212. A Cambodian Spring; movie review

A CAMBODIAN SPRING
Cert 15
126 mins
BBFC advice: Contains strong language, bloody images

So, the day before our daughter flies out on her own to Cambodia, the last thing I needed to see was the poster above.
I asked Miss W if she wanted to join me in watching a movie about her holiday destination. She was wise to decline.
That is not to say that Christopher Kelly's documentary is bad - the opposite is true. It is a heartbreaking profile of a complex country where I hope that tourists are treated better than the native poor.
Kelly focuses on the corruption of a Cambodian government which has been under the same Prime Minister for more than 30 years.
Much of the film's essence surrounds the legitimate protests of families who live on the banks of a lake in  Phnom Penh and are facing their homes being ripped down by a developer.
The latter is pouring sand into the lake, forcing water into the homes - incredibly and tragically, this has led to the electrocution of three home owners.
Initially, the protesters are as one - with their ire targeted at the construction company and its friends in the Government.
Meanwhile, in Siem Reap (which my daughter is visiting) farmers have been shot after standing up against a similar land-grab of their rice fields.
At the heart of both protests is a Buddhist monk whose soul is shrivelled by the injustice being meted out against the poor.
Most shocking is that, instead of being acclaimed, he becomes ostracised by a church whose head is a chief ally of the prime minister.
Kelly's documentary was filmed over more than a decade in which the protesters are beaten and jailed and even take their fight to the United Nations and the World Bank.
One would think their would be a story of heroism but there is a kick in the tail of A Cambodian Spring in that its leaders, who are almost all women, become poisonous and even violent towards each other.
This sets it apart from similar documentaries because they tend to have clear villains and good guys.
Thus, A Cambodian Spring shocks in ways that I hadn't suspected it would.

Reasons to watch: A shocking but balanced view of ant-government protest
Reasons to avoid: It goes over the same ground too much

Laughs: None
Jumps: None
Vomit: None
Nudity: None
Overall rating: 8/10

Director quote - Christopher Kelly: "My work aims to explore life in all of its myriad ambiguities. I try to avoid overly simple narratives and try to trace the moral, religious and political landscapes that underpin and shape our universal truths."

The big question - How much did the pressure take a toll on friendships?

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