Courtesy of Old Street Films
“Some say you should have just imprisoned them…not killed them,” Cambodian journalist Thet Sambath says to Nuon Chea, a former leader of the Khmer Rouge, the Communist regime that killed nearly two million people between 1975–1979.
Chea’s reply: “That’s a matter of opinion.”
It’s a provocative comment coming from Brother No. 2, the second–in–command to Pol Pot (Chea was also indicted by an international court in 2007 for war crimes, including “murder, torture, imprisonment, persecution, extermination, deportation, forcible transfer, enslavement and other inhumane acts”). For Sambath, his aim with this documentary is to find out why so many people died in the Killing Fields. Co-directed by Sambath and Rob Lemkin, Enemies of the People follows Sambath as he captures various members of the Khmer Rouge confessing to killing—one man even describes the way he slit throats, which he says he had to adapt once his hand got tired. The men are visibly burdened, regretful and worry about what will happen in the next life (Cambodians are Buddhist). But the confessions don’t come easy: Each is hesitant to recall what he did, partly in fear of being arrested by the U.N. Yet, Sambath gradually earns their trust through his air of understanding.
His composure among these men is remarkable: he lost his parents and brother to the Khmer Rouge. It’s a piece of his history that he readily divulges to viewers, but not Chea. “I don’t want him to feel that I come to take revenge,” Sambath says to the camera. “I will take my time to talk about this.” Through it all, he remains poised, and in some scenes, even feels sorry for the men.
Although the killers (which include women), are remorseful, they always say they took their orders from a superior. Chea, who is the only living Khmer Rouge superior, doesn’t know who gave the orders. He claims they weren’t from him or Pol Pot. Regardless, Sambath hopes his documentary will start a new path towards understanding and closure for Cambodia.
Enemies of the People is a revealing and captivating look into the psyche of a genocidal regime, and is investigative journalism at its best.
