First They Killed My Father (2017) [Movie Review]


Dir: Angelina Jolie
Starring: Sreymoch Sareum, Kompheak Phoeung, Soceata Sveng, Dara Heng Kimhak Mun
Dur: 2 hrs 16 mins
Genre: Biographical Drama
PG: Scene of war, death and bloodshed
Rating: 8/10

Perhaps the most moving film I have ever watched. Sincerely, I struggled to make it to the end. The film is so powerful and moving that for an emotionally fragile person like myself the tears are bound to flow. The film is incredibly well-made even though the acting is not up to the mark. As it stands, the film had a great impact on me. I can only imagine what would have been the case had the acting been a little more polished. More than a couple of times I had to reach out for tissue as the film took me through the uprooted and candle-in-the-wind kind of life of Loung Ung, a Cambodian girl.


Based on the best-selling book of the same name authored by Loung, the film endeavours to tell the story of Cambodia through the eyes of a seven year old girl. One moment, life was blissful and secure and the next everything just vanishes. All the security, fun and laughter fade into grey like the colour of the clothes the communist regime forces all citizens to wear. The story is brutal. Let me tell you that right now. Not so much because of graphic content but just in way it is told. To see the things that are shown from the perspective of a seven year old is traumatic to say the least. I am disturbed by the visuals, and haunted by the scenes. The sullen music score added to my trauma. The camera work is not the best but it captures indelible expressions, scenes and landscapes. I’m certain the film is not as brutal as the reality thanks to its protagonist. Otherwise, it would have been a blood fest.

The film doesn’t shy from showing the birth pangs of communism and how the Khmer Rouge, the Communist outfit that took over Cambodia, systematically decimated a third of the population of the entire country. It is troubling. Trust me, there are scenes that make you sick to your stomach. Others have you biting your nails and most force you to pick up tissue. The value of family is something that runs right through the film and is also the theme that is seriously mined here. While the family is one’s strongest pillar of support it is also the cause of one’s greatest grief, evidenced in the loss of loved ones. The film touches upon the themes of death, family, separation, child soldiers, communism, war and child labour. Since the dialogues are in the Khmer language of Cambodia, English subtitles become a must. I wish you the opportunity to witness this soul-stirring drama. Come prepared to have your heart wrenched. If you find empathy difficult then you could push your mind to reflect on the ravages of violence, war and communism.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uS3Vp_quGCw

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