"I have not seen a film as powerful, surreal, and frightening in at least a decade." These are the words of acclaimed documentarian Werner Herzog, talking about Josh Oppenheimer's bizarre and undeniably shocking film The Act of Killing. And that's coming from a man who has made his fair share of powerful, surreal and frightening documentaries. To try to describe what The Act of Killing is about in exact terms is to attempt an exercise in futility: watching the film provides an experience like no other - a certified turn down the rabbit hole, if ever there was one. On the surface, The Act of Killing explores the communist genocide that occurred in Indonesia between 1965-1996, but does so in the most unbelievable and "I can't believe they actually got this on film" way imaginable: Oppenheimer asks those responsible for the killings, who turn up to provide interviews and their thoughts on the mass tragedies, to re-enact their crimes in front of the camera in the spirit of their favourite movie genres. The madness doesn't end there, and to discuss it in any more detail is to ruin the audacity of the film itself. Truly, this is something else.
