The Last Reel

I saw this film on July 30, 2016 at Michael Moore's Traverse City Film Festival. It won the award for best film there. Moore and the director, Kulikar Sotho, introduced it and held a Q&A after the showing. Though the screenplay is credited to Ian McMasters, the story is Sotho's. She revealed before the showing that, yes, the amazing characters are based on her and her mother's true-life experiences. The main character, a teenage girl, becomes friends with the projectionist at an abandoned movie house and discovers some interesting things that took place before she was born. It contains echoes of Cinema Paradiso, but I believe it is even better.

It takes place in modern-day Cambodia, but memories of the country's gloomy past are ever-present. The acting and the quality of filming are superb, while the crackling energy of modern-day Phnom Penh is expertly captured. Her humble demeanor at the festival belies the fact that she is certainly the Orson Welles of her nation.

This is a hilarious movie. I give it 10 of 10.

There is a college girl, who plays her life away. She does not fit at her home. Her father is an absolute feudalistic military man, her mother is in ill and her younger brother is too smart and well-behaved. She uses a bike parking inside a closed movie theater nearby the college. Actually, at the parking she rides on the rear sheet of her boy- friend's bike and go playing. Once in a while she went to the college, but she had no idea which room was for her. She asked it to a teacher of movies, who was in another lecture room.

One day in the projection booth of the abandoned theater, she met the parking manager. He showed her a movie. According to him, this movie, a melodrama, was filmed in 1975, but as the last reel was lost, it has yet to be on screen. He had been living in his memory of the heroin, projecting it sometimes. Then the college girl's heart was ignited. "So you know its ending? Then, why don't we film the last reel again? Oh yes, I know the professor of movies. Let's ask him to cooperate with us!"

Women are strong once they have belief. They run headlong with amazing power. In fact I know such women around me, and the girl's behavior is no surprise. On the other hand, it is not that easy for the man. You will see the reason in the movie. For him, the process of filming it again is to face his memory of the Khmer Rouge era, the time more than a quarter of whole population were killed, and for the girl it was to face what she did not know about.

This movie is dedicated to the victims of Cambodian movies who were purged under the Khmer Rouge ruling. I suppose that the title "The Last Reel" implies the lost years in Cambodian movie history during the Khmer Rouge era. If so, to film the last reel again means to inherit and revive once flourished Cambodian movies.

Yep... I haven't seen a single film made in Cambodia that I actually liked since Bat Kloun by Khmer Mekong Films a few years back. This film is surely the best film Cambodia ever had in decades.

First of all, the storyline is amazing. Despite written by non-Cambodian writer but as a Cambodian, I approved everything about the characteristics of the characters, locations and even the minor details. I am surprise to see how the film maker focus on small details from culture references to clothing fashion. It does show almost 100% of Cambodian's general life/reality. The writer is awesome and probably better understand about Cambodian than most Cambodian writers do.

The actors were just incredible. As always, the protagonist, Ma Rynet, is awesome as she ever could be. Totally a big fan. Now that's what we call talent and a "real" actress. Newcomer, but she's probably better than most Cambodian "supposedly" actresses . Portray as the rebellious new generation child, but totally represent "real" nowadays Cambodians, who we all can related at some point. Every single moment Rynet able to appear fresh and real, not a single moment that we could say that this would never happen to a real person. Her performance in this film could never been better.

Again, Dy Savet is also as amazing as she can be. Just "real" and "relatable" as she can be. At her age and portray as an emotional disturb mother, but she's able to appear as flawless as she can be.

Every other characters are also incredible. Not well-known actors but definitely talented and relatable. The dad, the brother, the boyfriend, the director, the gang, first of all, they all look Cambodians. That is a big plus. Their performance is real and raw. They do look and sound like somebody's dad, brother, boyfriend... And each's characteristic is definitely real and relatable (again) big applause to writer and director and casting director, whoever you are. Because, these are what 99% of Cambodian films lacked at.

And I definitely love the location. The cinema is awesome. And the fact that the character's house is actually looks like most of Cambodian houses are just amazing. Again, because according to most of "Cambodian" writers and directors, everybody lives in a condo or a villa. And we all drive Range Rover. And we call have super white skin and blond hair. And we all woke up with full make-up and cat eyes. And we all go to the mall and brown cafe all the time.

Again, the film is definitely the best film Cambodia has seen for decades. This shows how Cambodian's film is in fact going into a right direction (even though most of film crew are non- Cambodian) but I'm happy that I can actually go to see a Cambodian film that is actually good and keep me thinking about the film and actually talk about real issues of Cambodian and I can actually relate to, after it finished and proud that Cambodian might bring back the golden age era of films. Awesome jobs everyone. Please make more awesome film.