Enemies of the People
- Posted: 3rd Dec 2010
- Category: Reviews
- Tags: cambodia, killing fields, khmer rouge
by Laura Thornley
Thet Sambath and Rob Lemkin have produced a film that delves into the brutal history of the Khmer Rouge regime. Although the country saw two million dead in the killing fields, a veil of secrecy has shielded the facts from ever surfacing. With unprecedented access to the aging Nuon Chea, Brother Number Two in the Khmer Rouge, the filmmakers have secured unparalleled accounts of how these atrocities took place. They have a confession for the first time in Cambodian history of how Pol Pot and Brother Number Two resolved to kill so many Cambodians. They have detailed accounts of how murders took place in the killing fields and where the orders came from… and yet the doc is so quiet in its revelations you could almost be forgiven for missing them.
There can be no mistaking the devotion to their cause though: it is investigative journalism in its most impressive form. Not only did Thet Sambath spend 10 years of his life coercing the waning octogenarian to talk but he also invested considerable time befriending rural farmers in areas known to harbour ex-killing field executioners. (No mean feat considering his close family were victims under this regime, a fact saved as the finale). It is testament to this commitment to see how the farmers progressively open up. What begins as a declaration by some that they killed one or two eventually becomes the gruesome confession of sipping from human gall bladders. It’s a heinous act that the film doesn’t judge, but rather bears witness to what man is capable of given a certain climate.
Although this could have been (maybe justifiably?) a witch-hunt, the doc instead takes a more reflective tone, revealing a brighter side to human nature. Sambath himself, a quiet, gentle man, bears no hint of bitterness despite his personal loss. The film is as much about how a broken country comes to deal with these enemies of the people, as the reasons behind the regime’s justification for murdering those they deemed to be ‘enemies of the people’.
As the film draws to the end, Sambath confronts Nuon Chea about his family’s fate in a scene that makes for compelling viewing. Brother Number Two is almost humanised through this film; it is a dangerous game to play considering what is at stake, but ultimately serves to make the film so moving and well, progressive. The filmmakers are not looking for someone to burn at the stake but would rather repair through confession: a noble act and one that has rightly been showered in awards.
Enemies of the People is released in the UK, starting in London, on 10th December through Dogwoof Pictures. For more details see the Dogwoof website.
"I hope we have managed to get a sense that… it’s not just history for history’s sake. It’s actually an attempt to make an accommodation with history in order to be able to face the future."
Read on for Laura's interview with director Rob Lemkin.