Offscreen
GENERAL MASSACRE
21 March 2024 - 21h30
Burr Jerger
BE, 1971, 35 mm, VO ENG, 88'
In collaboration with Flemish director Herman Wuyts (Princess), US native Burr Jerger, who settled in Belgium, writes, directs and stars in this anti-militarist tract that caused quite a stir. It's an unhinged personal project about a paranoid American general awaiting trial for his Vietnam war crimes in a Brasschaat villa, where he kills time with war games and sadistic incestuous fantasies. Illustrated by documentary war footage, riddled with racist and fascist dialogue and the actual gunning down of farm animals, this is not a film for sensitive souls, but it is a strident indictment of military violence that even today remains topical and controversial.