S-21, la machine de mort Khmère rouge (2003)

User Rating:

7.1/10   

Director:

Rithy Panh

Writer:

Rithy Panh (writer)

Release Date:

30 January 2004 (UK)

Genre:

Documentary | History | War

Plot:

Documentary of the S-21 genocide prison in Phnom Penh with interviews of prisoners and guards. On the search for reasons why this could have happened.

Plot Keywords:

Khmer Rouge | Genocide | Cambodia | Torture | Reenactment

Awards:

12 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Khieu 'Poev' Ches	...	Himself - Guard
Yeay Cheu	...	Herself - Him Houy's Mother
Nhiem Ein	...	Himself - Photographer
Houy Him	...	Himself - Security deputy
Ta Him	...	Himself - Him Houy's Father
Nhieb Ho	...	Himself - Guard
Prakk Kahn	...	Himself - the Torturer
Peng Kry	...	Himself - Driver
Som Meth	...	Himself - Guard
Chum Mey	...	Himself - Survivor
Vann Nath	...	Himself - Survivor
Top Pheap	...	Himself - Interrogator & Typist
Tcheam Seur	...	Himself - Guard
Mak Thim	...	Himself - S21 Doctor
Sours Thi	...	Himself - Head of Registers

Also Known As:

S21: The Khmer Rouge Death Machine (International: English title)
S21: The Khmer Rouge Killing Machine (USA) (festival title)

Runtime:

101 min

Country:

Cambodia | France

Language:

Khmer | Vietnamese

Color:

Color

Certification:

Iceland:12 | USA:Unrated | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Choeung Ek Killling Fields, Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Company:

Institut National de l'Audiovisuel (INA)

Interesting Documentary that Needed More Balance

I saw this documentary at the Toronto International Film Festival. The film offered powerful testimony from jailers that perpetrated torture and killings. As well, this film elicits the expected emotions from survivors. It was stunning to listen to members of the Khymer Rouge speak so candidly about their inhumanity and also portray themselves as victims that had been simultaneously coerced and indoctrinated into this movement. Very similar to ideas heard in Nazi Germany with the Holocaust and later at the Nuremberg trials. i.e. I was just following orders, I had no choice, or indoctrination similar to fascist propaganda. As powerful as this documentary was, I believe that the extensive testimonies that filled an entire film, limited the effectiveness of the genre. By filling the film with nothing but testimonies, the documentary became repetitive and detracted from the impact it could have had. Jailers acting out the daily routine of checking cells and the lengthy reading of forced admissions of guilt occasionally dulled the impact of other powerful testimony(Sometimes less is more). The director Rithy Panh searched for answers from the jailers, but the standard responses: "i was following orders" etc. would not suffice. He was looking for larger answers on the nature of humanity and what causes people to do such atrocities. The responses from the Khymer Rouge were unacceptable for Panh and he never got the answers that he seemed to need to start the healing process. I believe that more background into the history of Cambodia would have answered some of those questions. No one will ever adequately answer questions on the nature of humanity, but an investigation into the movement would have given many viewers insight into this horrific historical event. At the same time it would have made the testimony more powerful. The barrage of testimony almost made the atrocities seem common. The balancing of information and background with testimony, would have made this all the more powerful. Many people have a limited knowledge of events in Cambodia when compared to Nazi Germany or the Stalinist Purges and yet it is equally disturbing in both scope and sheer evil. I was hoping to be educated and informed whilst being numbed by the inhumanity. For the most part that did not happen. Nevertheless, the documentary is still well done. Much of the testimony is shocking, particularly the mass burials. A film that is well worth two hours of your life to watch, but not for the faint at heart.