The Missing Picture

2013 [FRENCH]

Action / Documentary

3
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Certified Fresh 99% · 89 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Upright 77% · 5K ratings
IMDb Rating 7.3/10 10 3645 3.6K

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Plot summary

Rithy Panh uses clay figures, archival footage, and his narration to recreate the atrocities Cambodia's Khmer Rouge committed between 1975 and 1979.

Director

Top cast

Jean-Baptiste Phou as Narrator
Randal Douc as Narrator
720p.BLU 1080p.BLU
881.24 MB
1280*714
French 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
24 fps
1 hr 35 min
Seeds ...
1.77 GB
1920*1072
French 5.1
NR
Subtitles us  
24 fps
1 hr 35 min
Seeds 3

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by l_rawjalaurence 8 / 10

Stark Depiction of Life Under the Tyranny of the Pol Pot Regime

Several reviewers have commented on the basic themes of Rithy Panh's documentary; what is perhaps more interesting is the way in which the title operates on two levels. First, Panh's film aims to fill in "the missing picture" of life in Cambodia under the Pol Pot regime. For most of the time, the only visual material available on this regime was propaganda films depicting an idealized world of workers happily contributing to the new country Kampuchea's collective sense of well- being. Through a mixture of clay figures and archive footage, Panh proves the opposite; most citizens had to get used to a combination of perpetual hunger and enforced labor. The clay figures are an important element of this film, suggesting that human beings can be rendered malleable in any way their makers/ captors choose. At another level, the film tries to recreate the "missing picture" of Panh's past; at the age of fifty, he looks back at his childhood in the pre-Pol Pot era, a world of color and variety that was ruthlessly swept away, as the people were forced to wear black and work inhumanly long hours in the rice- fields. The experience left an indelible mark on Panh's character, as he lost most of his family due to starvation, without being able to do a thing about it. Even now he feels guilty for his inaction. Living under a tyrannous regime was bad enough, but what was much worse for Panh was the way in which that regime rendered him powerless, as well as depriving his life of the possibilities - both personal as well as professional - that could have been available in the pre-Pol Pot era. The "missing picture" cannot be recreated, however hard he tries. The film ends on a somber note, as Panh reminds us how much the souls of the millions who died during the Pol Pot regime still haunt those who survived. While efforts have been made to erase the past (a lake has been built over one of the mass graves), he still feels somehow united with the dead rather than the living - an indication, perhaps, of the emotional and physical consequences of tyranny. While THE MISSING PICTURE offers a country-specific interpretation of the past, its message should be heeded by everyone about the consequences of living under an absolutist government.
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Reviewed by lee_eisenberg 10 / 10

I see an analogy

Above all else, Rithy Panh's Oscar-nominated documentary "L'image manquante" ("The Missing Picture" in English) is a testament to the determination of the human spirit. He uses clay figures to tell the story of the Khmer Rouge's killing fields in Cambodia, recounting how the group's attempts to rid Cambodia of anything regarded as western or educated caused one of the great tragedies of the twentieth century.

Another thing that it made me think is a similar phenomenon that we see today. Much like how the Khmer Rouge sought to eradicate all intellectualism and declared Year Zero, the Tea Party and its supporters in politics rant against "elitism", saying that they want to make America like it's "supposed to be". How soon before these people launch their own Khmer Rouge-style social engineering program?

Either way, it's a great documentary. You should definitely see it.

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