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S21: The Khmer Rouge Killing Machine

S-21, la machine de mort Khmère rouge

2003

Rithy Panh

Documentary

7.1

529

Documentary In 1975-79, the Khmer Rouge waged a campaign of genocide on Cambodia's population. 1.7 million Cambodians lost their lives to famine and murder as the urban population was forced into the countryside to fulfill the Khmer Rouges' dream of an agrarian utopia. In S21, Panh brings two survivors back to the notorious Tuol Sleng prison (code-named "S21"), now a genocide museum where former Khmer Rouge are employed as guides. Painter Vann Nath ... [+]

	Media	Author	Review
		Allan Hunter Screendaily	"A sincere and honourable attempt to fathom the depths of human evil"
		Philip French The Guardian	"It's a frightening, bone-chilling picture."
		Ed Gonzalez Slant	"The more straightforward elements of the film often come across labored or calculated (…) Rating: ★★½ (out of 4)"
		Jamie Russell BBC	"[It] delivers a harrowing history lesson (...) What makes Panh's film so distressing is the way in which the guards justify their actions (…) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 5)"
		Owen Gleiberman Entertainment Weekly	"'S21' testifies to the chilling ease with which ordinary men can cross the line into homicidal sadism."
		J. Hoberman Village Voice	"Unforgettable (...) as horrific an exposure to evil as 'Shoah.'"

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