Appearance v. Reality

Death By Hanging is a film in which it is difficult to discern the difference between appearance and reality.  Government officials pretend to be family members of the accused R and re-enact scenes from his life and his crime in order that he recalls his memories and regain his identity.  The education minister, furthermore, is so zealous in his acting that he commits the same crime.  R himself claims he enacted his criminal acts first in fantasy and when reality mimicked his dreams, he did not fully understand that he was committing a crime in reality.  Indeed, only when he realized that he had caused actual harm did he feel remorse.  When R's victim is resurrected and becomes his  sister, only some of the officials can see her and others need to rely on other people's description.  Is the film telling us anything about the distinction between reality and illusion and our ability to discern it?  Is it saying anything about the act of pretending (or perhaps any fiction including the film itself)?  Or is this just another one of the filmmakers pranks to confuse and confound us?