Exoticalot People are voting emotionally.

ChicRawIdol A brilliant film that helped define a genre

Arianna Moses Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

Tayyab Torres Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

jadavix It's hard to "review" a movie like "The Look of Silence". You don't really watch it and evaluate it like you do anything else. You bear witness.I have never been able to write anything about its prequel, "The Act of Killing". I broke my rule of reviewing every movie I watch on here because I just wasn't up to the task. Watching that movie, and "The Look of Silence" to a slightly lesser extent, was like being dosed with heroin and hit with a sledgehammer. The usual "disturbing" movie, documentary or otherwise, has an impact that can be shaken off eventually. With "The Act of Killing", I never really felt it, but I knew it was there. It took something from me. The impact bled through into my day to day life. It wasn't just like a bad dream. It was real.Here is "The Look of Silence". It gives a different side of the story that "Act of Killing" presented, through the son of survivors of the Indonesian genocide. He learns about the fate of his older brother, killed two years before his birth. Then he confronts some of the killers and their families, though these meetings don't go as you might expect, especially for the son, Adi.This movie really should be watched alongside "The Act of Killing". Whereas "The Look of Silence" is no less horrible in its descriptions of actual murder, I have a feeling that it is the goodness of Adi and his family you will remember.

room102 Nominated for an Oscar for Best Documentary in 2015This is a sequel/companion documentary to THE ACT OF KILLING (2012) about the genocide in Indonesia, this time seen from the POV of the family whose one of its members been murdered.Everything about this is strange. From the calmness of the people talking about the killings, to the calmness of the members of the victim's family. It's like everything is either trivial or told from a distance.Plus, there is the strange situation of people talking about forgetting and forgiveness, while obviously remembering everything and basically threatening the brother. Again, very strange feeling throughout the entire movie.Like the previous film, there is a strange feeling of trivializing genocide and brutally murdering of people. I thought the first movie was better constructed. This film feels like bits and pieces of interviews without a real coherent structure.

MortalKombatFan1 "The Look of Silence" is a companion piece to Joshua Oppenheimer's previous film "The Act of Killing". Both films deal with the mass murder of communists in Indonesia between 1965 and 1966 - a serious crime resulting in the deaths of over a million innocent people by the hands of hired militia sanctioned by the government, but has gone unnoticed in the public eye for so long because the perpetrators are still at large, hailed as national heroes for stopping a revolution and in positions of power in government for over fifty years, living peacefully among the families of those they murdered."Act of Killing" is more audacious in style, following three killers as they recreate their murders for film in any genre they want (gangster flick, musical, etc.) - all the while they're boastful of their accomplishments, without any remorse or regret for their actions.'This film follows Adi Rukun, an optometrist who's brother was murdered in the genocide. We see him confronting death squad leaders and those who knew his brother, looking for some sort of understanding and possibly reconciliation for his murder. There are also domestic scenes with his mother and father, as well as with his wife and family. Life plays out happily before our eyes, but beneath it there are still painful reminders of the past when Adi talks about his brother with his mother, or when he tells his wife what he's been up to, talking with these killers they know. She says she would have stopped him if she knew, that his life could be in danger if he keeps digging up the past instead of forgetting. This gives the interviews a very real sense of tension, and you wonder if such a film could be made if it weren't for the involvement of outsiders who could be there with Adi.Still, Adi puts up a strong front, asking why they did what they did. The answer's usually the same, they deny individual responsibility, or say that it was necessary. Sometimes their answers are disturbing, saying that they drank the blood of their victims to stay sane. Family members of the now-deceased murderer of his brother deny knowing anything about their father's work. In a very affecting scene, Adi's uncle, a prison guard in the army says he was unaware what happened to the detained after they were shipped off onto trucks each day. He's trying to keep up a strong resolve, but you can see the pain in his face when he talks about the past.This film director chooses not to intrude on the telling of the stories with narration, but instead lets the interviewees tell their version of events, leaving pregnant pauses between answers to linger on their faces, which often tell more than spoken words ever could.It's a very quite, slow film, but I found it hypnotic and a damning portrait of a country's silence after horrendous acts were committed. Adi gives a voice to the families of many victims, and both films should be watched by everyone to get a better understanding of the depths humanity can sink to, and how a nation struggles to cope with long dormant pain after government sanctioned genocide.

Bryan Kluger I didn't think it was possible to outdo one of the most compelling documentaries about the atrocious Indonesian killings during the mid 60s, but never say never. Joshua Oppenheimer set out over the last decade or so to confront and interview the mass murderers and victims of the Indonesian killings. Oppenheimer got Errol Morris and Werner Herzog on board to to produce his documentary, which was called 'The Act of Killing'.'The Act of Killing' followed a few of these mass murderers who killed literally thousands of innocent people over the span of a year or two. These people were men, women, and children who were thought to be communists. These victims weren't just shot in the head, but they were sadistically tortured and killed by a variety of ways. These murderers are still alive today and are considered heroes by the government, but are still feared by the common folk. It truly is unbelievable that the Indonesian government and paramilitary are still alive and well today, and are still in power, where these murderers walk free with no remorse.'The Act of Killing' earned an Oscar nomination for Best Documentary. Needless to say, this documentary didn't shed any good light on the Indonesian government nor the military, but Oppenheimer went back to make a follow up documentary, because his story is far from being over, which brings us to 'The Look of Silence'. This documentary is just as good if not better than 'The Act of Killing' and will draw tears and actually keep you on the edge of your seat for fear of Oppenheimer's life and his subject.'The Look of Silence' follows a single family, living in a small village in the heart of where the genocide of the 60s took place. The youngest son named Adi, who wasn't born at the time, now has a family and helps people with their eye glass prescriptions. Adi sets out to confront the mass murderers who tortured and killed his older brother Ramli. His bottomless devotion doesn't stop at confronting these people, but goes further into trying to get everyone in his country to seek the truth and start admitting what actually happened, because as we saw in 'The Act of Killing', the people in power will never admit to anything. It brings tears to my eyes as Adi uses his very calm demeanor, holding back his own tears and big gulps of breath as he tries to get answers and the killers to admit what they had done.Throughout the film, Adi confronts the killers who were concomitantly involved with his brother's death, then later in the film, he talks with the murderers who actually killed him. Each interview is more suspenseful than the one before it, as these people who are still in power are not too happy to be answering questions about this, which none of them actually want to come to terms with what they did. In fact, they still revel in the fact that they committed all these heinous crimes and consider themselves good people. It's all so heartbreaking as Adi begins to put the pieces together of his brother's death and who actually was involved, which hits closer to home than any of us would like to see.Adi is a simple man, but he is one of strong conviction to seek the truth without being a jerk. He is calm, collected, and always wise with his words and actions. He's a deeply exceptional person, and you can't help by connect with him on this very emotional journey. Oppenheimer is always by his side and with his camera, as he takes in the beautiful landscapes of Indonesia with his artistic eye. Almost every scene is a beautiful painting with so much pain behind it. I have no doubt that 'The Look of Silence' will win more awards this year, and this continues to show us the Joshua Oppenheimer is one of the best documentary filmmakers working today.