The modern documentary Werner Herzog called “unbelievable”
With a truly uncompromising vision, a unique belief in the power of storytelling, and a dedication to exploring the darker recesses of the human psyche, Werner Herzog has established himself as one of Germany’s greatest-ever filmmakers and has carved out a legacy that will live long after he does.
Whether looking into the maddening dangers of the Amazon rainforest in Aguirre, the Wrath of God, the unwavering belief of individuals in Fitzcarraldo or the relationship between humans and the natural world in Grizzly Man, Herzog has always offered films that dive headfirst into the most difficult of existential themes.
Interestingly, though, despite being one of the most acclaimed European directors of all time, Herzog admitted to not oversaturating himself by watching too many fiction movies. He has more of an interest in learning through reading and, as a consequence, watching documentaries. In an interview with The Guardian, he once spoke of his admiration for Joshua Oppenheimer’s 2012 documentary The Act of Killing.
“I’m an executive producer on this film, about the genocide in Indonesia, so my answer is slightly biased,” Herzog admitted. “I was in London, and somebody said: ‘There’s a young man, Joshua Oppenheimer, who desperately wants to meet you.’ So he opened his laptop and showed me nine minutes of footage.”
The director added, “I knew I had never seen anything like it. It was unbelievable. So I was an adviser in shaping the film, but it was all shot already, so it was more in shaping the narrative. The end of the film was cut down completely in his version. I said: ‘Is there more footage?’ and he sent me the entire raw footage as it had come out of the camera, something like four minutes, uncut.”
The Act of Killing focuses on the people who took part in the mass killings of 1965-66 in Indonesia, where people suspected of being communists against the New Order regime were tortured and killed. Many of the killers retained power in the country, and Oppenheimer and his crew followed the executioner Anwar Congo and his acquaintances.
Oppenheimer asks his subjects to re-enact their killings and openly discuss what happened whilst also focusing on the psychological confrontation Congo makes in opening up. Many figures appeared to be boastful about their actions, and the production of the film seemed to take a mental toll on Oppenheimer and his crew as well.
Detailing his moment of advice to Oppenheimer, Herzog signed off, “And I said to him: ‘Leave it uncut and put it in there as it is. Nobody will ever see anything like this again.’ And, of course, quite a few people had objections and were a little bit timid. And I said to him: ‘Joshua, if you don’t put this footage into the end of the film as it is, you have lived in vain.’ And he put it in there.”
Check out the trailer for The Act of Killing below.
