Swimming to Cambodia

1987
R
1h 25m

IMDb RATING

7.6/10

2.4K

YOUR RATING

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1 Video

6 Photos

Comedy Drama

Spalding Gray discusses his participation in the film La déchirure (1984) and the background story about the troubles of Cambodia.Spalding Gray discusses his participation in the film La déchirure (1984) and the background story about the troubles of Cambodia.Spalding Gray discusses his participation in the film La déchirure (1984) and the background story about the troubles of Cambodia.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

7.6/10

2.4K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 5 nominations total

Videos1

Clip 2:02

Swimming to Cambodia

Photos5

Top cast3

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Spalding Gray

Self

Sam Waterston

Additional Cast from 'The Killing Fields'
(archive footage)

Ira Wheeler

Additional Cast from 'The Killing Fields'
(archive footage)

Director
- Jonathan Demme
Writer
- Spalding Gray
All cast & crew
Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
The cover of Gray's spiral notebook is an illustration of Ronald McDonald kicking a soccer ball.

Quotes
[last lines]
Spalding Gray: Farewell, to the fantastic breakfasts, free every morning and there they were, waiting on you with the papaya, mango, and pineapple like I'd never tasted before. Farewell, to the Thai maids with the king-sized cotton sheets and the big king-sized beds. Farewell, to the fresh meat flown in from America, daily. Roast potatoes, green beans and roast lamb, at 110 degrees under a circus tent, according to British Equity. Farewell to the drivers with the tinted glasses and the Mercedes with the tinted windows. Farewell to the cakes, teas and ices every day exactly at four o'clock. Farewell to those beautiful smiling people. Farewell to that single, fresh rose in a vase on my bureau every day. And just as I was climbing into that first-class seat, and wrapping myself in a blanket, just as I was adjusting my pillow behind my head, and having a sip of that champagne, and just as I was bringing down and adjusting my Thai purple sleep mask... I had an inkling, I had a flash... I suddenly thought I knew what it was that had killed Marilyn Monroe...

Alternate versions
A&E cuts out the part of the sex performer doing tricks with her vagina (including the banana hitting the wall, which Gray alludes to early in the act.) In addition, the scene uses different close-ups, and ends with "boobly oobly."

Connections
Featured in Siskel & Ebert & the Movies: Blind Date/Dolls/The Hanoi Hilton/Swimming to Cambodia (1987)

User reviews19

Featured review

9/10

Spalding Gray is the father of my love child

I have to admit that the quote from his second video-monologue "I didn't think that I could listen to a person talk for an hour & a half, let alone a man" is the most honest statement I have heard about Spalding Gray. Although I have to admit that his later video-monologues (after Monster In A Box) lacked some of the intensity of his first two (that I am aware of), he has produced a fascinating body of work between his stints as a bit actor. Swimming to Cambodia is an amazing film that I could not dare ruin for those who dare to explore this wonderful, dark and detailed world that Spalding Gray opens up and offers to us to explore. Watch this film, if you dare.