This Week at Cinẻ Lux
An Indonesian ghost story?
Cinẻ Lux is the only surviving old cinema in Phnom Penh. There is also Soriya shopping mall that has a cinema, but the Lux is truely unique. While there used to be a handful historic cinemas in the capital of Cambodia, all of them are closed now, expect for the Lux, a splendid Art Deco building from the late 1930s, that keeps showing films, occasionally even in 35 mm.
Most of them are from Thailand, sometimes from Korea, with the occasional local production thrown in. Most of the movies are horror films, the favorite genre of young Khmer movie goers. All the posters, banners etc are in Khmer, so it is often impossible to find out what the movie of the week is if you do not read the language. I am always mystified by the posters, and encourage readers to give me hints on what is on this week at the Cinẻ Lux.
This weeks presentation is a horror film that is as scary as a ride through the hunted house at the Carnival. Somehwhat remindful of Blair Witch Project, a group of youngsters tries to make a documentary about an abandoned village, which leads to the ghosts from the village to kill them off one after the otther. The film is so generic, that it is almost impossible to figure out where it is from. Judging from the names of the actors, it might be – Indonesian?
