Two Shadows

We saw this film at the international film festival in Phnom Penh. I enjoyed it, except that several of us didn't like how it portrayed Cambodia. The impression that this film gives of the country is that it's a dangerous place full of prostitutes where people get assassinated, and where no one cares to help you unless you pay first. This portrayal of Cambodia is completely inaccurate. Most people who travel in Southeast Asia will tell you that they notice a huge difference in culture between Vietnam on the one hand and Cambodia. Cambodia might be poor, but it is a country where people often go out of their way to help you out even when they don't know you, will never try to overcharge you, speak gently and are most of all afraid to sound rude or impolite. People who visit Cambodia, especially from such a self-centered, money-oriented places as the United States, are often astonished by the selfless behavior of the locals. Cambodia's economy has grown enormously in recent years - the city's capital now has many high rise apartment blocks, as well as trendy restaurants and more high end coffee shops than I've ever seen in my life. However Cambodia is still portrayed in cinema not as it is today, but as it was maybe 10 or 20 years ago. I recently saw an Australian movie about a tourist who is murdered by a drug gang in Cambodia. These kinds of portrayals discourage tourists from coming here and are simply not truthful.