Filmmaker Joshua Oppenheimer on “The Look of Silence”

Viewers of Joshua Oppenheimer's jaw-dropping documentary "The Act of Killing," about the men who conducted Indonesia's genocidal anti-communist purges in 1965, might well have concluded that it was an impossible act to follow. Yet its sequel is, if anything, even more accomplished and affecting. While "The Act of Killing" gave us a portrait of mass murderers refracted through their own anamorphic imaginations, The "Look of Silence" performs a kind of perspectival correction by introducing the victims' POV that was missing from the earlier film (and from public discourse in Indonesia). We follow Adi Rukun, whose brother was one of the massacred, as he confronts the killers and dares to speak the truth. That Adi happens to be an optometrist, who prescribes corrective lenses even as he restores moral clarity, is just one of many metaphorical harmonies that make "The Look of Silence" such a rich and layered experience. Joshua and I talked about the making of the movie, its visual and sonic poetry, how violence distorts the psyche, the possibility of reconciliation, and the resolve that kept him working during years of difficult filmmaking. Josh is uncommonly thoughtful and eloquent on these questions, and this interview is well worth a listen whether you've seen his films or not.