Swimming to Cambodia (1987)

Spalding Gray tells about his participation in the film, "The Killing Fields" & the background story about the troubles of Cambodia.

Director:

Jonathan Demme

Writer:

Spalding Gray

Stars:

Spalding Gray, Sam Waterston, Ira Wheeler

5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview:
Spalding Gray	...	Himself
Sam Waterston	...	Additional cast from 'The Killing Fields' (archive footage)
Ira Wheeler	...	Additional cast from 'The Killing Fields' (archive footage)

Storyline

Spalding Gray sits behind a desk throughout the entire film and recounts his exploits and chance encounters while playing a minor role in the film 'The Killing Fields'. At the same time, he gives a background to the events occurring in Cambodia at the time the film was set.

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Plot Keywords:

cambodia | reference to rousseau | country name in title | khmer rouge | film making | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

April 1987 (USA)

Also Known As:

Spalding Gray's Swimming to Cambodia

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Gross:

$1,092,911 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

The Swimming Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

85 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (TVC)

Did You Know?

Quotes

Spalding Gray: So five years of bombing, a diet of bark, bugs, lizards and leaves up in the Cambodian jungles, an education in Paris environs in a strict Maoist doctrine with a touch of Rousseau, and other things that we will probably never know about in our lifetime. Including perhaps an invisible cloud of evil that circles the Earth and lands at random in places like Iran, Beirut, Germany, Cambodia, America, set the Khmer Rouge out to commit the worst auto-homeo genocide in modern history

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Connections

References The Deer Hunter (1978)

User Reviews

Monologue about filming 'The Killing Fields' reveals genius shock!

Spalding's 'Swimming to Cambodia' defies the preconceptions often brought to a movie: we get to see one man at a desk, with a lamp and a glass of water, and a map of Cambodia with a pointer to help. And then Gray's amazing ability to hook the listener into his amazing free improvised anecdotes makes it worth a thousand blockbusters. Demme's film prior to this was 'Something Wild'... this is wilder and wittier. Do yourself a favour and watch. Spalding's tragic suicide last year brings a poignant edge to many of his existential observations, but this is uplifting, entertaining, funny and harrowing all in one. And it's a monologue. Sam Shephard once said it was impossible to compare anyone to Spalding, so unique was he. Here's the proof.