HANUMAN: YEAR OF THE MONKEY: Looking To Put Cambodia On The Action Cinema Map
Looking to make a name for itself on the international action scene the Cambodian action film Hanuman: Year of the Monkey opens in local cinemas on February 13th. And we would like to share with you the teaser, trailer and demo reel
Directed by an Italian filmmaker, Jimmy Henderson, who has lived in Cambodia for years, he also wrote, shot and edited the film. He was the co-director and cinematographer on the Khmer-language zombie film Run. Henderson co-wrote Hanuman's screenplay with a British ex-pat Michael Hodgson. Henderson describes his film as Cambodia's first ever martial arts/super hero film.
Twelve years after witnessing the murder of his father by the ruthless crime Lord Kim Veng and his gang, Vicheat comes back to Phnom Penh in search of revenge. Vicheat reunites with his brother Srong, who's now a hard working police man and has a wife and daughter. Srong tells Vicheat that he has been following Kim Veng's criminal activities for the all these years and the other criminals involved. Vicheat wearing a Hanuman mask starts his quest taking down Kim Veng gang members one by one. Until one day when Vicheat actions put in jeopardize the safety of his brother family and he's forced to decide between his personal bloodlust or saving his brother life.
The martial art used in Hanuman is one of Cambodia's oldest martial art's called Bokator. Like a lot of the Asian martial arts Bokator's sets followed the study of nature. It literally translates into Pounding A Lion from a legend some 2000 years ago where a man defended his village against a lion armed only with a knife and killed it with a single knee strike. The martial art uses an array of elbow and knee strikes, shin kicks, submissions and ground fighting. It was outlawed during the Pol Pot regime from 1975 to 1979 and during the subsequent occupation by Vietnam. Bokator made its return in the early 90s when a former master who fled to the States from those regimens returned to his homeland and with the government's blessing began teaching it again.
With the history lesson out of the way let's take a look at these trailers and clips. Overall let me say that the foundation and passion is there. I think what still needs building on is trust and confidence on behalf of Henderson's fighters.
Starting with the teaser. They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Once you hear the music comparisons to a certain martial arts epic from Indonesia may draw some guffaws. Even right down to the final shot of two fighters getting ready to square off and cutting before any contact is made.
Look past that and see Henderson's gritty cinematography and visual style. You will see what I mean about trust and confidence in the choreography but if these guys and bring their interactions closer together and go a bit harder I seen no reason why they cannot be real contenders in the Asian martial arts cinema scene. The full trailer gives us a better grasp of the story. There are some action shots in there that work better. You would not know that this film was short in just over two weeks. The demo reel demonstrates capabilities and skills.
All of this shows great promise for action cinema in Cambodia and it's worth keeping on eye on that scene in the years to come. Scroll through the gallery to find a collection of images along with the different videos.
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