murders they perpetrated in detail.

The Look Of Silence is simpler and more direct than its predecessor The Act Of Killing. Instead of exploring the effect of killing on the human spirit through passive observation and abstraction it investigates the psychology of the victim and gives them a voice through direct confrontation. It examines forgiveness, survival, endurance, and the possibility of redemption.

A quiet, heartbreaking, incredibly empathetic look at the cultural and societal repercussions of mass murder by focusing on the emotional impact on a few of the individuals involved.

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