THE LOOK OF SILENCE [2014]

Director Joshua Oppenheimer's disturbing documentary The Act of Killing still haunts me to this very day, so why not add bit more to that load with his heartbreaking companion piece, The Look of Silence.
Taking a more conventional approach, as opposed it's surreal predecessor, Oppenheimer follows an anonymous optometrist who peacefully seeks out all the men responsible for the execution of his brother during the Indonesian Massacre in the mid '60's.
What's interesting here, is while most documentary film-makers want their subjects to forget the camera is on them, Oppenheimer pushes it forward, forcing the frightening interviewees to reveal more than they think they are.
Even after all these years, the wounds are still raw for everyone involved and it makes for some very unsettling conversations where the silence becomes unbearably unsettling yet so very hard to distant oneself from, no matter how stomach-turning it becomes.

4 jumping beans out of 5