The Khmer Roug massacres were vicious, to say the least. This documentary informs the audience of this and impresses upon them the torture that only few survived. Without having any knowledge of the history that led up to these events, I left the theater in the same state. I understood that a massacre had occurred, but the extent was not identified in any terms more than abstract death. The narration was slow and rather boring. I practically fell asleep three times during the showing because of the lack of information presented to me and the mediocre filming.
The film also lacked integration of background information regarding the history of the country and expected the viewer to have that knowledge before entering the theater. It was a compilation of two sides coming together to share their stories of pain. Truly, it was a horrible incident, but the continuing narration by the soldiers through every move they made when picking up and delivering a prisoner was rather unnecessary and added about twenty minutes of film that was not needed.
The two hours and eight dollars I spent on this film would have been better spent on a pony ride. I recommend picking up a book before going to this movie, that is if you choose to do so. Beware that going in without being informed about the Khmer Roug massacre will result in you leaving with the same amount of knowledge with the addition of numerous tragic stories to amplify your interest, but it delivers nothing of substance.
The film also lacked integration of background information regarding the history of the country and expected the viewer to have that knowledge before entering the theater. It was a compilation of two sides coming together to share their stories of pain. Truly, it was a horrible incident, but the continuing narration by the soldiers through every move they made when picking up and delivering a prisoner was rather unnecessary and added about twenty minutes of film that was not needed.
The two hours and eight dollars I spent on this film would have been better spent on a pony ride. I recommend picking up a book before going to this movie, that is if you choose to do so. Beware that going in without being informed about the Khmer Roug massacre will result in you leaving with the same amount of knowledge with the addition of numerous tragic stories to amplify your interest, but it delivers nothing of substance.