Rithy Panh uses clay figures, archival footage, and his narration to recreate the atrocities Cambodia's Khmer Rouge committed between 1975 and 1979.
A remarkable documentary.
Powerful and mesmerising, this offers an fresh approach to a tough topic.
Panh’s commentary – spoken in French by Randal Douc – searingly sets the context.
Panh's remarkable new documentary works as a survivor's testament, a film about memory and loss – and as a self-reflexive essay asking how atrocities should be depicted on screen.
The horrors of a childhood under Cambodia's Khmer Rouge are explored through animation and archive footage in this fascinating Oscar contender.
The Missing Picture is more about the journey than the closure; it's about finding what was lost and examining it afresh. It brings out the dead and then holds them up to the light.
Panh’s daring aestheticisation works, transcending the normal genre boundaries confining both personal and political histories.
Though very different in style, the film is reminiscent of The Act of Killing and Nostalgia for the Light in terms of its effect – and is further proof that taking an innovative approach to history is a good way of unlocking its secrets.
It is ingenious, poignant and resonant, if lacking in narrative momentum.
Edinburgh Filmhouse, Edinburgh from Monday February 17, 2014, until Thursday February 20, 2014. More info: www.filmhousecinema.com
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