Why you should see "The Butler'

If you weren't alive when this country was confronted by black Americans demanding their civil liberties in the 1960's then this is a film you should not miss.  The live footage of the confrontations, the freedom rides, the deplorable treatment of the brave souls who stood up to the violence of Jim Crow are all assembled here in this fictionalized account of a butler who made it to the White House.  You will cringe at the deplorable hateful behavior of southerners so threatened by integration.  You will see the seeds of anti-immigration sentiment and be aghast at the despicable behavior of Southerners when faced with a change in legislation ordered by the Federal government.  Oprah and Forest Whitaker perform beautifully.  Lee Daniels brings us our presidents from Eisenhower to Regan with humor and caricature.  For me this was not a creative or artistic endeavor.  This is a film about our history.  Sit back and become aware.  This is how I became a social worker.

'The Act of Killing' /Austin Film Society

AFS brought us a preview of Joel Oppenheimer's documentary last night prior to it's official opening in Austin next week with a very informative Q&A via SKYPE with Mr. Oppenheimer following the show. Having seen the executive producers Werner Herzog and Errol Morris discuss the film I was prepared for a powerful and painful to watch film about the death squads of Indonesia in the 1960's. The squads of gangsters hired by the military to rid the country of Communists. The ludicrous gangsters who perceived of themselves as the gangsters they knew from Western films.  Mr. Oppenheimer highlights these ruthless killers when he invites them to make a film about their experiences at the time.  These men continue to receive enormous notoriety and elevated social status in their country and have never been brought to justice despite the fact that a million people were killed.  We are also introduced to "respectable businessmen" with the same killer history who live highly respected lives elsewhere, return by plane, and discuss their involvement with great pride and defense of their acts.  Mr. Oppenheimer discusses his motivation to make this film with keen emotional intelligence and well thought out plans.  He is a humanist in the finest sense of the imagination.  And he uses filmmaking to explore the human condition and broaden our understanding of what is included in our capabilities as human beings.

Yet, what I was totally unprepared for was the feeling that I was watching  a horror movie.  The direction, staging, make-up, wardrobe, and use of non-actors including very small children to re-enact torture, death, terror, unbelievable fear all constituted the making of a horror film.  We hear Mr. Oppenheimer incredulously  pointing out to the lead subject who shall remain unnamed (I can't bear to see his name in print without a bounty on his head) that he is only acting his fear while the people he killed were really afraid.

This film was like returning to Germany and having the Nazi masterminds and murderers sitting in cafes, running for office, sending their children to college and being rewarded for their acts. For this family who came to exist because two people survived Hitler's death camps watching this film was particularly painful.  The comparison to Nazis who go unpunished is a very difficult concept for us.  I saw no remorse in any of the killers.  I thought the subject's dry heaving was dishonest and poorly acted. I hope this film infuriates the world and that the victims and survivors of these atrocities are alive to see justice served.

 It's not entertainment but go see this powerful film.  It's important.