Director: Rithy Panh
Writers: Elizabeth Becker, Pierre Erwan Guillaume, Rithy Panh
Stars: Irène Jacob, Grégoire Colin, Cyril Gueï
Synopsis: Three French journalists travel to Cambodia in 1978 after receiving an invitation from the Khmer Rouge regime, embarking on a perilous adventure
“Where is the line?”
This is a line uttered by one of the main characters in Meeting With Pol Pot, and is a deeply important question for all leaders to be forced to answer, especially when making grand proclamations about bettering society. There are many of us, including this reviewer, whose knowledge of Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge is limited to footnotes and lines in punk rock songs from the early 1980s. So, putting “Holiday in Cambodia” aside, you will likely assume correctly that a film that elucidates some of the deeply troubling history in that country is the definition of a tough watch.
And yet, despite the director (and co-writer), Rithy Panh, literally living through these events and being the only surviving member of his immediate family, the film uses differing styles that create distance and never dives into the true brutality, at least in visual form. The decision to use both puppetry and an overlay of actual film footage is a smart, if unexpected decision. It would be easy to go for shock value that only narrative film could accomplish, but there needs to be respect for the actual, real human beings that suffered. So, Panh uses screens and animated carved miniatures. This accomplishes a few things. First, it symbolizes the levels of “truth” that characters must wade through. But more importantly, it also shows the lengths that governments will go to in order to design their own truth. Words matter. There is a line. But leaders will stop at nothing to dodge around it.
The film follows outsiders, three French journalists, who were invited to speak with Pol Pot in 1978, near the end of the Khmer Rouge, which ruled Cambodia during that time. Lisa Delbo (Irène Jacob) heads this group, joined by Alain Cariou (Grégoire Colin), and photographer Paul Thomas (Cyril Gueï). The film does a tremendous job of distinguishing these three, instead of making them all cookie-cutter reporters. Alain has a relationship with Pol Pot through letter writing while Paul is definitely the most radical of the group. Lisa occupies a middle ground, until she begins to see the truth of the crumbling of Democratic Kampuchea.
The pace is deliberate and, like life, the truth slowly opens up to both the audience and the journalists. Jacob, a deeply talented actress who is mostly known for her early career work, is given an opportunity to dominate the screen, sometimes in a wordless manner, and the film is better for it. Watching her process the unimaginable horrors that are occurring to the Cambodian people, as well as her own personal losses is truly a sight to behold. Panh astutely allows these scenes to breathe and holds the camera tight on her expressive face. And still, the film is balanced. There are also moments for Alain and Paul, as well as the Cambodian people actually affected by these horrors.
Despite said horrors, Meeting With Pol Pot also takes the time to show the beauty of the landscape. Cinematographer Aymerick Pilarski, aided by the script, takes us on a visual tour of 1978 Cambodia. It is easy for Westerners to make assumptions about this part of the world, without appreciating its people and its grandeur. Although some terrible things happen amidst these vistas, the story hinges on not just the unraveling of a mystery, but also on the importance of human lives in the face of lines being crossed by the minute.
And yes, the meeting (or meetings) with Pol Pot do happen, but the film certainly takes its time getting to it. This may be a feature, as opposed to a bug, as we feel the exact same kind of frustration that the journalists feel. They are controlled by the whim of a leader, just as we are by the script and direction keeping us at bay. But, to the film’s credit, when those meetings do occur, they are well worth the wait. I will not ruin the powerful impact of those conversations, but even if the audience finds the pace difficult, it is rewarded by the climax of the film.
There are no easy answers. Not to why terrible things happen. Not for what is the correct form of government. But once again, there are lines. If living in 2025 has taught us anything, it is that those lines can be crossed if we allow it to happen. In the modern world, we are no more immune to this disgusting behavior of leaders than the people of Cambodia were from the Khmer Rouge in the late 1970s.
