A child’s view of conflict
Angelina Jolie is quickly coming into her own as a fine director, and she takes a quantum leap in “First They Killed My Father,” which tells the story of the Cambodian genocide from the viewpoint of a little girl from Phnom Penh.
Like her earlier effort “In the Land of Blood and Honey,” about the Bosnian conflict, Jolie has crafted an intimate epic about a tough war subject that probably would have gone unmade without her humanitarian influence and star power. “First They Killed My Father” is a much more assured film, even if a bogged-down middle section prevents it from greatness.
The proceedings get off to a strong start, with news footage about U.S. forces secretly bombing Cambodia — an act that many believe paved the way for the tortuous Khmer Rouge regime to take power. After that brief context, we are whisked to the Cambodian capital, where we meet a governmentfriendly family watching from their balcony as rebels take control of the city.
One of those family members is Loung, a girl who will be our tour guide to misery: families being rounded up and forced into harsh work camps where there is little to no food. And that’s only the beginning of the horrors, which claimed the lives of 25 percent of the nation’s people during the 1970s.
The exodus scenes, and the initial days at the work camps, are masterfully crafted. But Loung (Sareum Srey Moch) is a reactive character — she is a small child, after all — and for long stretches, our main character isn’t doing much of anything except witnessing atrocities. Though we never stop caring about her, we find ourselves hurrying to find out about Loung’s fate, and for the film to tell its story.
But that is just what it does in the final 20 minutes, with a shocking sequence in a minefield and a moving finale that pays respect to Cambodia’s dead. Throughout, Jolie handles it all with admirable restraint. There are times when she could have used less restraint, but her film is a powerful reminder about the Cambodian genocide — and that we should not forget about it.