C’est Jolie
Aug 16th, 2005 by Jinja
C’est Jolie
So Angelina Jolie has been granted citizenship? Quick, cue the media.
Since her time filming Tomb Raider, the actress of the hour has embraced activism, Hollywood style. Better that than apathy.
Interesting that she has chosen Samlot as a place to help out. It was the setting of a rebellion against the 1960s government (beginning with an attack on tax collectors), in what some cite as a flash point for the growth of the Communist party. It was one of the last strongholds of the Khmer Rouge as well. It’s now one of the poorest, most heavily mined places in the country.
Maybe with her citizenship she should run for office, (joke!) so far she’s created more change than many government officials. In Cambodia she’s courted a low profile and worked with relatively good causes, donating money privately, without publicity. Much more than the country made from Tomb Raider, certainly. (Rumor has it that the actual contract for renting out the film location was pasted to one of the stone walls at Angkor, and quickly torn down.)
Tomb Raider‘s title echoes Raiders of the Lost Ark, a film about another adventurer looting temples. I recall climbing up to Kbal Spean with a friend who’d written a few books on Cambodia. Even a scholar couldn’t help but think of his climb up the steep mountain to be an ‘Indiana Jones’ adventure. Stories stick with us.
Two years later, the ‘river of a thousand linga’ had one of its bas reliefs damaged by thieves, there were rumors floating around Siem Reap that it was an extortion attempt, even. ‘Raiding’ and looting indeed.. Who is doing the protecting?
You might try the folks at Heritage Watch, or German Apsara. They don’t wield guns, but cameras and toothbrushes. (The latter for stone restoration.)
And having seen the filming helped deconstruct the story a bit for me. Tomb Raider has a cartoony sensibility throughout, whether the action is in London, Cambodia or Siberia. Ultimately?
I’m looking forward to new films and stories, made by Cambodians themselves.
