{"id":2451,"date":"2007-03-07T11:32:20","date_gmt":"2007-03-07T18:32:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=2451"},"modified":"2021-01-26T15:45:29","modified_gmt":"2021-01-26T22:45:29","slug":"swimming-to-cambodia-1987","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=2451","title":{"rendered":"Swimming to Cambodia (1987)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;Who needs metaphors for hell or poetry about hell? <em>This <\/em>really happened, here on this earth.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/03\/Swimming-to-Cambodia-Poster.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/03\/Swimming-to-Cambodia-Poster-198x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"198\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-23204\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/03\/Swimming-to-Cambodia-Poster-198x300.jpg 198w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/03\/Swimming-to-Cambodia-Poster-84x128.jpg 84w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/03\/Swimming-to-Cambodia-Poster.jpg 499w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 198px) 100vw, 198px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nSpalding Gray discusses his experiences while filming a small role in <em>The Killing Fields<\/em> (1984).\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Actors and Actresses<\/li>\n<li>Character Studies<\/li>\n<li>Jonathan Demme Films<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Review: <\/strong><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.answers.com\/topic\/spalding-gray\">Spalding Gray<\/a> is one of the best-known monologists of the late 20th century, and Jonathan Demme&#8217;s <em>Swimming to Cambodia<\/em> &#8212; an edited combination of two live performances, accompanied by Laurie Anderson&#8217;s evocative sound effects &#8212; provides a fascinating glimpse at his prowess. In this unusual storytelling event, Gray intersperses humorous vignettes from his experiences filming in Thailand with a concise history of the brutal Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia &#8212; an unexpected, yet surprisingly effective, marriage of ideas. Gray&#8217;s monologue is poignant rather than hilarious; he&#8217;s not a stand-up comedian, but rather an astute commentator on the intersection of personal travails and public tragedies. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Spalding Gray&#8217;s charismatic storytelling presence<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/03\/Swimming-to-Cambodia-Gray2.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/03\/Swimming-to-Cambodia-Gray2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"853\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-66174\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/03\/Swimming-to-Cambodia-Gray2.jpg 853w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/03\/Swimming-to-Cambodia-Gray2-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/03\/Swimming-to-Cambodia-Gray2-128x72.jpg 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/03\/Swimming-to-Cambodia-Gray2-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/03\/Swimming-to-Cambodia-Gray2-480x270.jpg 480w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 853px) 100vw, 853px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Laurie Anderson&#8217;s memorable sound effects<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nYes. All film fanatics should see at least one of the late Spalding Gray&#8217;s filmed monologues, and this is probably his best. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Categories<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Historically Relevant<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/imdb.com\/title\/tt0094089\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1987\/03\/13\/movies\/film-spalding-gray-s-swimming-to-cambodia.html\">NY Times Original Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rogerebert.com\/reviews\/swimming-to-cambodia-1987\">Roger Ebert&#8217;s Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/wp-srv\/style\/longterm\/movies\/videos\/swimmingtocambodianrkempley_a0caac.htm\">Washington Post Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.timeout.com\/film\/75762.html\">Time Out Capsule Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Who needs metaphors for hell or poetry about hell? This really happened, here on this earth.&#8221; Synopsis: Spalding Gray discusses his experiences while filming a small role in The Killing Fields (1984). Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors: Actors and Actresses Character Studies Jonathan Demme Films Review: Spalding Gray is one of the best-known monologists of the late 20th century, and Jonathan Demme&#8217;s Swimming to Cambodia &#8212; an edited combination of two live performances, accompanied by Laurie Anderson&#8217;s evocative sound effects&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=2451\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2451","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2451","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2451"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2451\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":66176,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2451\/revisions\/66176"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2451"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2451"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2451"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}