The Look of Silence (2014)

A family that survived the genocide in Indonesia confronts the men who killed one of their brothers.

Director:

Joshua Oppenheimer

Stars:

Adi Rukun, M.Y. Basrun, Amir Hasan

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 48 wins & 42 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Adi Rukun	...	Himself, brother of murdered Ramli Rukun
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
M.Y. Basrun	...	Himself, former commander of a civilian militia
Amir Hasan	...	Himself, former leader of death squad (archive footage)
Inong	...	Himself, former leader the village death squad
Kemat	...	Himself, survivor from Snake River massacre
Joshua Oppenheimer	...	Himself (voice) (as Josh)
Amir Siahaan	...	Himself, former commander of Snake River death squads
Ted Yates	...	Himself, reporter, NBC News (archive footage)

Storyline

An Indonesian man with a communist background named Ramli was brutally murdered when the "Communist" purge occurred in 1965. His remaining family members lived in fear and silence until the making of this documentary. Adi, a brother of his, decided to revisit the horrific incident and visited the men who were responsible for the killings and one survivor of the purge. These meetings uncovered sadistic details of the murders and exposed raw emotions and reactions of the killers' family members about what happened in the past - much to Adi's disappointment.

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Plot Keywords:

torture | ophthalmologist | genocide | indonesia | self justification | 

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Taglines:

Astonishing.

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Genres:

Documentary | Biography | History

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG - 13 for thematic material involving disturbing graphic descriptions of atrocities and inhumanity

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

Denmark Indonesia Finland Norway UK Israel France USA Germany Netherlands Taiwan

Language:

Indonesian

Release Date:

17 July 2015 (USA)

Also Known As:

A csend képe

Filming Locations:

Indonesia

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$6,616, 19 July 2015, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$109,089

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$332,710

Company Credits

Production Co:

Anonymous, Final Cut for Real, Making Movies Oy

Technical Specs

Runtime:

103 min

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film was shot after Joshua Oppenheimer had edited The Act of Killing (2012).

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Quotes

Himself, brother of murdered Ramli Rukun: Tell me about that madness.
Himself, former leader the village death squad: Some killed so many people who have gone mad. A man climbed a palm tree, every morning, to call for prayer. Killed too many people. There is only one way to avoid it. Drink the blood or go crazy. But if you drink blood, you can do anything.
Himself, brother of murdered Ramli Rukun: [Testing the eyeglasses] What do you think...
Himself, former leader the village death squad: Salty and sweet. The human blood.
Himself, brother of murdered Ramli Rukun: Pardon?
Himself, former leader the village death squad: Human blood is salty and sweet. I know from experience.

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Connections

Featured in The Oscars (2016)

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Soundtracks

Rege Rege
(traditional)

User Reviews

Uncomfortable in its confrontations, but essential and powerful.

A fantastic companion piece to The Act of Killing, one of the most deeply disturbing films I've ever seen. But it's not fair to call it a continuation of that film, and what this is revolved around is inherently interesting and riveting in itself. "I knew nothing about it"... the whole film can be summarized in those few words. the film is infuriating in some of the same ways The Act of Killing was, but less so by the mere fact that it's less concentrated on the individuals who committed those acts. And because it concentrates on the family of a victim, it's heartfelt in a way it's sibling film wasn't. Fantastic, thought-provoking, discomforting in the ideas and questions that it touches upon.