The Missing Picture
Whenever we read books or watch films about dystopian futures, like Divergent or 1984, we may forget that it's already happened. When the Khmer Rouge took over Cambodia in 1975, it was a waking nightmare, and the population was "re-educated," mostly by making them work in the rice fields, and banning private property. Artists, intellectuals, and anyone expressing freedom of though or espousing Western or capitalist ideals were executed. All the people were allowed to own was a spoon. "How can you revolt," we are asked, "when all you own are black clothes and a spoon?"
Rithy Panh was thirteen when the takeover occurred, on April 17, 1975. He watched his parents and siblings die, and was put in a work camp, which he called "a tomb guarded by a man with a felt hat." He endured fierce hunger, and watched people who were sick tended to not by doctors, as Western medicine was banned, but by those who practiced medicine as an idealogy.
What is unique about this film is the method the story is told. With voiceover narration (there is a French version and an English one) Panh uses a combination of archival footage and, ingeniously, clay figures made to represent the people in his story. It is not claymation, as the figures don't move, instead large dioramas are constructed to show the pictures that are in Panh's mind.
Sometimes it's easy to judge a film by its message, and in that case The Missing Picture is indeed powerful. However, even at only 95 minutes it feels too long, and might have packed more punch as a short film. I found my mind wandering during some of the film, as it is fairly slow moving.
Still, it's a sharp reminder that horrors like these are not just the by-product of sci-fi writers. It's real, and it's happened, and could happen again.
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