The
stakes are high, but the proceedings of the Khmer Rouge Tribunal are often
tediously dry. To some extent, the legalistic tone is necessary, but it often
plays into the hands of the Communist Khmer Rouge defendants, who wish to keep
the truth bottled up. Remarkably, Hong Siu Pheng came back for more. He watched
the prosecution of his father, Kaing Guek Eav, a.k.a. “Comrade Duch,” from the
protected chambers provided for family members, but he will return to witness
the trial of Nuon Chea and three other high ranking war criminals with
survivors of the genocide. It will be a difficult experience, but it
precipitates small, highly personal steps towards reconciliation in Michael Siv’s
Daze of Justice (trailer here), which screens
during the 2016 Asian American International Film Festival in New York.
In
hopes that the truth will finally come out, Cal State Long Beach Professor
Leakhena Nou recruited several aging survivors of the Khmer Rouge genocide to
confront the accused in court. Siv, the son of a survivor, will document their
journey as an observer. However, the story takes an unexpected turn when Hong
Siu Pheng agrees the accompany them during the trial.
He clearly lives a
hardscrabble life with his family in the provinces, so the survivors cannot
accuse him of benefiting from his father’s connections. Frustratingly, he
apparently learned little from his father’s tribunal, judging from the bland,
relativistic platitudes he repeats. However, he quickly changes his tune when
he finally visits the notorious Tuol Sleng prison, where his father oversaw the
constant torture and executions, as well as the Choeng Ek Killing Fields
memorial. It is like he literally deflates on screen.
Although
they are obviously wary around each other, the survivors direct little overt
hostility towards the mass murderer’s son and vice versa. Belatedly, Hong Siu
Pheng seems to finally face up to his uncomfortable family history, which also
happens to be deeply troubling national history. For the good Professor, he
clearly represents the nation in microcosm. Unfortunately, it just isn’t
practical to take every deliberately misinformed citizen on a similar
excursion, but that is presumably why Siv and his cameras were welcomed into
such private moments.
Hong
Siu Pheng is indeed a deeply compelling figure, who carries the stigma of his
father’s crimes, but holds none of the culpability. The doc obliquely questions
just how much the Tribunal’s heart is in these prosecutions, without sounding paranoid
and conspiratorial. Daze is
sympathetic towards all innocent parties (broadly defined), while capturing the
hushed eeriness that now hangs over Tuol Sleng and Choeng Ek. It is a highly
personal film, but it also holds wider national significance for Cambodia. Respectfully
recommended, the sixty-nine-minute Daze
of Justice screens this Sunday (7/24) at the Village East, as part of this
year’s AAIFF.