Angelina Jolie, Loung Ung Talk ‘First They Killed My Father’ And Honoring Cambodian History

Deadline Hollywood ^

[GoldenState_Rose]

Written by Jolie and Ung, First They Killed My Father is Cambodia’s official entry for this year’s Academy Awards Foreign Language Film race. Jolie, who has dual citizenship in America and Cambodia, was selected by the government to represent the Southeast Asian country — which is remarkable considering she is a Western woman.

The Netflix film is about Cambodian author and human rights activist Ung’s life under the rule of the deadly Khmer Rouge, the name given to the followers of the Communist Party of Kampuchea in Cambodia. The film is the adaptation of Ung’s memoir about surviving the deadly regime from 1975-78. The story is told through her eyes, from the age 5, when the Khmer Rouge came to power, to 9 years old.

Jolie said she brought this story to the screen for many reasons but also because she wanted her son, who is Cambodian, to see what his birth parents went through. For a country that doesn’t discuss its history, Jolie said she “wanted this country to have some closure in some way to say ‘that’s what it was like.’ It’s amazing that they let me in, but it was amazing that they allowed the history to be re-created on the streets. Every Cambodian person in this film knew someone who was affected by the war, and they came back to do this for their loved ones.”

[GoldenState_Rose]

I enjoy Jolie's directing, appreciate the subject matter, and hope it wins for "Best Foreign Film."

My favorite aspect of the film was Jolie's treatment of spiritual suppression under the Khmer Rouge's Marxist rule. In Cambodia's case, it's Buddhism not Christianity. But still, as in her prior film "Unbroken" about WWII POW Louis Zamperini -- rather than relegating it to the side, Jolie gives thoughtful treatment to the central role faith and one's sense of God 's presence plays in sustaining the lives of the main characters through extraordinary and horrific circumstances. And in a non-gimmicky way.

Movie can be viewed on Netflix.

[adorno]

Is John Kerry in the film?

He went to Cambodia too, you know. He’s an expert on Vietnam and on Cambodia, and survived the “killing fields”.

[HLPhat]

I appreciated the way she contrasted the Khmer vs the NVA - and the natural common sense involved in which way the children went when they had the opportunity.

Collectivist antifa snowflakes should be forced to watch this movie with their eyelids taped open.

[Spok]

Doesn’t Angelina know that when a commie or a Muzzie kills someone, it’s politically incorrect to ctiticize them for it?

[GoldenState_Rose]

Nope. No Americans feature in except a montage of broadcast clips from Nixon’s speeches planning for the final invasion and then removal of troops from the region.

The movie is primarily about the evils and horrors suffered under the communist Khmer rule, but it acknowledges the complex role of Western powers also.

The main character’s family, for example, were people whose lives were clearly better under the prior, French-friendly regime.

The U.S. is not singled out as an intentional perpetrator, but it’s acknowledged that misguided actions led to some very real physical and perhaps unintended consequences.

The movie’s inspired me to research “Dereliction of Duty” by current national security advisor to Trump, H.R. McMaster. It details the failings of U.S. Leadership during the Vietnam War period.

[HLPhat]

>>NVA

ARVN, not NVA.

The ~not Khmer side.

[HLPhat]

Well, actually it would have bee the NVA - or whatever they were called circa 1978:

“In December 1978 Democratic Kampuchea was invaded by almost a quarter million soldiers of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. Without foreign allies or an industrial base to supply their military, the Khmer Rouge was hopelessly outgunned by Vietnamese planes, tanks and armoured vehicles. Phnom Penh fell to the Vietnamese in just two weeks, forcing Pol Pot and his followers to seek refuge in western Cambodia”
http://alphahistory.com/vietnamwar/khmer-rouge/

Rescued from the communists by.... communists. Hmmm.

[Dr. Ursus]

We did not see the movie. We did a tour after Thailand -it was very interesting to see the country.

[yetidog]

An excellent movie.

[GoldenState_Rose]

It is! It has a chance of winning the Golden Globe tonight, but just found out it was eliminated from Oscar contention due to some fine print. (I have a feeling because she’s American and probably barred from submitting for a foreign language submission) - Grr!

Oh well, at least it’s on Netflix being be seen by many people and making a strong impact!

[MGunny]

Pol pot... A bespectacled little man, educated in Paris, returns to Cambodia to murder some 3 million people with Ted Kennedy’s blessings.

[Flash Bazbeaux]

I think the contrast alluded to was the Communist Khmer Rouge (not just “Khmer”, because that means all Cambodians) compared to the Communist “North Vietnamese” Army which invaded Cambodia and drive the KR out of power in January 1979. “North Vietnamese” being in quotes because by 1979 the whole country of Vietnam was Communist.

The invading Vietnamese Army of 1979 were not boy scouts, but they were not homicidal butchers either. So they were an improvement, from a very low level, over the KR.

[HLPhat]

>>being in quotes because by 1979 the whole country of Vietnam was Communist

Yah, it’s kinda like - uhh... wait, who were the “good” guys again?

[Dalberg-Acton]

Pol Pot was implementing Marxism as taught at university in France.

[HLPhat]

>>Communist Khmer Rouge (not just “Khmer”, because that means all Cambodians)

Yep. Thanks. The word I was trying to think of, refered to in the movie was 'Angkar' - which means "The Organization" AKA the CPK - AKA the The Party of Democratic Kampuchia.

"The Khmer Rouge was the ruling political party of Cambodia—which it renamed the Democratic Kampuchea—from 1975 to 1979. The term "Khmer Rouge," meaning "Red Khmer" in French, was coined by Cambodian head of state Norodom Sihanouk and was later adopted by English speakers. It was used to refer to a succession of Communist parties in Cambodia which evolved into the Communist Party of Kampuchea (CPK) and later the Party of Democratic Kampuchea. "

http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Khmer_Rouge

Seems they like to change their name in each rendition of the New Speak Dictionary but....

Quack, Waddle...

Duck!

 

[HLPhat]

>>Pol Pot was implementing Marxism as taught at university in France.

Karl Marx: Jesuit Schoolboy
Fidel Castro: Jesuit Schoolboy
Pope Francis: Jesuit Schoolboy
...
Pol Pot: Jesuit Schoolboy?

The local Jesuit snake-pit here Coloradistan seems to proliferate the same ideology.

Which university did Pol Pot attend?

[HLPhat]

Gee, what a surprise:

"he [Pol Pot] failed to obtain a degree, but according to the Jesuit priest, Father François Ponchaud, he acquired a taste for the classics of French literature as well as an interest in the writings of Karl Marx.^[22]"

^{https://wikivividly.com/wiki/Khmer_Rouge}

^{Another Jesuit crafted collectivized cluster-frack.}

^{{ waving to the MarxBank Jesuit  cube worshipers, their U.C.Berkelely indoctrinated CTO,  and their Mechista M.B.A.'s in the Coloradistan peanut gallegy }}

[Flash Bazbeaux]

“Seems they like to change their name in each rendition of the New Speak Dictionary but.... “

They also claimed, in 1977, that 1977 was the 17th Anniversary of the founding of the party, putting the founding in 1960. In fact that party was founded around 1952, but all or most of the original founders were purged by then, so the Pol Pot clique moved the founding date up eight years.

[Flash Bazbeaux]

The school Pol Pot went to was basically a trade school

[HLPhat]

"A man with a foot hanging only by skin to the end of his leg begged Father Francois Ponchaud, a Jesuit priest, for refuge as he passed his house. The priest refused him, feeling as he did so that he had lost the last shred of human dignity ..."

https://www.google.com/search?q=Jesuit%20priest,%20Father%20Fran%C3%A7ois%20Ponchaud&cad=h

Figures. 

If that's true, Comrade Ponchaud was a typical example of the "collectivist" Kleptocratic dominionist parasites who are more into redistributing other people's work-product.... than something they fail to create through their own perserverance and industrious labor.