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The Missing Picture

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The Missing Picture
Film poster
Directed byRithy Panh
Written byRithy Panh
Christophe Bataille
Produced byCatherine Dussart
Narrated byRandal Douc
Jean-Baptiste Phou[1]
CinematographyPrum Mesa
Edited byRithy Panh
Marie-Christine Rougerie
Music byMarc Marder
Distributed byLes Acacias (France)
Release dates
  • 19 May 2013 (2013-05-19) (Cannes)
  • 21 October 2015 (2015-10-21) (France)
Running time
92 minutes
CountriesCambodia
France[2]
LanguageFrench[3]

The Missing Picture (French: L'Image manquante) is a 2013 Cambodian-French[4] documentary film directed by Rithy Panh about the Khmer Rouge regime and Cambodian genocide.[5] Approximately half of the film is news and documentary footage, while the other half uses clay figurines to dramatise the genocide's impact and aftermath on Cambodian people and society.[3][6]

It was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival[7] where it won the top prize.[8] It was also screened in the World Cinema section at the 2013 Cinemanila International Film Festival where it won the Grand Jury Prize.[9] It won Best Documentary at the 21st Lumières Awards and was nominated for Best Documentary Film at the 41st César Awards as well as for Best Foreign Language Film at the 86th Academy Awards.[10][11][12]

Overview

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The film portrays the horrors of Cambodia's Khmer Rouge regime from 1975 to 1979 using a blend of animation, archival footage, and clay dioramas by sculptor Sarith Mang. Director Rithy Panh, who lived through the Khmer Rouge's rise to power as a child, escaped to Thailand and eventually settled in France, where he pursued a career in cinema with a focus on depicting the genocide and its aftermath in Cambodia. Panh, who lost numerous family members to the regime, embarked on this film as a personal quest to reconnect with his stolen childhood.[13]

Through the narrative, Panh explores the loss of cultural identity inflicted by the Khmer Rouge, who aimed to forcibly reshape Cambodian society through radical socialism.[14] The film illustrates the erasure of individual identities, with citizens reduced to mere numbers and the suppression of their cultural heritage. Panh's use of clay figurines to fill the gaps in his memories adds a symbolic layer to the storytelling, evoking the innocence of childhood while depicting the brutal realities of life under the regime.[15][16][17]

The Missing Picture serves as an attempt to reconstruct a historical period where photographic evidence is scarce due to deliberate destruction by the Khmer Rouge.[18] Panh underscores the importance of cinema as a tool for bearing witness and preserving collective memory, countering the regime's distorted narrative with his own truth-seeking storytelling.[18]

Despite acknowledging the complexities of pre-crisis Cambodia, Panh's film captures the essence of his lived experience, offering a testament to resilience and the pursuit of truth. Beyond filmmaking, Panh is dedicated to nurturing Cambodian talent in the audiovisual arts, as evidenced by his establishment of the Audiovisual Center Bophana, which serves as both a repository of Cambodian memory and a training ground for aspiring filmmakers.[19]

Cast

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  • Randal Douc as the narrator (original French version)
  • Jean-Baptiste Phou (English version)[20][21]

Reception

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The Missing Picture has an approval rating of 99% on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, based on 88 reviews, and an average rating of 8.26/10. The website's critical consensus states, "Thrillingly unorthodox and emotionally searing without being didactic, The Missing Picture is a uniquely poignant documentary -- and so much more".[22] It also has a score of 87 out of 100 on Metacritic, based on 23 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[23]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "The Missing Picture movie (2013)". Archived from the original on 29 November 2014. Retrieved 10 February 2016.
  2. ^ "The Missing Picture". Screen International. 20 May 2013.
  3. ^ a b "Oscars: best foreign film contenders". BBC News. 21 February 2014.
  4. ^ "Cannes Film Review: 'The Missing Picture'". Variety. 30 May 2013.
  5. ^ Young, Neil (23 May 2013). "The Missing Picture (L'Image manquante): Cannes Review". Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 23 May 2013.
  6. ^ "The Missing Picture – review". The Guardian. 28 February 2014.
  7. ^ "2013 Official Selection". Cannes. 23 May 2013. Retrieved 23 May 2013.
  8. ^ Richford, Rhonda (26 May 2013). "Cannes: 'The Missing Picture' Wins Un Certain Regard Prize". Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 26 May 2013.
  9. ^ "Cinemanila 2013 winners awarded Saturday night". Philippine Daily Inquirer. 22 December 2013. Retrieved 28 December 2013.
  10. ^ "France's Lumiere Awards: 'Mustang' Takes Top Honors". The Hollywood Reporter. 8 February 2016.
  11. ^ "'Golden Years,' 'Marguerite,' 'Dheepan,' 'Mustang' Lead Cesar Nominations". Variety. 27 January 2016.
  12. ^ "Oscars: Main nominations 2014". BBC News. Retrieved 16 January 2014.
  13. ^ Zylberman, Lior (2014) "The Missing Picture - Film Review," Genocide Studies and Prevention: Vol. 8: Iss. 3: 103-105.
  14. ^ "The Missing Picture – review". the Guardian. 2 January 2014. Retrieved 22 November 2022.
  15. ^ "The Missing Picture uses clay figurines to expose the horrors of history". The A.V. Club. 13 March 2014. Retrieved 22 November 2022.
  16. ^ Fong, Christy (23 March 2015). "THE MISSING PICTURE = L'IMAGE MANQUANTE | By Rithy Panh". Pacific Affairs (UBC Journal). Retrieved 22 November 2022.
  17. ^ Lemire, Christy. "The Missing Picture movie review (2014) | Roger Ebert". Retrieved 22 November 2022.
  18. ^ a b "Film of the week: The Missing Picture". British Film Institute. 25 April 2018. Retrieved 22 November 2022.
  19. ^ Rosenberg, Scott.(2006). Retrieved from M & C Movies at: https://web.archive.org/web/20070929130345/http://movies.monstersandcritics.com/features/article_1234058.php/Exclusive_interview_Cambodian_film_director_Rithy_Panh_%96_%93Angelina_Jolie_come_visit_the_Audiovisual_Center_Bophana!%94
  20. ^ Turan, Kenneth (3 October 2013). "Review: 'The Missing Picture' a poetic study of Khmer Rouge horrors". Los Angeles Times.
  21. ^ Bourne, Christopher. "New York Film Fest 2013 Review: THE MISSING PICTURE, A Hauntingly Poetic Work of Emotional and Historical Archeology". TwitchFilm. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 10 February 2016.
  22. ^ "The Missing Picture (2014)". Retrieved 10 October 2020 – via www.rottentomatoes.com.
  23. ^ "The Missing Picture". Retrieved 10 October 2020 – via www.metacritic.com.
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