It’s not often adult viewers get to witness the intersection of quality animation and affecting political drama as seen in Funan. Directed by Denis Do, this French animated feature brings to life a haunting story of one Cambodian family’s survival attempts during the regime of the Khmer Rouge. It would be suitable for programming an adult animation film series. Funan is also an educational film for history majors.
It’s 1975 in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Chou (Bérénice Bejo), Khuon (Louis Garrel), and their young son Sovanh live peacefully with their close-knit community full of extended family and friends. When the city is seized by the Communist Party of the Khmer Rouge, referred to as the Angkar, Chou and her family are forced out of their home.
The Angkar leads the Cambodian people from Phnom Penh to several different work camps. Along the way, Sovanh becomes separated from his loving parents. They commit to doing everything they can to reunite with him. Their road, however, is fraught with challenges: Mistreatment, insufficient meals, and strained personal relationships only skim the surface of obstacles they must overcome. But after everything, their biggest challenges come down to getting their son back and finding a way to keep on living–and loving–under a nationalistic dictatorship.
Funan explores what it is to be human through both the most intense sorrows and the smallest of triumphs. It complicates black-and-white scenarios, revealing hypocrisies and strains even within the Phnom Penh community itself. And it anchors each small thread of hope with harsh realities–realities that don’t quite reach their full impact if only because of character flaws.
Don’t let the movie’s style confuse you; Funan is meant for mature audiences due to its violence, language, and sexual themes. Though it suffers mildly from the flatness of its characters, Funan’s poignant storyline and display of sheer artistry make it a cinematic victory and a striking imagining of a sordid slice of history. A recommended purchase for animated and historical fiction library programming.