a strong movie, despite the second-half stumble

Rating: 8/10 (30 November 2010)

Civil wars and political upheaval can often bring out the best elements in a film: suspense, emotion, and the immediacy of current events, in this case turning yesterday's headlines into a grim but gripping human drama. The 1975 collapse of Cambodia and subsequent 're-education' of its population (through brainwashing and genocide) by Khmer Rouge insurgents is reconstructed through an unlikely but true friendship between two journalists from opposite ends of the globe: hard-nosed New York Times reporter Sydney Schanberg and his resourceful Cambodian counterpart Dith Pran. From their anxious refuge inside the French Embassy in Phnom Penh to the horrors of a post-revolution work camp, the film builds moments of agonizing intensity, although the latter half splits into separate stories of unequal impact: Schanberg, in New York, agonizes verbally and at length over the unknown fate of his friend, while Pran, in the newly named Kampuchea, endures a torment that surpasses words. The performances in general and the cinematography in particular merit special attention, with the moody colors suggesting the light of a solar eclipse: darkness in broad daylight.