"The Look of Silence" breaks the silence on Indonesian death squads 

Documentarian Joshua Oppenheimer again focuses on Indonesia in his 2014 "The Look of Silence." In his 2012 documentary "The Act of Killing," Oppenheimer interrogates murderers of thousands. Without remorse, killers reenact the grotesque brutality they perpetrated in 1965 when Suharto overthrew President Sukarno. "The Look of Silence" pursues one such murder, representative of the scores of innocent civilians butchered.

The interrogator is Adi Rukun whose older brother Rami was sadistically killed. Using the pretext of an eye exam Adi, an optometrist, meets several responsible for Rami's death. The ironic metaphor of vision, or lack thereof, is never forced but ever present.  Adi also interacts with his own wife and children, his mother and father, and his uncle, a former prison guard. Throughout, Adi maintains an astonishingly calm dignity, saying he wanted only a genuine apology and expressions of sincere regret. He has never received this as he questions death squad participants who still offer rationalizations. Adi's quiet determination during these confrontational dialogues exemplifies the humanity the murderers totally lack.

At the 2016 True-False Film Festival where I first saw "The Look of Silence" Oppenheimer and Adi, via Skype, answered questions. Adi is now identified as "somewhere in the world" since his life remains in danger because of his confronting his brother Rami's murderers. Oppenheimer explained that as they did the interviews, they had a getaway car waiting, Rami's and his family's suitcases packed, and an assistant in line at the airport ready to purchase tickets immediately, knowing their lives could hang in the balance with their questioning of those still in power who killed with impunity decades ago.

Know that "The Look of Silence" is a sobering, gut-wrenching documentary but also an important one. In Indonesian with English subtitles, "The Look of Silence" screens one evening only, Thursday, December 5, at 7:00 p.m. at Webster University’s Winifred Moore auditorium. For more information, you may call 314-246-7525 or on the web at: Webster.edu/filmseries.