Two books crush Indonesian state accounts of 1960s anti-leftist massacres, implicate the US and UK and revise how we define genocideJoshua Oppenheimer´s 2012 documentary The Act of Killing follows a cabal of ageing hoodlums around the city of Medan, in north-west Indonesia. Between 1965 and 66, they had enthusiastically joined militias across the country that garrotted, stabbed and mutilated to death at least half a million suspected leftists. Almost half a century later, they bragged openly about their exploits to Oppenheimer, for state propaganda since the late 60s has lionised the killers as heroes, and demonised the victims as godless communist traitors to the nation.This polemically cinematic film - the first of two he made about the massacres - has transformed awareness of these events in the west and galvanised debate within Indonesia. It has shone a light on acts of exceptional cruelty, and on their intimate connection with the thuggish political culture of Indonesia today. Oppenheimer felt, as he amassed the film´s footage, as if he had `wandered into Germany 40 years after the Holocaust, only to find the Nazis still in power`.Robinson is concerned with wider culpability and points the finger particularly at the US and British governments Related: Joshua Oppenheimer: `You celebrate mass killing so you don`t have to look yourself in the mirror` Continue reading...
|
