Dont Think Ive Forgotton : Cambodias lost rock and roll

Cambodia was for many the scene of one of the most horrific atrocities befallen on man. The mass murder of 1 million people, simply because the ruling communist government wanted to purify the country of corrupting forces. This film explores one of the areas most damaged by this act. The growing influence of rock and roll, folk and Jazz mutated with the traditional music of the country. This made for a delightful marriage of two totally alternative sounds and it changed the countries desires and identity forever.

Ok so it is the horror of the Khmer Rouge that will bring many to watch this film. Within a five year period, they took a country like Cambodia and returned it to the stone age. Like ISIS or ISIL they were driven by an agenda that was illogical and in truth, more them running from their own self then anything else. They were scared of facing the growing lack of truth in something they had so invested in, within a world that was so radically changing. They were the great destroyers of this rock and roll energy that had swept Cambodia along. They also killed intellectuals, musicians and anyone that wanted to understand why the killing was being enacted.

A documentary like this lives off of that connection to certain elements and it rightly plays a little with this. What I was surprised was that it failed to find the story in the build up to this energy. It dumps us into its opening cords and then flys to its nexus. This makes for a film that is more interested in someways, I loved the introduction of the changing face of a countries music. I also loved the songs that were played. It fails to place the film in a context that many know and that will grow the understanding of the effect of this scene on people. The American influence in the region, the culture influence is discussed but without a relation to the porous border with Vietnam or Thailand. It also brushes over the French angle. It was very heavy and was driven as much by film as by music. All in all however I loved the film and would say that it is a missed prospect for any film purchaser. It has a freat sense of the music it admires and keeps you in that very enjoyable world.