'The look of silence' gives voice to the victims of the genocide in Indonesia
(Running water)
(soft music)
(MEGAPHONE) "Okay. Happy. Smile.
One, two, three, four. smile.
Let our clients look good.
Don't let the camera catch you with a bad face.
Smile. One two. Three. Four.
Real joy.
Not just pleasure.
And natural beauty.
This is not a sham.
Come on. Peace.
Peace.
Peace."
(Traffic)
"THE ACT OF KILLING"
(metal crash)
I'm looking for an actress.
An actress playing a mother.
Older women, like you,
when they see movie stars on TV
They should dream of becoming one.
-No, not me.
-And why not?
You don't have anything else to do.
-No. I'm busy.
-These women will not accept
play communists just like that.
Maybe they'll agree if we invite them to your house first.
But if we ask them here, they're afraid...
that people might think they're real communists.
-I don't agree.
Everyone in my neighborhood would do it.
-Then let's go there. It's impossible here.
This whole area was communist.
We are looking for women with children who want to interpret
to communist wives.
You'll try to stop us from burning down your house.
But in the end we burned it.
"Mom, they burned down our house.
Mom, mom, they burned down our house.
Oh, they burned down our house, Mom.
They burned down our house... oh!"
That's how you should do it.
And don't worry if you touch her breasts.
You're still a kid. Huh? Ready? Hey?
Hey! Kill them!-No!
-Destroy his house! Destroy his house!
-No, please! Don't do it, don't do it! Don't do it!
-Cry, cry.-Burn it! burn it! kill them!
-Cry, cry. Scream, squeal.
-Don't burn my house down, don't burn down my house!
-Keep crying, keep crying.Keep crying.
Keep crying.
Okay. Short. Cut, cut.
(Applause, laughter)
If this makes it to the big screen...
or just on TV,
it doesn't matter.
But we have to show...
-That this is the story.
-This was us.-Yes.
-So that in the future people will remember it.
It doesn't have to be a great movie like the ones from Rank Organization,
Paramount...
Yes... Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer...
We, in a simple way, step by step,
step by step...,
we'll tell the story
of what we did when we were young.
-With permission.
With permission.
-There are many ghosts here
because many people were murdered in this place.
-They did not die naturally.
-His death was not natural.
They arrived perfectly healthy.
When they were here...
they were beaten and killed.
At first we beat them to death,
but there was too much blood.
There was too much blood around here.
When we cleaned it smelled terrible.
To avoid blood, I used this system.
May I show you?
-Go ahead.
Sit here.
Look over there.
We have to represent it well.
-Aha.-Oh...
-This is how it's done...
Without too much blood.
I tried to forget all this with good music, dancing,
feeling happy,
drinking some alcohol,
Smoking some weed,
drinking a bit of...what do you call it? Ecstasy.
When I got drunk, I would fly and feel happy.
(LAUGHS AND HUMS)
-He is a happy man.
(Traffic)
(Tap open)
Anwar Congo, from the paramilitary group.
Have you heard of it? Medan cinema.
Now that I'm Syamsul Arifin, if he threatens me, I'll stab him.
Everyone was afraid of him.
The only one who wasn't afraid of him was me.
Because he raised me when I was a kid.
When I was in high school.
I was the only one who wasn't afraid of him...
because I didn't see him as a big gangster.
-Yes.
-But when people heard his name, they were terrified.
-Why?-Because he is one of the assassins.
Now the sons of communists have begun to speak
trying to reverse history.
One of them has written:
"I'm proud to be the son of a communist."
But this won't last long
because people won't accept it.
Communism will never be accepted in Indonesia because...
because we have a lot of gangsters and that's good.
The word gangster comes from the English "free man".
Thugs want the freedom to do things,
even if they're wrong.
But we do know how to work with them
All we have to do is direct them.
(Traffic)
We were gangsters.
We had no proper jobs.
We did anything for money.
We did it just to buy good clothes.
This was the cinema...
where I worked.
I would put myself here, resell tickets and strut around.
When movies were popular, we would resell tickets.
But when the communists got strong...
They called for a ban on American movies.
They wanted fewer American movies,
so we gangsters made less money.
-Because there was no audience.
Hollywood movies were very popular.
Without them, gangsters didn't make as much money.
As we say here,"dinner missed the belly."
-When we watched happy movies, like Elvis's,
we would leave the cinema smiling and dancing to the music.
Our hands...
they kept dancing.
We were still in the mood of the movie.
If girls passed by, we would whistle at them.
We loved it.
We didn't care what people thought.
Here was the paramilitary office where I always killed people.
I watched the guy being questioned,
gave him a cigarette
and kept dancing and laughing.
It was like we killed...
happy.
(SING ROCK)
When my mother was alive,
when my mother lived...
sometimes when I would scream,
she would come running and wake me up.
"Before you sleep, wash your feet!
Say your prayers and don't fall asleep peacefully."
I know my dreams come from what I did.
From killing people...
He didn't want to die.
I forced them to die.
(SINGS) -"Why do you daydream, my love?
Are you that insecure?"
(THEY LAUGH AND SING)
(LAUGHS)
-You've become a star.
-It's amazing.
This man is a star.
Joshua, shoot the pictures.
That's the president's father-in-law, Sarwo Edhie.
I'm going to introduce them one by one.
-That's the president.
That's him with the president.
Ibrahim Sinikes is famous throughout the country.
We gangsters protect him well.
We wish you a long and prosperous life,
but don't forget to share your money.
(LAUGHS)
-Ask Joshua for the money.
She is from London, after all.
-Yeah.
-Did you interrogate communists in your newsroom?
-He was always gathering information.
When I had the information
it read: "Guilty."
And we would take him away and kill him.
-When he was interrogating communists in his office,
what was he asking them?
-Regardless of what we asked them,
we changed their answers to make them look mean.
As a press man...
My job was to make the public hate them.
-And how was your relationship with the Army?
-With whom?-With the Army.
-We didn't have a formal relationship...,
but after capturing the young communists
and beat them up, we handed them over to the Army,
but the Army didn't want them.
They told us: "Throw them into the river."
-Do you remember what exactly the Army told them?
-I didn't take the victims. I had men for that.
Why would I do such hard work?
Why would he kill people?
I didn't have to.
All he had to do was wink and they were dead.
(Voices)
(Mermaids)
(Screams)
How are you Anwar?
This is the real Anwar Congo.
(Anthem)
Pancasila! (AUDIENCE) Hey!
Pancasila! (AUDIENCE) Hey!
-Pancasila! (AUDIENCE) Hey!
-All the members of Juventud Pancasila are heroes.
For exterminating the communists,
for fighting neo-communists
and the extreme left
and against all those who want to destroy our country.
And that is not only the duty of the Army and the Police.
We, the Pancasila Youth, must take a stand.
These are threats to our nation
and we must take action.
They say that Juventud Pancasila is an organization of gangsters...
If we're gangsters, I'm the biggest gangster of all.
Wow!
-Shit.
How did Juventud Pancasilaa exterminate the communists?
-We kill them all.
That's what happened.
Can I hit the ball now?
We have too much democracy.
It's chaos.
What is this democracy?
Things were better under the military dictatorship.
Better economy, more security...
Gangsters are free men.
They want to enjoy life in their own way.
Relax and Rolex.
Obviously you have a mole...on your pussy.
Definitely.
It's been fantastic.
If I do a full I get a massage.
(TV) "There are a lot of ghosts here.
They arrived perfectly healthy.
Then they beat them...
and they died.
Sit here.
We have to represent it well."
I would never have worn white pants.
She always wore dark colors.
Looks like I'm dressed for a picnic.
My acting has to be violent.
And maybe...
I should dye my hair black.
(TV) "And now he's dead."
-And how do you feel when you see this?
-How do I feel?
Back then I felt freer.
Older men are kinder. However, young men...,
and me especially...,
because I watched a lot of sadistic movies.
Those movies influenced us.
We were crueler than the movies.
-I know a good place for a torture scene.
Behind the school, in the old toilets.
-But the neighbors would hear us.-They know me.
One look from me is enough for them to run away.
-Look, I'm laughing. I acted bad, right?
It's my fault.
I was influenced by movies starring...
by Marlon Brando,
Al Pacino...
Those were my favorites.
And Westerns with John Wayne.
I brought all these clothes from home.
I hope it expresses my vision.
Listen, you have to change your shirt.
Put on a white one.
This will look great on you.
Perfect.
-What the hell is this?
-It's just a little decoration.
It matches your body shape.
It fits you perfectly.
-This one is for the super boss.-Yeah, it's perfect for me.
Do you know what inspired me for this?
I always watched gangster movies...
in which they killed with a wire.
Because when you pull hard on the wire
the victim cannot grasp it.
You can't because the wire penetrates the skin.
(WHISTLES)
(Thunder)
It's great to be a communist, right?
-Don't just nod. Say, "Yes, sir."
Want to smoke, Pang?
-No.-Try this.
Try this neocolonialist cigar.
Take a puff.
Shove it up your nose if you don't want to smoke.
-Look at him. Look at him!
Look into his eyes!
(Rain)
(Adhan)
Wait, Joshua, it's evening prayer.
You've tightened the bandage too tightly.-I haven't.
It seems tight from the way I pull on it.
-Even next to the window is hot.
(Adhan continues)
Human Rights.
All that talk about Human Rights pisses me off.
We want some minimum Human Rights.
Back then there were no Human Rights.
-Why you made a revolution.
-That's not an excuse.
For example, in Argentina,
some generals staged a coup
and then they were convicted
for violations of Human Rights.
-But I'm a gangster.
I'm a gangster, a free man.
A movie theater gangster.
Not much education.
-A marginalized man.-A marginalized man.
There are people like me all over the world.
(Adhan continues)
(Engine)
They still look great.
There were a lot of Chinese communists.
I had a thick book with all their names
and visited them.
"How much are you going to pay?"
And they'd say, "Please, sir, don't do it. I'm old."
We used them for their money.
We didn't kill them.
But if they didn't pay, we'd kill them. Those were their options.
If they didn't pay...
We killed them.
(Overlapping conversations)
The Chinese are complicated.
Sometimes they piss me off.
Perfect. You sure know how to speak Chinese well.
When I need money there's nothing like an old friend.
With others, if it's not enough, I don't accept it.
Hello, Lung. Come on, hit that one. How long.
I need money.
-And why me?-I'm asking you kindly...
I don't even ask the others.
I just hit them.
I give them a good hook in the stomach.
Will you give it to me sincerely? Then thank you very much.
Our organization is preparing a great meeting.
We need money.
We need...more money than usual.
We need a good sum.
Don't give us the usual amount.
What the fuck is that?
Give me more...or I won't take it.
-Please.
-I would never accept such a small amount.
-Here.
-That's not enough.
What the hell is wrong with you, Cik?
-We consider you our father, Cik.
So put more and we'll accept it...
because this is not for everyone.
-Count it and put it in the envelope.
(Applause)
-The spirit of Pancasila Youth,
who people accuse of being gangsters...
Gangsters are people who work outside the system,
not for the government.
The word gangster means "free man."
This country needs free men.
If everyone worked for the government...,
we'd be a country of bureaucrats and we'd get nothing done.
We need gangsters to get things done.
Free and private men who do things.
Use your muscles.
But muscles aren't for hitting people...,
although sometimes hitting people is necessary.
(AUDIENCE LAUGHS)
Once again: Pancasila! (AUDIENCE) Hey!
-Pancasila! (AUDIENCE) Hey!
-Freedom! (AUDIENCE) Hey!
(PA) "While you wait for the train to pass, we inform you
that traffic rules
They are here to protect you and your family.
We also inform you that, according to the law,
must comply with safety regulations".
-This is me. Anwar Congo.
-Ah, that's you.
-And, look, I'm rolling a joint.
-You're smoking marijuana.
-This is me.
I'm wearing a plaid shirt,
camouflage pants and saddle shoes.
See how elitist that was?
-This is what you should wear to the studio scene.
-And for the murder scene, jeans.
To kill I wore jeans.
When you kill people you should wear thick pants like these.
-How about a checkered pattern?
-That would be fantastic.
But small.
To look cool, he would imitate movie stars.
But I never imitated Elvis Presley.
-Brother...
I'll make you a beautiful outfit.
-More energy!-We're ready, boss!
-Burn them all!
-You've finally understood.
-Shouts: "What's going on, mom? Leave us alone!"
Everyone pay attention.
Anwar, show us how to kill.
You, come here.
-What's up?
Who says I'm a communist?
-Hold him down!
-Torture him, kill him.
-Are you listening to me?
Stop denying you're a communist.
-Come on, let's go!-Leave our grandfather alone!
-You take him. I take the children.
-Do you love these children?
-Please stop.
-Sit down or I'll crush this kid!
(CRIES) -Let me go!
If you love your grandkids, you better stop lying. Up to you.
(CRIES)
-Cut!
(Applause)
-Great!
(Applause continues)
Why do people watch James Bond movies?
By action.
Why do people watch Nazi movies?
So I can see sadism.
We can do that too.
We can do something even more sadistic than...
More sadistic than what we see in movies about Nazis.
Sure we can...
Because there has never been a movie that featured beheadings.
Except in fiction, but that's different.
Because I did it in real life.
I did.
(Trills)
What is clear is that in no movie
our method has been used.
We can attract a large audience.
Humour...is a must.
-And romanticism?
-We have it too.
-Fuck the umbrella.
-Herman is trapped. He must yell: "Leave me alone!
Enough, enough, enough!"
Meanwhile, the three of us yell:
"Communist bitch!"
And we keep attacking her.
(Screams)
I'm going to rape you.
I'm going to kill you.
How long have you been pregnant?
You will give birth to a communist.
-But if the public is tense all the time,
With nothing to amuse you, this won't work.
On Saturday night...
I went to the movies.
No, I'm not going to move my butt or anything like that.
To watch a movie alone with my girlfriend.
But the tickets were sold out.
So I bought the tickets...
to the movie gangsters.
It was wonderful.
(aircraft turbine)
Bye!
How's the family?-We're all fine.
-Did you have a good trip?
What's up? You had good trip?
-How have you been, Anwar?-All good.
-The city has changed a lot.-Yes?
-I've called you many times.
But you don't answer my calls.
(BABBLERS)
Your nose needs more.
-Do you remember Soaduon?
-Yes.
-Where is it? -There.
Soaduon Siregar.
Now he takes credit for anything...
But then he was a nobody.
-I remember him.
-Adi, this is Soaduon Siregar.-I remember you.
-He is one of Ibrahim Sinik's journalists.
As they say:
"Although camels live in Arabia, they never visit Mecca."
Being around a wealthy boss has made him rich.
And neither do I.
Sit down.
-Interrogation of a communist. Take 2.
-We give land to the farmers.
We give them fertilizers,
grain and agricultural equipment.
-To spread communism, right?
-That's right.
We want to show you
that the best party is the communist.
-Why do you recruit people to join an illegal party?
-But back then it wasn't an illegal party.
(LAUGHS)
-Wasn't that illegal?-No.
Before 1965? Of course not.
It's easy to give a bad image of communists
after we destroyed them,
so... the communists were no more cruel than us.
The cruel ones were us.
-Cruel totally different from sadistic.
-None of that.
They are synonyms.
-No. Sadism is different.
-You're playing with words.-Not at all.
-You're playing with words.
-He hit his head.
(LAUGHS)
-Sometimes I think that if my father were a communist,
and they would have killed him, he would be upset.
That's normal, isn't it?
For example, if you killed my father,
I'd be upset with you.
Why would you kill my father?
Besides, you won't let me go to school or work.
You won't even let me get married. That situation has to change.
There has been no official apology,
but is it so hard to apologize?
The government would apologize, not us.
It would be like medicine.
It would ease the pain.
There would be forgiveness.
-And wouldn't they curse us in secret?
They would curse us in secret because...if they cursed us openly...
they would be arrested.
-Then they'd curse us under their breath.
-But I, Adi, in the end,
I can't sleep peacefully.
Maybe because...
When he strangled people with wire, he watched them die.
-But when you used other methods you also looked at them.
-Yes, but when I start to fall asleep, all that comes back.
And it's what gives me nightmares.
-You are tormented because your mind is weak.
Have you seen a neurologist?
-If I were to see a neurologist it would mean I'm crazy.
-No.
Shrinks aren't for crazy people.
Shrinks don't treat crazy people.
They are experts in the nervous system.
Even I've gone to see
to a nervous system specialist
due to a small stroke.
Your nightmares
They are caused by a nervous disorder.
Come on, you gotta try it.
If you go to see a psychiatrist you will talk, he will talk,
and then he'll give you vitamins for your nerves.
(HUMS)
Remember the 1966"Smash the Chinese" campaign?
Along Sudirman Street
I killed every Chinese I came across. I stabbed them.
I don't remember how many...
but there were dozens.
If I ran into someone, I'd stab them.
To Asia Street, where I ran into my girlfriend's father.
Do you remember my girlfriend was Chinese?
"Smash the Chinese"...
became "smash my girlfriend's dad"...
so I stabbed him too...because he was Chinese.
He fell into a ditch. I hit it with a brick and it sank.
Murder is the greatest crime you can commit.
So the key...
is finding a way to not feel guilty.
It's about finding the perfect excuse.
For example, if I'm asked to kill someone,
if compensation...
is appropriate,
Of course I will.
And from a certain perspective...
It's not a bad thing.
That's the perspective.
of which we must convince ourselves.
(LAUGHS)
I was scared at first. These are big gangsters.
Like you and Anwar.
Scary. And to make a movie.
-But if you want a true story, I have one.
-Tell us about it.
Because everything in this movie should be true.
-This is a merchant.
He was the only Chinese in the area.
and the truth
It was my stepdad.
But even though he was my stepdad
I lived with him since he was a baby.
At 3 in the morning someone knocked on our door.
They called my father.
My mother told him: "It's dangerous, don't go outside."
But he got out.
We heard him yell, "Help!"
And then there was silence.
They took him away. We couldn't sleep until dawn.
-How old were you?
-11 or 12.
I remember it very well.
It's impossible to forget.
We found his body under a gas can.
The drum was cut in half
and the body was below.
So.
His head and feet were covered by sacks
and one of his feet was sticking out like this.
That morning no one dared to help us.
We buried her like a goat, by the side of the main road.
(LAUGHS) My grandfather and I alone transported the body
and we dug the grave.
No one helped us. I was very young.
Then they sent all the communist families into exile.
(LAUGHS) We were abandoned in a shantytown
at the edge of the jungle.
And the truth is, that's why I never got to go to school.
I had to teach myself how to read and write.
Why would I hide this from you?
I swear I'm not criticizing what we're doing.
It's just my contribution to the film.
I swear I'm not criticizing you.
-Look, everything is already planned.-We can't include every story,
or the movie will never end.
-Your story is too complicated. It would take many days to shoot.
Though maybe we could include it.
-And it could motivate the actors.
-We believe this man is a communist.
After we decided to kill him, there were a lot of reactions.
Some prayed.
-Come on, pray.
-Lord, help me.
-How do you tell him he's going to die? With anger or calmly?
-I was trying to convince them
for them to accept
that they were going to die.
-Anwar, teach us how to torture.
-Do you want me to wear this?
-Should I scare him?
-Yes.
-Do you want me to wear this?
-Beg him not to.
-Now take the cloth...
and blindfold him.
-Joshua always asks me...
"You work in the same office. How could you not know?"
I say I never saw anything.
And now that I see the reconstruction of the facts
I realize you were so sneaky
that even I, a journalist with keen senses,
I didn't know anything.
-I'm surprised,
because we never hid what we did.
I'm so surprised you didn't know.
I didn't know.
-We were in the same office.
And we didn't hide anything.
-Well, I never knew.
You were very stealthy
and I rarely went up to your office.
-Your editor directed the torture.
-No.
-He affirms it himself.
-That's not true.
-Ibrahim Sinik and other leaders decided who we killed.
Look...
I'm not calling you a liar, but logically...
-Go ahead, Adi...
-I'm not saying I'm lying, Joshua,
but this man was a journalist
that he preferred to stay away from those things.
That's understandable,
but, logically, if it was something we didn't hide,
How could I not know?
Even the neighbors knew.
We killed hundreds of people.
It was an open secret.
-Drink.-Take some water.
-Drink, it's not poison.
-Come on, drink it.
-Drink, it will refresh you.
-Give him a cigarette.
-Let him smoke.
-This is sadistic, Adi.
-Ask him again about his activities.
-What were your activities? Come on, confess!
(CRIES) -Have pity on me.
Please, sir...
-Should we kill him?
-Wait...
Can you give my family a message?
-Of course...
-Or could I talk to them...
for the last time?
-No way. That is not possible.
Not possible!
-Okay.
Throw.
-Oh...
-Lower your head.
Put it down.
-He's dead.
-Wrap it up.
Listen...if this movie is successful...,
will deny all the propaganda about the cruelty of the communists
and it will show that we were the cruel ones.
-We were the cruel ones.
-If the film succeeds
We must be aware of each of the steps we take here.
I'm not saying we're afraid. This happened 40 years ago...
with what any basis for a judgment has prescribed.
It's not out of fear. It is by image.
Public opinion will say: "We always suspected it.
They lied about the communists being cruel."
It is not our problem, but history's.
The story will be turned on its head.
Not 180°, but 360.
If this scene suits us...
-But...
why do we have to hide our history...
if it's the truth?
-No. The consequence will be...
that everything Anwar and I have stated is always false.
The communists weren't the cruel ones.-But it's the truth.
-I completely agree.
But not all truths should be made public.
Even God himself has secrets.
I am fully aware that we were cruel.
-Okay.
-That's all I have to say.
-You decide what to do with it.
-Okay.
-I don't mean to make you uncomfortable, but I have to ask you.
By convincing yourself you were at war,
You're not tormented like Anwar, but the Geneva Convention
define what you did as war crimes.
-I don't necessarily agree with those international laws.
When Bush was in power, Guantánamo was acceptable.
Saddam Husse had weapons of mass destruction.
That was the truth according to Bush... but now we know it was false.
The Geneva Convention can be the moral today,
but tomorrow we will have the Jakarta convention
and we'll throw out the Geneva Convention.
It is the victors who define what is a war crime.
I am in the field of victors,
so I decide what is a war crime.
I do not have to abide by international definitions
and, most importantly,
Not everything that is true is necessarily good.
Some truths are not good, like the reopening of this case.
Even if everything is discovered to be true, it is not good.
-But for the families of millions of victims...
-Yeah...
-It's good that the truth comes out.
-Okay, but let's start with the first murder,
that of Cain and Abel.
Why focus on communist murders?
Has anyone been prosecuted for it?
Let them be punished.
In my opinion, reopening this case is an incitement to conflict,
but I'm ready.
If the world wants a permanent war,
I'm ready. If you want to make us fight, I'm ready.
-And if they took you before the International Court in The Hague?
-Now?-Yes.
-I would go.
I don't feel guilty, but... you know why I would go?
Because it would make me famous.
(LAUGHS) I'm ready.
Please. Have them take me to The Hague.
(Music)
-More sensual.
Sexier!
I like this. These are gorgeous.
This is healthy for a guy like me.
-Enjoy the scenery, ma'am.
Okay. One two three.
(LAUGHS)
Again. One two three.
(LAUGHS)
I was asked to run for parliament.
"Why me?" I asked.
"Calm down, you can get it," they told me.
Then I thought, "Why not?
In fact, I'm the perfect candidate because I'm so well known."
(English TV)
Don't make a fist.
Don't close it.-Shut up! I almost have it!
-Okay, but don't make a fist.-You're killing the sound!
-But it's just...!-Enough!
Shut up. You're a pain in the ass.” She shuts her mouth once and for all.
-Long live the party of employers and workers!
I'm Herman and I'm ready to fight for workers' rights.
Remember to vote for me on Election Day.
If I am elected and join the planning commission,
I can get money from everyone.
For example, if a building is undersized by 10 cm,
I can demand that it be demolished.
Then they will tell me:
"Please don't sue us. Here's your money."
Even if the building has no defect,
If I threaten them, they'll give me money anyway.
And we're not talking about change.
In a block with 10 buildings,
if we each pay 10,000, calculate what I'll pocket.
That would be 100,000.
And that in a single neighborhood.
-Parliament should be the noblest place in society,
but if we saw what they do there...
They're just thieves.
Thieves with ties.
-What illegal businesses is Pancasila Youth involved in?
-Bets.
Gambling.-Gambling, nightclubs...
Supermarkets...
-But that's not illegal.
They only hire us as security.
-The illegals?
-Especially bets.-Bets.
-Any other?-Smuggling.
-Illegal fishing, illegal logging,
illegal gambling...
and if they don't pay, we blackmail them.
-Let's welcome our candidate Marzuki.
-Long live our party! Pancasila!
-Okay, done.
-What am I supposed to say?
How do I get started?
Adi, what's the first sentence?
-"I'm Herman".-I'm Herman.
-Stand up, they'll see you better.-Ladies and gentlemen...
What's next? I don't remember.
-"I'm Herman, from the employers' and workers' party."
-I'm Herman, from the employers' and workers' party.
-Do you give away t-shirts?
-No. Ma'am, take my card.
-T-shirts. We want gifts.
-Don't worry about money and gifts.
We'll be back with gifts.
Pray for us.-Yes.
-Hopefully we'll win.
To people who ask for gifts
Tell them if we win, we'll be back with gifts.
Tell them we're filming today.
-Here, ma'am, don't forget to vote for me.
-Just a card? And the incentive? They don't give us anything else?
-The incentive will come later.-After being chosen?
Honey, where do you think you are? -Yes, it's a promise.
Many parties bribe people to vote for them.
In fact, they all do.
At those rallies where you see thousands of people...
They've all been paid to attend.
(Music)
They take it like going to work.
Without money they wouldn't go.
They ask each other, "How much did they give you?"
And leaders get paid more.
(Music)
Today...
No one believes what they are campaigning for.
We've all become soap opera actors.
Our souls have become soap opera actors.
They seem happy. Inside they're pissed off.
They're thinking, "Shit."
-Where is the injured duck?
Where's the cripple?
-Which one?-The wounded duck.
-There it is.
-Duckling...-Don't take it like that...
You'll hurt him again.
He's weak because you broke his leg.
Don't do that...
It's still very small.
Say "I'm sorry, ducky."
-Sorry, duckling.-That's right.
-Now tell him: "It was by accident. I got scared and that's why I hit you."
Tell him. "It was unintentional." Stop. So that I hear you.
-I'm sorry, duckling.-And caress him a little.
Now the communist has become a ghost.
They murdered him and became a wraith.
And now he's chasing you.-He's chasing me.
-Do you feel any trauma when you see this?
-If he appeared to me at night...I would feel...terrified.
Ghosts must hate me,
because in my dreams their voices are threatening.
They laugh, but in a creepy way.
-Try laughing.
(LAUGHS)
-Yes.
That's right.
-Anwar's Nightmare. Take 2.
Ready?
Engine.
Action.
(LAUGHS)
-I thought I killed you!
(LAUGHS)
-Uh...
-What have I done wrong?-Get up surprised.
And ask him: "Why are you alive?"
I don't think it's that hard...
-Action.
-I thought I killed you!
Okay. Cut.
(train rattle)
Why am I going to that place?
Because, of all places,
for the one who left a deeper mark on me.
The way he killed himself...
was very different
and that's why I always have nightmares.
Is it because I've been telling you my story
so sincerely?
Or maybe...
Is it revenge of the dead?
I remember saying, "Get out of the car."
He asked me, "Where are you taking me?
Suddenly he refused to walk any further.
I saw Roshiman hand me a machete.
Without thinking, I approached him...
and cut off his head.
My friends wouldn't even look.
They ran to the car.
I heard a sound similar to this.
(MAKES NOISES)
His body had collapsed.
But his eyes stayed open looking at me.
(SIGHS)
While I was coming home I couldn't stop thinking
on why she hadn't closed his eyes.
All I was thinking was, "Why didn't you close her eyes?"
And that's the source of all my nightmares.
Those eyes that I didn't close are always looking.
It's an image...that never stops haunting me.
(Crickets)
(rales)
(Screams)
(LAUGHS)
Did you get it out? Has it turned out well? Thank you.
-No, thanks to you, sir.-No, with such a pretty girl...
I'm the one who should be thanking you.
It's a shame she bleaches her hair. That makes her look like a slut.
-Tell him about the car.
-What happened?-There was a girl...
six guys sucking it off without dropping a drop of semen on the floor.
-Six? Six guys?-He swallowed it all.
After the last guy came, she kept sucking.
(LAUGHS)
Like I want more.
-God, convert our organization
in one of the pillars of this nation.
-Do you know the price of land?
200,000,000 .
I have donated it to the birds.
If they're happy, so am I.
Everyone is terrified of the paramilitaries.
When a businessman wants land
where there are people living,
It is expensive for her to pay the price that is asked for it.
But we can solve your problem
because people are terrified of us.
When they see us they say:
"Keep the land.
Pay what you want."
A rose.
It's very exclusive.
An elephant.
It is a very exclusive piece.
I buy these items in every country I visit.
I bought this in Hungary. It cost me 2250 .
("Don't Worry Be Happy")
You cut off my head...
You have to be angry, but also sad.
You should be angry and sad. You are a sadist.
-Look at your blood...
(LAUGHS)
Look what I found in your stomach.
Look at this.
It's your liver.
(Trills)
It's rotten.
(LAUGHS)
(Natural sounds)
(Music)
With makeup, she looks like she came from Ethiopia.
-From Tanzania, like Idi Amin.
(LAUGHS) -Idi Amin Dada.-Yes.
-Camera three on Citra.
Close up of Citra for the opening.
Okay, everyone ready? Inside header.
(header music)
Welcome to the program
"Special Dialogue" on Indonesian television.
Today we will meet movie gangsters who are shooting a movie
to commemorate the crushing of the communists.
Let's go straight to the ringleader
and star of the film, Anwar Congo.
Please welcome Anwar Congo.
(Applause)
In those days movie gangsters
They were very well known, but what was the origin of the word gangster?
-Actually gangster means "free man".
That's why we used a special song in our movie.
The song is called "Born Free".-"Born Free".
-Means "born free".
-Did you take the communists directly to your office?
-Yes, and after questioning them...
and decide they didn't deserve to live,
we had to kill them.
-His methods of killing
were they inspired by gangster movies?
-Sometimes.-Sometimes?
-Sometimes.
(Applause)
Incredible. He was inspired by movies.
-Each genre has its own method.
For example, in gangster movies,
They strangle the guy in a car and dump the body.
We did the same thing.
-Which means that Anwar and his friends
developed a new and more efficient system
to exterminate communists. He was more humane, less sadistic...
and avoided excessive violence,
but it served to wipe them off the map anyway.
(Applause)
-How many people did he kill?
-About 1000.
-How can you sleep? Don't you feel tormented?
-Many of them went crazy.-Yes.
-No, they got rich...
-Yeah...
-Rich from what they stole.
-But killing all those people also drove them crazy.
What is the special message of this film for youth?
-Youth
They should remember the story.
They must never forget her.
In fact, God must be against the communists.
-Yes, God hates communists.
That's why he's made this movie so beautiful.
(Applause)
According to General Sarwo Edhie
2 and a half million communists were killed.
Why have the children of the victims never attempted revenge?
-It's not that they don't want revenge...,
is that they can't.
-Because we would exterminate them all. (LAUGH)
(Applause)
This is the only shoot
who will be visited by a member of the government.
He's coming here just for you.
To motivate and support you.
You should be proud.
And you'll all be in the movie.
These are the paramilitaries of North Sumatra!
The whole world will see this. In London, England...
Forget Jakarta. Jakarta is nothing.
(LAUGHS)
-Wow, all the assassins are here.
(SHOUTS)
Improvise and vent your anger.
Shout: "Smash the Communists!
Let's finish them off!"
Okay. Let's try.-Please.
-Attack on Kampung Kolam. Take 1.
Action!
-Do not let any communist escape.
(SHOUTS)
-Let's slaughter them!
-Are you ready to attack?
-Take no prisoners!
Annihilate them all!
Burn their houses down!
-Kill the communists!
Cut 'em up!
Kill them all!
-Exterminate them all!
Leave no one alive!
-Chop off their heads!
Burn them!
Kill them all!
(SHOUTS)
We will win!
-Cut, cut, cut.
-Cut, cut, cut, cut, cut, cut, cut, cut.
-Joshua and team,
Now I speak as the leader of Juventud Pancasila,
what we have just shown is not typical of our organization.
We shouldn't appear like a bunch of bloodthirsty savages.
That...
It is dangerous for the image of our organization.
But we must exterminate the communists,
we must wipe them off the map,
but in a more human way.
I felt terrible about what we just filmed.
Especially with my image right in the center of it all.
Okay, Joshua, this is the real story.
It's what we all want, right? -Yes, of course.
-Don't delete what we just filmed.
Use it to show how fierce we can be.
In fact, we can be even worse.
Consider it a demonstration of our anger...
if someone dared to destabilize our country.
-If they were pretty I would rape them all,
as we did then, when we were the law.
(LAUGHS)
I fucked them.
I fucked everything that came my way.
-Are you a communist girl?
What are you hiding in there?
What are you hiding in there?
(LAUGHS)
That's how you talk.
Especially if you catch a 14-year-old.
(CELEBRATE) Ou...
-Delicious.
-I would say: "It's going to be hell for you...,
but heaven on earth for me."
-You have to offer resistance.
Nobody wants to be tortured, right?
If you can save yourself, you must.
and if you can run, go ahead.
-Attention everyone:
while performing, remember the cameras.
-Ladies, think positive.
If you do it like this, your interpretation will be fantastic
and the scene will turn out fine.
In positive. Think positive.
(Screams)
Get that one!
Get it!
(Screams continue)
(high beep)
Cut, cut, cut!
-Cut!
-Cut, cut, cut!
-Cut, cut!
Bakti!
Bring water!
(Overlapping conversations)
Let her rest.
Let him rest.
(Overlapping conversations)
Febby, your performance was great,
but stop crying...
You're embarrassing me.
Movie stars only cry for a little while.
(overlapping conversations, crying)
My sincere regret
is that I never imagined
that the scene was so terrible.
My friends insisted that I act more sadistic,
but then I would see the women and children...
Imagine the future of those children...
They've been tortured...
And now they will burn down their houses.
What future awaits them?
They'll curse us for the rest of their lives.
It's been really hard.
(Fire crackling)
The word "karma",
what does it mean to you? What are you afraid of?
-Karma is...
as a law of nature.
It is a law that emanates directly from God.
Look at all this darkness.
It's like we live
at the end of the world.
When you look around you there is only darkness.
It's pretty scary.
(Rain)
Punch the table to scare me.
Start by hitting the table hard.
(Rumble)
Do you want to ban American movies in Indonesia?
What are you trying to do? Hey?
-Huh?-Shut up!
What are you trying to do?
-Please, sir...
-Don't get friendly with me. We're not friends.
Come on!
Answer the questions!
Hurry up or I'll break your legs!
Come on!
Dana, ask.
-Apart from Titi Kuning,
where else do you carry out your activities?
-In Hamparan Perak.
-A full blown communist!
Quick! Don't waste our time anymore!
-Speak or it will be worse.-Raise your hand or I'll cut it off!
Look...
It's gold.
Come on, take off your watch.
Put it on the table.
What else do you have?
A ring?
Gold? Gold!-Speak.
-Talk or I'll cut your face open. Come on, talk. Talk Talk.
Tell us everything.
-Disembucha.-Please... Don't do it...
-Okay, I won't, but talk. Talk, talk.
-Talk, confess at once.-Cut.
(SIGHS) Okay, here we go.
I hang this medal
of your neck.
(GROWLS)
(WORRIED) Are you okay?
-I can't. (SURPRIZED) -What?
-I can't do it again.
Bring him some water.Bring him some water.
Here, drink some water.
(background music)
"We stuck sticks up their anuses until they died.
We would break their necks with sticks. We would hang them.
We strangled them with cables. We cut their throats.
We ran them over with cars.
We were allowed to.
The proof is that we killed all these people and got away with it.
There's nothing you can do about the crimes we committed.
You have to accept it.
Maybe it's just an attempt to feel better, but it works.
I've never felt guilty
I haven't been depressed nor have I had nightmares."
("Born Free", John Barry and Don Black)
Thanks for executing me
and send me to paradise.
I thank you a thousand times
for everything.
(song continues)
That's great, Joshua.
It turned out really well.
I never imagined I could do something so fantastic.
A thing that fills with pride how the waterfall
expresses such deep feelings.
Do you remember the scene?
the one where i get strangled with a wire?
-Yes.
-Do you have it here?-The scene of your strangulation?
-Put it on, please.
Yan!
I want you to see this.
Yan?-She's in bed.
Yan, come watch the scene where Grandpa is tortured and killed.
Ami, come see Grandpa beaten up and bleeding.
-It's a bit violent for them.
-Look at this. Grandpa gets beaten up.
Turn up the volume.
-It's too violent, Anwar. Are you sure?
-It's okay. Will you be scared, Yan?
(Screams)
It's just a movie. Behold.
Grandpa seems very sad, doesn't he, Yan?
-It's very scary.
-It's very sad, isn't it? That's your grandfather.
That fat guy is beating up grandpa.
Grandpa's head is smashed in.
(LAUGHS)
(Screams, blows)
The people I tortured...
Did you feel the same way I did here?
I can feel what the people I tortured felt...
because here... my dignity...is completely destroyed.
And at that moment fear emerges.
Suddenly all the terror took over my body.
It engulfed me and took hold of me.
-Actually,
the people you tortured felt much worse
because you know it's just a movie,
they knew they were going to die.
But I can feel it, Josh. I'm really sorry.
Or...
Have I sinned?
(SOBS)
I did this to so many people, Josh...
(SOBS) Is all this turning against me?
I hope not.
I don't want it at all, Josh.
(Traffic)
Here it is...
Here we tortured
and we killed
those we captured.
I know it was wrong...
But I had to.
(TOUGH)
(HE HAS GAGGING)
This is...
one of the easiest ways
of taking the life of a human being.
And this...
we used it to take...
the people we killed,
because without this...
maybe people would have found out.
(HE HAS GAGGING)
(distant barking)
(Traffic)
(Heavy traffic)