dani since 19…

I am so glad I took a two hour break between all my hectic lines of work today to watch this film. Slumdog Millionaire is such a emotionally powerful and entertaining film, that it is without doubt one of the best offerings of cinema 2008, and in short a film that everyone should see.

The story follows Jamal Malik, an Indian teenager who grew up in the slums of Mumbai, and the adult fairy-tale of his spectacular run in the Hindi version of the game show Who Wants to be a Millionaire?. The narrative is devilishly clever in its construct – the answer to every quiz question that Jamal faces on the show lies in a part of Jamal’s turbulent childhood, recounted through vivid flashbacks. While the opening 15 minutes may appear somewhat confusing, as the film sets up its premise, once the plot is fully running it never takes a moment’s breath. It’s a truly exhilarating ride.

At its core, Slumdog Millionaire is a beautiful story of romance against all odds. The audience will soon realize that Jamal’s appearance on the game show is simply a natural continuation of his life-long search for his true love, Latika, whom he befriended as a child. Unfortunately, Jamal, who grew up with his older brother Salim, life has been extremely hard as the brothers are forced to resolve to every kind of begging and stealing imaginable to stay alive, while trying to steer clear of the unscrupulous characters from the sinister underworld of modern Mumbai. As a result, throughout his adolescence Jamal and Latika have re-united on multiple occasions, only to be separated by the tides of society. If this sounds Dickensian, that is because there are certainly a lot of similarities that can be drawn from the rapid social changes occurring both in Victorian times and modern day India. The film does an excellent job portraying the dizzying speed at which India is transforming, and how the India from The World is Flat is truly clashing with its millennia-old traditions.

The film’s greatest achievement is certainly its richness of emotions. At times dramatically tense, romantic, hilarious and somberly sad, this underdog tale is so persuasive that Jamal’s fate is irreversibly intertwined with the audience’s emotions, and the ensuing result is that rare moment of true movie magic – the audience and the protagonist becomes one, and the audience live and breathe the protagonist’s feelings. Jamal’s ups and downs translate into moments from our own lives, invoking our own deepest emotions, and we can’t help but root for him, in the same sense that we all hope that our lives can take a turn for the better. It is in a sense classic Hollywood storytelling with the Frank Capra touch – Jamal is very much like James Stewart’s George Bailey from It’s a Wonderful Life, in the same way that audiences can easily identify with two protagonists and personify their experiences.

Serious moviegoers may find fault with the film’s climactic finale, since one major plot development can clearly be labeled cheesy and a cop-out. However, cheesiness in Slumdog Millionaire is akin to that of Forrest Gump – with a film so pleasantly uplifting and mesmerizingly absorbing, why should we criticize a fairy-tale for deviating from reality?

9/10

Obviously six days aren’t enough to experience any country. In terms of sightseeing, we didn’t visit the south coast - which seems to be winning acclaim as a beach hotspot, or any of the sights related to Cambodia’s bloody and turbulent recent history.

That said, there are definitely some very deep impressions formed. The first would be how desperately poor the country was. Beggars living off the streets, and the in-your-face sex trade. There are dozens of “hostess bars” in Phnom Penh. Cambodia sex workers have the highest HIV rate in Southeast Asia, at a staggering 34% if I’m not mistaken, making this a huge socio-economic issue.

Secondly, the horrors of Khmer Rouge, the Vietnamese occupation, and other turmoils of the recent century are a clear point of national pain, which the Cambodian people are only beginning to recover. “Pol Pot”, “S-21″, “the killing fields”, “Year Zero” are some of the keywords that we’ve repeatedly encountered in the past week, and many tourist spots offer repeat showings of films on the subject as well as dozens of books. While there is definitely an element of playing to the tourists’ psyche, this constant exposure does highlight the local mentality. In a culture where Hinduism and Buddhism have played a prominent role, it is indeed astonishing that such atrocities occurred under the brief authoritarian role of the Khmer Rouge.

Perhaps what is of special relevance to us Chinese is how the Khmer Rouge was related to our regime, and whether there are any similarities in the two countries’ history. The common belief held seems to be that Pol Pot was heavily influenced by Mao’s Cultural Revolution, and at a first glance the radical policies he adopted shares a spiritual resemblance to the crazy 10 years our nation endured. This again demonstrates how dangerous autocratic regimes are - which is especially important for us to remember now in this moment of prosperity. We must never forget the need to continue to push for true democracy - whatever the form it may adopt in China.

A third point is regarding NGOs. There seems to be an abundance of NGOs in Cambodia, with genuine and profound impact on society. This is encouraging and there should be a few worthwhile lessons for us.

A good part of the morning was spent in agonizing cold on the Angkor Express back to Phnom Penh - the a/c was ridiculously low. Thankfully the driver responded to feedback.

It was already 2pm when we checked in. After a quick but expensive lunch at the hotel restaurant (it was French, which was it’s justification for the outlandish prices), we quickly walked to visit the National Museum and the Royal Palace. The museum was small, giving testimony to the deprived state of the proud Khmer heritage in Cambodia. The royal palace was certainly lavish, though that wasn’t too surprising.

We wanted to check out the Central Market, the Art Deco building which dates back to the 1930s, but the market was already closed. Disappointed, we headed back to the riverfront area and strolled around checking out various boutique stores. Dinner was grand - we flocked to Lemongrass, a highly rexommended Thai/Khmer restaurant with affordable prices. The highlight of the tour in terms of meals.

I did a traditional Khmer massage in the evening. It was very unique - a lot of bending and stretching, and I was afraid of my back breaking at one point. An interesting experience to end the trip.

A long trip to Beng Melea, a temple claimed to be the prototype of Angkor Wat though now almost completely in ruins. A guard volunteered to be our guide, leading us through an adventurous climb through the ruins. Tree-roots penetrated the walls and became entangled with the rocks.

Besides Bayon, this is probably my favorite temple of the tour, even more so than Angkor Wat - that was too famous, impersonal; Beng Melea, with it’s crumbling walls and discreet location hidden in a sea of trees, was the perfect place to get away from the crowds and the rancor of civilization. It was a place to seek intimacy with heavenly nature, and to reflect upon time passed and civilization lost.

At Roluos, our last site of temples on our itinerary, there was little new, besides an encounter with a little girl. She was barefooted, shyly walking on one of the towers of Bakong. I was taking random photos when she approached me. She swiftly slipped a ring of green on the index finger of my right hand, and attached a small flower to the ring.

“One thousand riels,” she demanded, while pointing to her bare feet and murmuring how hot it was to walk on stone in the middle of the day.

Not a large sum; only a quarter in dollars. Somehow I was touched with empathy, and having no quarters with me, I gave her a dollar. Hopefully that will give her a good meal.

We finally got a chance to ride the tuk tuk, a small carriage mounted to a motorcycle. We rode out to see the sunset at Angkor on the sightseeing air balloon. It was a magnificent sight, witnessing the entire structure of Angkor Wat gradually unfolding as we rose higher.

Last meal in Siem Reap. We had Vietnamese hot pot at the Soup Dragon, another local favorite. We had so much that we spent a couple of hours walking around the Old Market area. Did some souvenir shopping at a shop which emphasized how it was supporting local workers, which obviously made shoppers feel better about spending money. Then ice cream at Sweeson’s, a US chain - globalization indeed.

After a good, good rest, we were temple-touring again. The morning was devoted to a good bit of walking in the rain-forest, as we did some climbing to see the river of a thousand lingas. To be honest, the lingas here are not a major attraction, while the forest itself was enchanting. At one point in the climb we came to an clearing where the entire valley was exposed and the beauty of the lush tropical forest fully unraveled before our eyes.

Lunch was at the Khmer Kitchen Restaurant, quite a tourist favorite. I couldn’t fully perceive the difference between Thai and Khmer curries, thoguh that certainly didn’t affect my satisfaction with the food. The price was modest too, with most dishes around $3.

In the afternoon we finished the Big Circuit of temples (as opposed to the Small Circuit which we saw yesterday). We headed back to Angkor Wat to capture the sights at sunset. Lots and lots of photos.

The night was spent in leisure. Dinner at the Blue Pumpkin; a massage session at a premium spa; a few drinks at Temple Club, one of the hottest bars in town. The bar was loud but relaxing, with a few pool-tables entertaining crowds. Cocktails were $4, and “buy 1 get 1 free” - certainly all too easy to get drunk at such low price.

Got up at 4:30am to witness the sunrise at Angkor Wat. Travelled in darkness along the old streets of Siem Reap, the city was tranquil after the hard late night partying in the downtown bars full of hip westerners and locals.

The road surrounding the moat around Angkor Wat was lit up by the steady stream of traffic carrying eager tourists to the sacred place. The flickers appeared mythical.

We crossed the pathway across the moat supported by our flashlights. We were not alone; up ahead many other flashlights could be observed, and we were like children trespassing into an ancient garden previously forbidden to us. There were little thrills of excitment or screams of surprise (when stumbling along the uneven path).

We gradually approached the pool famous as an observation spot for the sunrise. A few hundred tourists scattered along the pool, cameras in hand anticipating. The sun was to rise behind the temple, and already the silhouette of the temple was composing a beautiful scene. After duly spending enough storage space on this scene over the course of an hour, we proceeded into the structure.

The main temple was under badly needed renovation, and the entire central part was therefore closed to visitors. Nonetheless, we witnessed the beautiful bas-relief, most of which depicted legendary battles.

After Angkor Wat came Bayon. This proved to be an even more popular spot, at least in terms of photo-taking, since the many faces demanded equal treatment. This is certainly one of the most famous images of Cambodia, prevalent everywhere from t-shirts to post cards and books.

We completed the morning tour by visiting the remaining sights of Angkor Thom. The consistent feeling I had throughout was that this used to be a place of incredible splendor, but much of that has been irreversibly lost as time moved on. Cambodia’s gorden age was almost a millenium ago; the weight of that duration as well as the turbulent times have crushed these formerly glorious temples and changed them beyond recognition.

Nothing is more evident of this fact than Ta Prohm, our highlight of the afternoon. This temple was prominently featured in the film Tomb Raider, a fact which every guide-book eagerly points out. Here nature has reclaimed what man had formerly conquered, and sprawling roots and branches of towering trees pierce through the rocks of the temple. It posed a magnificent scenery of man and nature intertwined in the literal sense.

After a day of temples, we all craved for the comforts of civilization. Dinner was at the Blue Pumpkin, a local joint famous for it’s bakery and ice-cream. After due indulgence we headed into the night market, where besides other things everyone bought a Tintin in Cambodia t-shirt, this forming our team.