The concept of the “sins of the parents troubling their children” has been one that has been repeatedly explored in cinema. Robin Dudfield places a such a story in Pnom Penh, implementing a genre approach.
“Bamnol-The Debt” review is part of the Submit Your Film Initiative
After an impressive, action-oriented intro, the story takes a step back, presenting the protagonist, Sothy, a very beautiful young woman who is studying at the univeristy, riding her bike as she returns home. What she witnesses upon her return is her father getting some money from a loan shark, a decision that has left him quite happy. A bit later, however, it is revealed that he has spent the sum to indulge his drinking habit, eventually forcing Sothy to search for work to pay his debt. Her grandmother, who lives with them, tries too make her son care for the situation he has brought them all in, but he seems hopeless. Even worse, he collapses and has to be taken to the hospital, adding even more debt to what they already owe. Sothy realizes there is only one way to make money, but the deadend never seems to stop coming closer.
Robin Dudfield directs a short that highlights the initial accusation towards the previous generation in the most pointed fashion, as Sothy's mother is nowhere to be seen and her father is an alcoholic that is more a problem than any kind of help. Through this concept, the filmmakers also makes another comment regarding the ways women are led to prostitution in an environment such as the Cambodian one, where getting money from foreigners seems to be the only way out for poor girls such the protagonist.
The overall approach to the narrative is quite interesting, since Dudfield manages to include elements of action, social drama and melodrama, in an amalgam that is quite entertaining, and retains the interest of the viewer from beginning to end of the already economical 12 minutes of the short. Adam Pray's editing, which induces the movie with a relative fast pace, adds to this prowess even more.
The second attraction here is the electrifying Erica Tan as Sothy, whose beauty fills the screen every time she appears on it, either as an innocent girl, a prostitute or a woman filled with despair. Adam Pray, who is also the DP, has made his best to capture her appeal as much as possible, from every angle, in an element that definitely benefits the film. Lastly, the quite different visual approach to the ending adds another appealing aspect here.
“Bamnol” is a very intriguing genre short, which manages to make its comments while remaining entertaining from beginning to end.
