After a gaining a huge appraisal on its premiere at Toronto International Film Festival on September 12, Angelina Jolie’s fifth directorial project, “First They Killed My Father,” started streaming on Netflix this Friday. The Cambodian war film witnesses the terrifying reign of the Khmer Rouge, through the innocent eyes of a child, Loung Ung.
About the passionate project of Angelina Jolie
According to her recent interview at the TIFF, Angelina Jolie has revealed that she dedicated the film not only to the people of Cambodia but also to Maddox, her 16 year old son and the executive producer of “First They Killed My Father.” Jolie further added that Maddox visits Cambodia frequently.
"He was going to immerse himself in what his birth parents most likely went through and learn about himself as a Cambodian in a very different way”, reported USA Today. The film which is originally made in the Khmer language, witnesses the brutal reign of the Khmer Rouge and the guerrilla army torturing and killing millions of people and sending the survivors to the rural camps after evacuation.
Instead of showing the heroic white people, Jolie makes a wild move by taking the point of view of five-year-old Loung Ung, played by a newcomer, Sreymoch Sareum. Not only is the little girl ripped from her family and forced to starve under the leadership of the Khmer Rouge, but she is also made to witness a genocide, which obliterated a major part of the Cambodian population between the years 1975 and 1979.
The background of 'First They Killed My Father'
In the year 2000, Angelina Jolie came across the book, "First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers" when she was shooting "Lara Croft: Tomb Raider" in Cambodia. The memoir of the Cambodian activist, Loung Ung, forms the basis of the film. In 2002, she adopted Maddox and in 2005, she acquired the citizenship of Cambodia and started working as a humanitarian in the United Nations.
“First They Killed My Father” is not a documentary and Jolie rather prefers to explore the picturesque dream sequences of an innocent child in bright shades alongside her training sessions as a soldier. The shocking corruption of the innocent child gives the audience a spine-chilling experience, especially when she learns to plant landmines or remit a death bow.
Unlike her previous works, "Unbroken," "Honey" or "In the Land of Blood," “First They Killed My Father” depicts her ultimate passion and love for cinema.
