The Look of Silence

Joshua Oppenheimer's latest documentary nicely complements his Oscar-nominated The Act of Killing (VL-3/14), which focused on Indonesia's brutal campaign against regime opponents during the 1960s—a tale told from the perspective of the perpetrators. The Look of Silence considers the viewpoint of the victims, centering on optician Adi Rukun, whose older brother was killed during the massacres. Hoping to gain an understanding of what happened, Rukun watches footage of killers in his locality talking about their crimes in frequently excruciating detail, after which he interrogates those still alive, as well as their widows and children. Rukun even questions his elderly uncle, who was a guard at the jail where his brother was kept before he was murdered. Intercut with Rukun's search for the truth are scenes with his father, whose mind is largely gone, and still-grieving mother, as well as his wife and daughter. The general attitude he encounters is that it is fruitless to dig into what happened decades ago; the guilty were never punished—indeed, many still live successful lives, unrepentant for what they did. This slow, somber production with its sense of quiet rage over injustice has great cumulative power, delivering a universal message of just how much a society can be damaged by ignoring its dark history. Recommended. Aud: C, P. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include audio commentary by director Joshua Oppenheimer and executive producer Errol Morris, a Berlin Film Festival Q&A with Oppenheimer and executive producer Werner Herzog (41 min.), footage from the Indonesian premiere that include a Q&A with subject Adi Rukun (35 min.), a conversation with Oppenheimer (18 min.), a trailer, and a 20-page booklet. Exclusive to the Blu-ray release is a bonus digital copy of the film. Bottom line: an excellent extras package for this Best Documentary nominee.] (F. Swietek)