Swimming to Cambodia

Jonathan Demme directed this 1987 film capturing late storyteller Spalding Gray's poignant, sardonic, one-man theater piece, Swimming to Cambodia, which was based on Gray's various misadventures during the making of Roland Joffé's Oscar-winning drama The Killing Fields. Gray spent eight weeks in Thailand for his small role in the harrowing movie about atrocities committed in Cambodia by the notorious Khmer Rouge rebels following America's exit in the 1970s. Sitting behind a desk on stage, Gray combines various anecdotes related to the film with a history lesson about Cambodia, reflecting along the way on various aspects of American politics and culture. Demme, who filmed Gray's performance over three consecutive evenings, employs sound effects, blackouts, and visual pauses to add atmosphere and rhythm to the production, creating an effect that is as haunting as it is funny. Gray's subjects veer from auditioning for Joffé to encounters with marijuana, visiting prostitutes, and fighting with his girlfriend. Things take a serious turn when Gray summarizes America's departure from Cambodia, which opened the door to the Khmer Rouge, who brought years of suffering to ordinary people, including mass murder—often at the hands of gun-wielding children. Gray also touches on related topics at home, such as the Kent State shootings and Nixon's presidency. Gray says here that he spends his life seeking the so-called “perfect moment,” and he comes awfully close to that in some of the more exotic experiences he shares. DVD extras include an interview with Demme. Recommended. (T. Keogh)