Toronto Report: 'The Look of Silence' Is a Tough, Terrific Must-Watch
Last year, documentarian Joshua Oppenheimer earned near-universal acclaim — and an Oscar nomination — for The Act of Killing, a wrenching, remarkable look at a series of mass murders committed in Indonesia in the mid-’50s. An estimated 500,000 people were killed in what was described as an anti-communist crackdown, even though many of the victims weren’t communists at all.
In Killing, Oppenheimer followed some of the executioners around modern-day Indonesia (where they’re still hailed as heroes), and allowed them to re-enact their acts in a series of highly stylized, Hollywood-influenced vignettes. The resulting film was mesmerizing and, at times, borderline surreal. But while reviews were rapturous, some in Indonesia were not pleased, and Oppenheimer — who co-directed the movie with a local filmmaker who wished to be billed only as “Anonymous” — told the BBC he feared returning to the region: ”One of the saddest things for me about releasing the film is that I can’t safely go back now.”
Oppenheimer’s new film, The Look of Silence, which is playing at this week’s Toronto International Film Festival, is the follow-upto Killing. Except this time, the filmmaker (once again working with “Anonymous”) opts to focus on the victims’ families, specifically Adi, a mild-mannered optometrist who lost his older brother in the murder spree. With tenacity and precision, Adi calmly interrogates some of the men responsible for his brother’s death, often while fitting them for new eyeglasses. As he digs deeper into the tragedy, the interviews become increasingly candid and disturbing; by the film’s end, Adi has unearthed not only horrific tales of bloodshed, but also decades-old family secrets. “The past is the past,” many of the interviewees note, both killers and survivors alike. But it’s clear that many of them will never be able to outrun — or perhaps even understand — the events that occurred nearly 60 years ago.
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At least a dozen or so people walked out of The Look of Silence during its Friday-afternoon screening, and it’s hard to blame them: Though the violence is strictly anecdotal, the film’s detailed accounts of beheadings and butcherings are difficult to endure — especially when they’re delivered by the perpetrators with such tossed-off glee. But for those who can make it through this tough, empathetic, ever-enthralling film, the rewards are countless. Silence will likely be making noise for years to come.
Photo: Drafthouse Films
