SLIFF 2010 Review: ENEMIES OF THE PEOPLE

On the surface, ENEMIES OF THE PEOPLE of the people may not feel like a terribly emotional film, given its gruesome subject matter, but it doesn’t take long for the undercurrent of guilt, regret and loss sets in. This is a film about the common people of Cambodia, the farmers and peasants, made to become both killers and victims.

In the 1970’s, The Khmer Rouge was responsible for the killing of approximately two million people in Cambodia. The reasoning of Pol Pot, the party leader infamously known as Brother Number One, was that these innocent people resisted change and therefore were dangerous enemies of the state; spies for Vietnam. Pol Pot saw them as a problem that had to be “solved.”

ENEMIES OF THE PEOPLE, co-directed by Rob Lemkin and Thet Sambat, combines three elements of documentary storytelling. The film begins with Thet’s ongoing effort to get close to Brother Number Two, Pol Pot’s second in command. The process of gaining his trust is slow, but Thet perseveres and does eventually earn the truth from him, spoken on camera. In this vein, ENEMIES OF THE PEOPLE has a hauntingly similar feel to the Errol Morris’ concept with THE FOG OF WAR, which pulled the truth from Robert McNamara, the mind behind the United States’ involvement in the Vietnam War.

More significant to the success of ENEMIES OF THE PEOPLE is Thet’s ability to relate with the surviving Khmer Rouge killers. The farmers who were ordered, often against their will, to murder the enemy still carry the grief and pain of the experience with them. Many resist speaking out, but Thet is able to convince them that coming forward with is necessary for history; for future generations to know the truth. Those who were killers, were at once also victims.

Finally, Thet’s documents his personal experience and feelings about making the film, which he refers to as his “project.” His parents’ deaths were a result of the Khmer Rouge, so the film is a means for the filmmaker to cope and gain closure as well. The lack of outward emotion from the people interviewed in the film is heavily overshadowed by their silently devastating emotions, internalized. Watching these people attempt to address what Thet confronts them with speaks so much more than strong words and tears.

ENEMIES OF THE PEOPLE is hauntingly honest, capturing the Cambodian people as they struggle with this horrible tragedy. For a nation of people (that being the U.S.) used to the extremes of nonfiction storytelling, this film offers a more somber and elemental exploration of the torn human psyche.

On a final note, squeamish viewers beware. ENEMIES OF THE PEOPLE is not terribly graphic, except for a brief montage of graphic archival footage from the killing fields where innocent people were slaughtered, followed by Thet’s decision to take time away from focusing on the past and a juxtaposing montage of peaceful serenity.

ENEMIES OF THE STATE will play during the 19th Annual Stella Artois St. Louis International Film Festival on Wednesday, November 17th at 9:30 pm at the Tivoli Theatre.