On memory beyond the facts: The fictional as an aesthetic resource in ‘Stalker’ and ‘Act of Killing’

Abstract

This study explores the interconnectedness of memory studies and fiction as an aesthetic resource, forming a significant area within artistic studies. The analysis focuses on the anthropological representation of memory in two films: Tarkovsky’s Stalker, situated within the Soviet realism movement depicting the post-World War II social, political, and economic crisis of the Soviet Union, and Joshua Oppenheimer’s Act of Killing, a 2012 meta-documentary portraying a contemporary geopolitical context concerning individuals engaged in the military occupation initiated in Indonesia in 1959. The examination reveals the pervasive role of fiction as an effective aesthetic resource in representing historical contexts. Both films, Stalker and Act of Killing, emphasize the necessity of conveying a nuanced perception of memory to the audience. Furthermore, within the cinematic language of memory work, fiction emerges as an indispensable testimony to the director’s creative efforts, serving as an intermediary force that transcends specific spatiotemporal contexts and broadens awareness of geopolitical phenomena beyond their representative and factual confines.