Rated 7+ IMDb · 70%+ RT Little-known finds Curated by humans
Rated 7+ IMDb · 70%+ RT Little-known finds Curated by humans
2013 Movie
Dir. Rithy Panh · Belgium, Cambodia · French
Rithy Panh redefines Cambodian cinema and history through this harrowing mixed media memory
The medium of cinema has been used as a tool for revolution, but so too was it complicit in genocide. That was true of the Khmer Rouge regime, as the remaining footage of the time came entirely from the state, to be used in re-education programs and propaganda to hide the difficult realities caused by the administration. In response, three decades later, documentarian Rithy Panh reclaims the medium, juxtaposing archival footage of Pol Pot’s programs and Cambodia before, with clay figurines formed from his memories. It’s a grim recollection, but The Missing Picture takes back cinema to keep a collective memory that must be preserved.
Rithy Panh uses clay figures, archival footage, and his narration to recreate the atrocities Cambodia's Khmer Rouge committed between 1975 and 1979.
"Panh honors the Khmer Rouge's victims while staging the agony and responsibility of memory itself."
— Richard Brody
Between 1975-1979, Cambodia was ruled by the Communist Party of Kampuchea, most commonly known as the Khmer Rouge. Through clay figures hand-in-hand with scarce archival materials, filmmaker Rithy Panh recreates his childhood during the time.
The idea of the video camera as truthful is challenged here as filmed propaganda is compared to Panh’s recreated memories on clay, way before this technique was used in other films.
This is one-of-a-kind filmmaking here.
Oscars
1 nom
Cannes
1 win
European Film Awards
1 nom
César Awards
1 nom
Isabella Endrinal is a curator at A Good Movie to Watch. She's now free from the corporate night shift. Previous articles have been published in outlets such as NANG Magazine. She's currently catching up on some classic films… if she isn't coping with the fact that the Haikyu anime will end soon.
"Rithy Panh's cinema is an exemplary case of the imperative to bear witness."
— Jonathan Romney