D'abord, ils ont tué mon père

Angelina Jolie proves her directing chops with this feature. It takes place in 1975 as the U.S. military was leaving Vietnam and Cambodia. The Kmer Rouge were taking over, millions of Cambodians were displaced and killed. The star is a little girl who is the screenwriter of the material based on her best selling book. The story is horrific, as the family moves from a comfortable middle class existence to one of deprivation and starvation. The kids are great and the horrors of war are shown with an accurate eye by Ms. Jolie. She is a major talent as both an actress and director. One of the best films of the year.

A movie based on Long Ung's autobiography about her childhood memories as a child soldier during the Khmer Rouge regime. First they Killed my Father is an incredibly moving story. The camera angles are set low and at times the story seems slow, and throughout has little dialogue, but in the end this works well in telling this story from a child's perspective.

I did not expect that I would have been so emotional after watching this movie. And several times, I found myself revisiting both the troubling and precious moments portrayed in the film. Perhaps it's because my earliest memories of television are news film of war in Indochina, and the opening scenes briefly show Long Ung standing beside a black and white television, with similar vision playing while the Khmer Rouge are marching down the streets outside. I found myself trying to compare my childhood to hers. For me this alone is powerful. Don't expect any big history questions to be answered or seek to ask who's responsible, this isn't needed to see this story as it would have been seen through the eyes of a child.

I watched this movie with my father who was a little older than Loung when the Khmer Rouge started putting people in camps. My father said this movie was a more accurate portrayal of what he and his family went through during this time. The movie is an accurate portrayal of what the children went through. Everything they dealt with, from the time the Americans invaded to the time the camps were created and the Khmer Rouge started murdering people. My mother too survived the killing fields as a child but she lost her father to the Khmer Rouge execution. There are a lot of critic reviews saying the move isn't good like the killing fields. Take it from the daughter of two survivors, this movie helped me see what my parents went though, the fight they had to put up to survive and the detestation for those who did not.

What happens when all the norms of civilization implode. Filmed from the perspective of that of a child, superbly played by, first time actress Sareum Srey Moch who puts in a stunning performance. Perhaps we as adults forget the skills we had as children, like "Let's pretend" and those that relearn them are endowed with great wealth and honour. Angelina Jolie must be congratulated on her lightness of touch, definitely no Hollywood here. The cinematography is well shot, mostly at the height of a child which helps reinforce the helplessness of the protagonists in the dystopian, year zero world that is Cambodia in 1975. There have been many other films that give a more rounded interpretation of this period but none to my recollection, from the perspective of a child, and this is something that all of us can relate to given the special talents of Sareum Srey Moch, who magically takes us back to how a seven year old sees the world, for better or for worse.

In the 70's, a Cambodian middle-class girl sees the lives of her family and her turning upside-down when the Khmer Rouge invades the Cambodia. They leave their comfortable apartment and lifestyle to live in a primitive working camp. Her father, a former officer, is killed and the family splits to survive.

Angelina Jolie once again surprises with another great film about contemporary war and genocide directed by her. "First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers" shows the effect of the revolution promoted by the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia through the eyes of an innocent seven year-old girl. Her family is separated and they fight to survive in a devastated country. The children have top-notch performances and Angelina Jolie succeeds in exploring the best from each one of them. The "happy ending" does not fit well to the storyline and maybe is the unique "but", probably imposed by producers. Even those that are not fans of Angelina Jolie with have to respect her work as director. My vote is seven.

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