Much can be said about both America and Vietnam when speaking of the Vietnam War, but few would go as far as to bring up how the war affected Vietnam’s unfortunate neighbor, Cambodia. With bombing and soldiers from both sides spilling into the area, things were not pretty for the country. In an effort to protect themselves from being taken over from either country, a communist party took control.
Deemed the Khmer Rogue, the party came into power around 1974 and led one of the most brutal regimes in recent times. Known for the “Killing Fields of Cambodia,” where the regime would often times bring members of the society and brutally murder them for acting against them, no matter how slight their rebellion was. Filmmaker Thet Sambath lost nearly his entire family to this regime before he escaped to a refugee camp in Thailand. Now working as a journalist, he started meeting with ex-members in order to find the truth on why so many were killed. Working for years and building relationships with these people (including Nuon Chea, second to Pol Pot in the ruling party), he is able to get real confessions from those who would normally remain silent, or not expect to be questioned at all. The result is “Enemies of the People,” a historical document and investigation into the Khmer Rogue and the Cambodian genocide, not to mention the winner of the Sundance Special Jury Prize in Documentary Films.
Quite a personal project for Sambath (he co-directs this with Rob Lemkin), we learn just as much about him as we do the Khmer Rogue and the killing fields. We see a bit of his home life and he opens up a little to the camera, joking that he’s been interviewing some for 10 years nearly every weekend, much to the displeasure of his wife and kids. The directors smartly steer clear of getting too political, focusing only on the brutal murders and trying to discover why these terrible things happened. The questions are simple, and Sambath manages to get the honest truth from these people first by gaining their trust before digging deep. He realizes the delicate nature of this project, and as manipulative as he may be, he is also very passionate and determined. Nuon Chea, for example, has no idea that his family was killed until the end of the movie. By establishing a strong bond with Nuon, he was able to get a candid interview and more understanding from the high-ranking Khmer Rogue member. The narrative is very straightforward and things are shot on a low-grade digital camera, never straying far from its subject or focusing on anything but the matter at hand. Although the filmmakers are very admirable for sticking to their guns and focusing on only the important elements of their story, the film does feel a tad dry at times. We get the feeling that the filmmakers themselves feel this way too as they struggle to capture the interview in different ways (one scene has the camera placed in an editing room, filming the editor as he watches a taped discussion with Nuon Chea).
Despite its simplicity, there are two very notable segments, scenes which may be some of the best of the year. In one instance, the directors take us to a village where we meet a soldier who did a lot of killing in the fields. As they question him further, they take out a plastic knife and ask him to demonstrate the method he used to kill. The ex-member is too uncomfortable to do it to the director, so they call in another crew member to stand in for him. The former Khmer Rogue lays him down, pulls his head back, and pretends to slit his throat with the joke knife. There is some laughter from the participants due to the awkwardness of it, but there is something terribly eerie about the proceedings. Another instance has the filmmaker sitting with a different ex-Khmer, asking him straightforward questions that clearly make the man uncomfortable. He takes his time with these and speaks low, and at one point, refuses to answer a question about the killing fields because a monk is passing by. They ask the monk if they have his permission to sit and talk there, he complies, and they resume the questioning once he leaves. This is another uncomfortable yet perfect scene, unsparing in its honesty.
However, all is not perfect, or even well done. One of the most notable interviewees is Brother #2 himself, second to Pol Pot, Mr. Nuon Chea. Sambath remains torn — over the years they have become very close, but this is the man that was responsible for the death of his parents and older brother. Unfortunately, we don’t see much of Nuon Chea and Sambath’s relationship. We get their interviews, but as for their “deep friendship” the director alludes to, we aren’t shown any of that. There’s a shot here and there, mostly serving as b-roll of the two eating dinner together, but it’s not nearly enough. Instead of showing their complicated relationship visually, we are told about it through narrative voice over. This exclusion is unfortunate, as it could’ve added more depth to the picture and rounded out Chea a little more. The directors are so insistent on their interviews and not straying from the people that it misses a very interesting and human relationship, one that should be front and center rather than overly simplified.
The idea of the film is great, and with the Courts of Cambodia finally charging the members (including Nuon Chea) with genocide, there’s no better time for it to come out and spread awareness of the issue. Even if one has trouble relating to the film or even understanding how much of a landmark this actually is, imagine replacing the Khmer Rogue with the Nazi party or the Cambodians with the Sudanese. This is an important work and its faults, however slight, shouldn’t distract the viewer from the overall picture. [B]
