This is an excellent film over all because it combines beautiful cinematography and a concise retelling of the history of an area of Asia with a troubled past. The subject matter is compelling: how magnificent, ancient stone carvings survived the brutality of past regimes in Cambodia. The representatives of the World Monument Fund do a good job explaining the awesome challenges they faced in restoring some of these ancient sites. And the filmmakers treat us to a visual inspection of some of the grand stone carvings. My only regret is that more of those wonderful carvings are not shown to the viewer. In all, however, Les Guthman and his crew did a superb job in "A Journey Up the Mekong to Angkor." Claus Hirsch
2 Reviews
GREAT Digital FILM
tommyg5 September 2006
Having traveled to Thailand with a side trip to Cambodia a few years ago, I found this documentary an excellent supplement to my own memories to Siem Reap and Angkor Wat. I did enough reading in the travel guides to get a sense of history within the area, yet the documentary brought it all together in a better perspective in a non-political manner. It was about history, culture, and architecture of Southeast Asia that appropriately fits the goals of the WORLD MONUMENTS FUNDS projects. I did not realize at that time that these restorative projects around Siem Reap were not that old -- often less than a decade. So, in some sense, I am a part of current history and its documentation with my own camera.
I back peddled recent history (i.e. not boxed by my life at sixty-four and but expanding the time span a bit earlier) of Cambodia, Vietnam, and Laos and find the meddling of Europeans and United States as not something to be too proud about. I remember seeing signs at different restorative sites with FUNDED BY....France....Germany....etc. What was missing was the United States of America.
But, that is another story and another movie. And another history that will repeat and repeat itself.
I back peddled recent history (i.e. not boxed by my life at sixty-four and but expanding the time span a bit earlier) of Cambodia, Vietnam, and Laos and find the meddling of Europeans and United States as not something to be too proud about. I remember seeing signs at different restorative sites with FUNDED BY....France....Germany....etc. What was missing was the United States of America.
But, that is another story and another movie. And another history that will repeat and repeat itself.
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