First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers

It's difficult to make a fair appraisal of true stories when the primary source of value in a movie is from the story. This one is a solidly acted and well made movie, but this movie largely just feels like a callous attempt to repeatedly remind the audience just how bad the Khmer Rouge was.

A slog. Most effective parts were the evacuation scenes at the beginning. I felt there was little arc beyond a catalog of horrors.

Remarkable directorial effort from Jolie is a little jumbled initially as it establishes time, place and scenario (perhaps a reflection of this viewer's ignorance of the finer points of the socio-politic situation), but once the story kicks in, it's dynamite; emotionally resonant and devastating - Jolie works wonders with a largely inexperienced cast (especially young Moch). Familiar tropes of pain and suffering given new life by a matter-of-fact approach; music score is sometimes too bombastic.

The story of the film is presented to us from a child's perspective. So, the cinematographic preferences of the director also reflect this perspective in terms of time, space and movement perception.

I found this coldly informative. It's important never to forget this terrible period for Cambodia but I didn't get any understanding of character's motives or how situations arose. Instead the filmmakers focused on pretty shots and using basic techniques to indicate the feelings of the scenes/characters.

It's no Killing fields but worth a watch.

The story of Cambodia, all too reminiscent of the current situation in Afghanistan, is a huge stain on humanity, but this film failed to do it justice and was a disappointment, imo. Whilst beautifully filmed with lots of poignant silhouettes, tears, and long wistful stares, it told you pretty much nothing other than what we were observing. The march into vietnamese territory(?), The bombings(?) meeting up with her siblings, how she got out the mine field, all just "happened". More insight please

So good