To put it crudely, 'The Act of Killing' would blast open the space for the more delicate film, 'The Look of Silence,' to do its work.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
I don't think I'd seen anything like 'The Killing.'
To kill, in war or in any circumstance, creates a silence. It is right that silence should surround the taking of life. After all, the life taken is not ours to take.
I wanted to work on this central problem of killing. How you go about killing. Now, in the film I had to kill my children - well, I didn't want to get that far.
'The Killing' has a really great combination of qualities: Even though it's very sad and deals with mourning and grief, it's still exciting. It's about real people and it doesn't shy from the painful points of life.
People may assume 'The Act of Killing' is a historical documentary about what happened in 1965. But our purpose was to expose a present-day regime of fear for what it is.
From the director's point of view, it's infinitely easier to do violence than to do a good dramatic scene.
Film seems to be a medium designed for betrayal and violence.
You see, 'The Look of Silence' is the first film ever made where survivors confront perpetrators who still hold a monopoly on power. It's normally never done because it is too dangerous.
In movies, it's so easy to have this 'boom,' to kill, and I think that's inhumane.
If you think about what 'The Killing' is, it is the theatrical production, not the script.