Leigh Paatsch reviews The Act of Killing

WHERE The Act of Killing will end will shock you to the core. As a sociocultural experiment, it's a doco about the survivors of a 1960s massacre.

The Act of Killing. Picture: Supplied

JOSHUA Oppenheimer travelled to Indonesia to make a documentary about the survivors of ashocking 1960s massacre.

Alleged communists were the primary targets of the state-sponsored campaign, which employed gangsters and paramilitary groups to do all the murdering.

On the spot. En masse.

Conservative estimates bottom out at half a million dead. Most believe the real number is well in excess of double that.

Oppenheimer found it impossible to work past the Indonesian authorities to get to those who lived through this horrific time. However, the powers-that-be have no problem whatsoever with Oppenheimer talking to the perpetrators. of the genocide.

Bizarrely, this is where The Act Of Killing begins. Where it will end will shock you to the core. In what can only be described as a sociocultural experiment, Oppenheimer asked his subjects to re-enact their participation in the killings as actors in imaginary movies.

Most of the men, now in their 70s, were only too willing to comply. The group's cheery lack of remorse is chilling enough in its own right. Seeing them proudly recreate their atrocities in the style of their favourite Hollywood heroes simply defies all belief.

Definitely unforgettable on most fronts - and perhaps unforgivable on others - this is as up close and personal with real evil as a viewer will ever get.

The Act of Killing is now showing at the Cinema Nova (VIC) and Dendy Newtown (NSW). Other states to follow.