Original subtitles

I never opened it.

I couldn't.

I owe my life to a man,

Duch,

who executed thousands of others.

My savior is a torturer.

A murderer.

I've no idea if he feels remorse.

I do. For managing to save only myself.

I remember what Duch said

when he freed me.

"Thanks to me,

"your daughter will have a father to see her grow up."

I was 24

when I arrived in Cambodia,

a part of French Indochina

that had recently won its independence.

I was working for EFEO,

the French Oriental Institute,

which supervised the restoration

of the medieval city of Angkor.

Neang! How's your grandmother?

She's very well.

Where have you been?

I was picking herbs. See you, Lay.

I am very proud

to be your best man.

I am your friend also,

always at your side

in my thoughts.

I wish you lots of happiness in your new life as a married woman.

The war was close at hand,

just across the border,

in Vietnam.

We expected it to spare Cambodia.

And then communist rebels,

the Khmer Rouge,

took up arms against the US-backed government.

Grandma!

Helene!

- Okay? - Yes.

You're sure, sweetheart?

Come here...

Lay!

For the purposes of my research,

I made trips to areas conquered by the rebels.

Always without incident.

Lay...

Narang, we have no work for you.

Lok Bizot! Lok Bizot!

You're pretty good.

Can I come with you?

Jump in.

Go on.

We came here simply to consult the archives.

The head monk refuses to see you.

He is very worried.

The rebels already came.

They threatened us.

You must not stay here.

Lok Bizot!

Are they Khmer Rouge?

Should we turn back?

I'm scared!

If you're scared, hide!

Lay!

What are you doing? Let go!

Why are you doing this?

Let me go!

Let us go!

Faster!

Search them well!

You're the leader?

You're a kid! Where's your leader?

Let's go!

Untie him!

The revolutionary court

has convened

to judge the accused for his crimes of espionage

against the people of Kampuchea.

This trial

will be fair,

and the people's justice unflinching.

The court is in session.

I am French.

And we are in Cambodia.

Speak Khmer to me.

Comrade, you speak good Khmer. How did you learn?

I've lived in a local village with my family for 5 years.

Who pays you?

The French Oriental Institute.

I saw you in Saigon.

You work for the Americans.

I don't. I've never been to Saigon.

Shut up! We know who you are.

Now,

execute the spy!

Okay, here.

Lay!

Look after Neang and Helene.

Take aim!

Stop!

- Comrade! - Untie him.

The French spy was tried and convicted.

He must be shot.

No. Traitors have crucial information.

The Revolution needs their complete confessions.

Stop!

Unload the sacks.

Take the Frenchman to the river.

Keep going.

Enough. Stop!

Stay right there or I'll fire!

I don't understand why I was captured.

And I ask you to release

the young Khmer with me.

When did you join the CIA?

I don't work for the CIA.

I am a French researcher.

I went to a monastery...

Why did you go there?

To consult a manuscript.

The Reamker.

A treasure of Khmer culture.

Just the two of you?

There was nobody with you?

The Organization does nothing by chance, comrade Bizot.

You know my name?

We've been watching you.

Now, write your confession.

I have nothing to confess.

If I was watched, you know I'm innocent.

So write a declaration of innocence.

Little brother,

what are you doing?

Carrying out orders.

From Ta Duch.

I'm not "little brother" to you.

Call me Grandfather Miet!

Narang!

Prisoners here, silence!

Where's your bowl?

I don't have one.

Before the Revolution, our children were miserable,

impoverished and forced to beg

Now, ANGKAR is our only family

and watches over us...

It belonged to the woman who died last night.

Don't lose it.

I asked you to write your confession.

Not a colonial fairytale

about your wife and daughter, and life in the village.

I wrote the truth.

You lied yesterday.

You are alone here.

The villagers are with us.

They turned in Narang,

your accomplice.

Yes, accomplice. You don't hide if you have nothing to hide.

He was scared, that's all.

The innocent have no reason to be scared.

Here, you're in my hands,

and mine alone.

I want the names of your paymasters and the intelligence you gather.

You'll tell me in the end.

I've no more to write!

If you want my confession, write it.

Changed your mind?

You're ready to write?

Then you release

and cock it.

Afterwards,

remove the breech.

Grandfather Miet!

What?

The river.

It's time for the river.

No!

Those are my orders.

I'm the wife of the convicted Frenchman!

I want to know if he's alive.

Daughters!

Don't go shouting like that. It's dangerous.

Uncle,

you know where my husband and his friends are?

Yes, I deliver rice there.

Your husband is well.

And the others?

They are well, also.

Is it far? Can you take me?

No, daughter, it's too risky.

Uncle, I have this for you.

No, I cannot accept.

It's very dangerous.

You must go back home.

You didn't see daddy?

Soum!

Sit down.

I know you were arrested by mistake.

Don't worry.

We are all Khmer.

We don't need the French.

Tell me about the French spy

and I will release you.

Well?

He is not a spy.

Don't tell lies.

It proves you are a spy.

Lok Bizot does research on Buddhism and its traditions.

And Khmer civilization.

You have no more to say?

No, no more.

You drew all these?

Yes.

You know the risks if you're lying?

Yes.

You used to draw ruins.

Now you will draw for the Revolution.

You must make great efforts.

Is that clear?

Yes.

Comrade brother, I'm not a soldier.

- I am a farmer. - Silence!

Why were you caught with them?

They're from my village.

They were hungry.

You feed enemy soldiers?

We worked together in the fields.

They're like brothers to me.

The brother who fights with fascist lackeys

is a traitor!

The government forced them to enlist.

Please, I beg of you.

You, take her away!

What's your girl's name?

Savannah.

Get moving!

I wanted to give her my scarf.

It's not too far, don't worry.

Go and give it

to the little girl.

I'm not allowed to.

She's alone, she needs food.

Comrades,

we are meeting here today

to examine

each other's failings.

I forgot to set up the washing line.

At the moment, I sing without ardor.

That's good, Ly.

ANGKAR congratulates you

on your honesty.

Let's help our comrades...

who have not confessed their failings.

Who will speak first?

The other day,

Sophan took milk to Savannah without permission.

- The Frenchman asked me to. - You obey the French spy?

I shouldn't have done it.

It's a serious error.

We shall decide

what punishment you deserve.

I have a letter for you.

Duch granted me a favor.

A single favor.

The right to go to the river.

He carefully organized my isolation.

He ignored me for days on end.

I knew my life depended on him.

I began writing again.

He was the man I must convince.

The best idea is to evacuate with no exceptions.

That's him.

Make sure it's in orderly fashion.

Consul Marsac, two young women asked to see you.

We are very worried.

We've had no news for two months.

Miss Phuong here

is engaged to Mr. Lay,

my husband's assistant.

Ma'am, we understand your concern.

Mr. Bizot is an eminent French citizen

and we're doing everything in our power...

Consul,

the men in the village know

where they are being held.

Ma'am, France is a neutral country.

We're not the army of the government of Cambodia.

I came from Phnom Penh to evacuate French families.

You must come with us.

I can't leave here.

I must wait for my husband.

Of course. It could be a long wait.

Orders from Ta Duch.

Leave us.

I read your notebook.

Comparing Buddhism with the Revolution...

You are mistaken.

You and the monks have much in common.

Organization,

hierarchy and even the uniform.

Do you know why we wear black clothes?

If we lie on the ground,

from the sky, we look like burned logs

and the enemy's bombers cannot see us.

Nothing to do with Buddhism.

Your teaching sessions are like lessons in Buddhist discipline.

Renouncing material and family ties to serve the Revolution,

observing moral commandments, named Sila, just like Buddhist...

That's absurd.

Buddhism dulls the peasants' minds.

And we want to free them.

We won't build on the backs of the people

but alongside them

and for them.

"Neang,

"I stay alive to be reunited with Helene and you."

You truly expected the villager to betray us?

You know the punishment for your transgression?

The same as for Savannah's father?

It's not up to me.

Where is Savannah's father?

Transferred to another camp.

Is that the truth?

What will you tell my wife and daughter you did to me?

That it was procedure?

You're late. We were about to start.

Why do you protect the Frenchman?

I don't protect him.

I don't believe that he is a spy.

Can you prove it?

I cannot prove it.

I interrogated him.

We also interrogated his assistants.

I think he's telling the truth.

The Frenchman's biography is that of a spy!

He must be executed.

Ta Mok is right.

You have the experience and wisdom

to reach the correct decision.

But...

I have heard

that France is a friend of our Revolution.

If so, isn't it dangerous

to execute a French citizen?

Duch, you are not a central committee member.

Go back to the camp.

We shall deliberate later.

We'll inform you of our decision.

Miet,

bring the Frenchman here.

Sit!

Work!

We have to get out.

We're almost always shackled.

If I escape, I'll come for you.

They control the whole area. Nobody escapes.

Silence! Take him away!

It was me talking!

Take him.

Sophan, untie him.

It wasn't Narang...

Take him over there.

Take off your shirt.

You know what we do to spies?

Hurry!

What was the Frenchman saying?

I've no idea.

I hardly know him.

Duch...

Mit Duch!!

Where is Narang?

Tell me! Where's Narang?

I went to see Narang.

They messed him up.

They put him in the sick hut.

What did you do to him?

I applied the procedure.

He confessed.

Tell me what he said. I'll say the same. Save us all time.

I must be sure of the truth.

The truth is, he was drawing Baphuon temple.

I'd never seen him before and he asked to come with us.

Can you prove it?

Ask Lay. Ask anybody in the villages.

I must obtain a confession.

Even if it's only 30% true, that could save the Revolution.

What if it's 20% true?

Or 0%?

Or if he only talks to stop the pain?

Traitors are everywhere.

We must defend ourselves.

I know what you think.

I do not act out of cruelty.

I just do what I must.

Remember The Death of the Wolf by Vigny?

To groan, to cry, to pray is equally cowardly

Perform your long, heavy task with energy

Walk along the way chosen for you by fate

And then, like me,

suffer and die without complaint

Do what you must with me.

Your long and heavy task.

But do it quickly.

It's not too far, don't worry.

Ta Miet!

Take me to the river.

It's time for the river.

Ta Duch's orders!

You disobey Ta Duch?

Look, there are spiders.

I never found any here.

I'm going to roast it.

He's gone!

Come on...

Go to the river!

You two, toward the temple.

Stop!

You have endangered the Revolution.

In the hut!

We must find him!

Come on!

That way!

Move, spy!

Take a good look!

All of you!

Here is the Frenchman who escaped.

Take him away!

It's okay.

Don't worry.

Soum...

After an escape,

the rule is immediate execution.

The rule is that, first,

I must report your mistake.

But we must

have faith in ANGKAR.

What if our brothers want to question him?

What will we do?

We can't kill him.

We must await our brothers' decision.

Comrade Bizot...

Time to go.

Duch, sit down.

Comrade,

the Organization wanted to see you

to give you its irrevocable conclusions.

You have been unmasked!

Your espionage activities

have been proven.

What do you have to say?

I'm not a spy.

I am not a spy!

Duch,

what did you tell them?

You believed me?

Comrade Duch was right.

You're not like other French colonialists.

We regret the discomfort you have endured

while you were our guest,

but Kampuchea is at war against the imperialist oppressor.

It cannot show the slightest weakness.

Today,

we say to you,

you are free.

Return home, comrade Frenchman.

To all grandfathers here, thank you.

Two innocent young men are still in the camp.

One of them is very sick.

I cannot accept the freedom you offer

unless they are also freed.

You are French

and they are Khmer.

Their place is alongside us, building the Revolution.

I cannot leave without them.

How could I face their mothers,

their sisters,

the fiancee awaiting her husband?

It is selfless to think of their families.

They will be reunited later.

But if you refuse to leave,

when will you see your wife and daughter?

These confidential documents are for your embassy.

Can you take on such a mission?

It's too dangerous for us.

You're going.

Take care of yourself, Lok Bizot.

They've freed me. They'll free you too.

Narang...

Go, comrade.

Grandmother...

Where are Neang and Helene?

The government soldiers

forced them to leave.

And you?

I went into hiding.

I stayed.

The Khmer Rouge had made territorial gains

in my 4 months of detention.

They controlled almost one third of Cambodia.

People fled the fighting and headed south,

for the capital.

Lay is alive.

He'll be back.

"Political Manifesto

"of the National United Front of Kampuchea."

You carried this halfway across the country?

You know the risks involved?

If government forces found this in your possession...

The Khmer Rouge spared my life.

They asked me to do it.

I agreed.

To be their messenger?

You think they brainwashed me?

We recommend your return to France.

The Institute likewise.

After your ordeal, you need rest.

I'm staying.

I'll continue my work here, saving texts in monasteries,

before they are pillaged or bombed.

You plan to go back upcountry?

And get arrested again?

Meantime, translate this,

so I can send it to Paris.

"In the old regime,

"that of the colonies,

"one group exploited other groups."

Their whole program was laid out.

Evacuation of the cities.

Reeducation in the countryside.

A better and reduced population.

I sent our translation to the French authorities.

And heard nothing back.

Every day, I thought of Lay and Narang.

I waited for them.

I kept hoping.

Phuong waited, also.

It took the Khmer Rouge 4 years to conquer the country.

Phnom Penh fell on April 17, 1975.

In 3 days, they emptied a city of 2 million people.

Those who stayed despite the war,

expatriates,

journalists,

Cambodians wanted by the Khmer Rouge...

They all took refuge at the French embassy.

You're still here?

I'll take you to the embassy.

We've nothing to fear.

We fought for this Revolution.

Look, that's enough.

To hell with it!

You don't know her?

Mrs. Fradin and her husband.

University lecturers

and hardline Maoists.

The idiots won't come to the embassy

in case they miss the party.

Move!

Faster!

You have to leave.

They must respect international law and the right to asylum!

Insist on it, don't hand over defenseless people.

We handed over no one!

We explained the situation to all Cambodian refugees.

They decided to go.

As for international law, the Khmer Rouge was prepared

to attack our embassy!

I'm responsible for the safety of 800 people,

every foreigner in Phnom Penh.

My sole concern is to negotiate

our repatriation with the Khmer Rouge.

An hour ago, I spoke to President Giscard d'Estaing.

He informed me planes were standing by to evacuate us

as soon as the Cambodians permit it.

Mr. Bizot, there's one asking for you.

One what?

One of them, waiting outside the gates.

You didn't go home?

I told you I'd stay.

So, comrade Frenchman,

you still have doubts about our Revolution?

Starting with destruction and exodus...

Yes, I have doubts.

A child of the French Revolution speaks in such sentimental terms?

You know the prediction in a Theravada book?

Of dark years when vandals take power and empty cities?

They are described as crow-men.

I never accord any credence to superstition.

Nobody can predict the future.

It's up to us to build it.

There are no traitors left?

I'm not responsible for those taking refuge here.

Maybe they didn't hear the call of your glorious adventure.

As sarcastic as ever, comrade Bizot.

Answer my question.

You'd enter the embassy?

Violate French territory?

It's not French territory!

It is Kampuchean soil.

My superiors instructed me to organize your departure.

It must take place without problems.

I'm relying on you.

Mit Duch.

Tell me what happened to Lay and Narang.

Your assistants...

are serving the Revolution now.

Mit Duch,

I ask you to tell me the truth.

It is the truth.

I'll inform you of my decision concerning your evacuation.

See you tomorrow, comrade Bizot.

- What are you doing? - Waiting for you.

Come on.

I'll take her up.

He assured me Lay and Narang are alive.

You believe him?

I don't know.

No.

In her heart, Phuong knows Lay is dead.

But she keeps waiting.

If you hadn't come back,

I, too, would keep waiting for you.

The royal government of national union of Kampuchea

has decided to transport all foreigners

to the town of Poi Pet,

on the border with Thailand,

by the main highway.

By road?

The French government

has planes awaiting permission...

You are in no position to refuse now.

The trucks will be here at 6 a.m.

We will check all passports and lists of foreigners.

If any Cambodian nationals remain in your embassy,

your duty is to hand them over.

Your family's papers are in order?

You know, there can be no exception.

I know. Procedure.

I am married too, now.

My wife's expecting.

You're on the list.

There won't be any problem.

Next, please!

Rene...

The Bizots were married by the Consul,

but due to some inexplicable error,

it's not in the register.

French bureaucracy for you!

Your name?

Bizot Choeung Neang.

You have a photo of your wife?

There you go.

We also need papers for Phuong.

No, I'm sorry.

This isn't a fake passport ring.

You're out of your mind!

Francois! Neang!

A quick smile.

Leave it open.

Why are you doing this?

France is on a break, not shutting up shop.

As my grandmother would say,

"All style, no substance."

Long live the Revolution!

Take them inside there!

Thank you.

Miss Barrere.

Yann Defont.

Baptiste Chenau.

Anton Lone.

We're not inaugurating a war memorial.

Faster!

Call the names faster!

Better.

Let's go.

Thieving bastard!

Shame on you!

Gentlemen...

Comrades...

Open them wide.

Thanks.

Come on, dig!

Faster!

Look!

Look at them!

They're gonna massacre us.

Their commander came here specially.

Shut up!

They'll shoot us in our sleep!

You! Shut up!

- Don't tell me to shut up! - Shut up.

Tomorrow, we'll be at the border, so let's keep calm.

If they wanted us dead, we'd be dead.

He's on their side! A revolutionary!

We gotta get away!

That's enough.

Let's go for a walk.

Watch out, another checkpoint.

Don't worry.

I'll take a look on the other side.

Chauvel.

Press!

Camera.

Press!

You!

What's the matter, comrade?

You have family in France?

Miss?

We are her family.

She's French,

so she can answer me.

My young cousin is very shy.

Shut up!

French national?

You're Khmer!

You stay with the Revolution.

She's my wife.

With a fake French passport!

Take us to comrade Duch.

There is no comrade Duch here.

Take the women away!

Hurry up! Move!

Wait!

Come with me.

- I'll stay too. - No, take her. Save her.

Tell Helene I'll take Phuong to our village and join you soon.

Marsac!

Chauvel!

Over here!

This way! Closer!

Snap away!

Let's go! Run!

Don't shoot! Catch them!

Neang!

You have no right!

Save her!

Let them through!

Helene, come here.

Look after her.

She's my wife!

My wife, you bastards!

I'm sorry, Bizot.

I'm so sorry.

You know the rest, Helene.

Finding Neang 4 years later in a refugee camp,

after the Vietnamese invaded Cambodia

and overthrew the Khmer Rouge...

And Duch?

Fled to the mountains with the guerrillas.

I didn't know then the role he played in those years.

I soon found out

when I visited Tuol Sleng,

a school the Khmer Rouge turned into a prison

and renamed

S21.

The Cambodians chose to make it a memorial.

Duch ran S21 for the 4 years

the Khmer Rouge was in power.

Interrogation,

torture,

execution...

I could do nothing...

except save my skin.

I decided to leave Cambodia.

That was 15 years ago.

Last Christmas,

Marsac turned up on my doorstep.

They'd no idea where you were,

so they got in touch with me.

They're sure it's him?

I heard he was dead.

They have no doubt.

Remember, they were with us to the very end,

both Chauvel and Mackenzie.

How did they track him down?

It had become an obsession for Chauvel.

He always carried a photo of Duch.

The one at S21.

Where did they find him?

In a humanitarian mission run by evangelicals.

Duch taught the children religion.

He has converted to Christianity.

Did he try to escape?

Or put up a fight?

May I?

No, apparently, he offered no resistance.

He had

one single request.

Which was?

Duch simply said,

"'I only talk to my friend, the Frenchman."

Will you go?

I chose to come back here, to Phnom Penh,

and see Duch again.

If not for him, I wouldn't have seen you grow up.

What are the charges against him?

The illegal detention, torture, and execution of 12,780 people.

All those whose files were in the archives of S21.

You knew him as a young revolutionary idealist.

A young revolutionary idealist

who already resorted to execution.

The Lord wished for us to meet again.

How is your daughter?

She's well.

She lives here.

In Phnom Penh.

Is she married?

Children?

And her mother?

She made it through the war.

She survived.

Thanks be to God!

I could do nothing for her that day.

We're separated, but she is still my wife.

She came back here.

Back to her village.

And the peasant girl?

I remember everything relating to you.

Phuong looked after Helene,

throughout the war.

She raised her with me.

I have a daughter, too.

She was repudiated by her husband

when I was arrested.

She never wants to see me again.

That's the way it is.

It's the time of reprisals for me.

For years, I thought you were dead.

I hoped so.

To be able to forget you.

But you're here.

You came to see me.

Why did you save me?

My orders were to eliminate traitors.

You were neither a traitor, nor my enemy.

I believed in your innocence.

Lay and Narang were innocent too. Why not spare them?

If you believed in my innocence, why didn't you believe me?

Did you give the order?

That was Ta Mok.

He transferred them to another camp.

Where they were executed.

I feel very guilty toward you and their families.

I ask forgiveness.

I'd like to be alone with the prisoner.

And the others?

All the others,

thousands of others,

why execute them?

We had proof against them. They all confessed.

Under the pain of torture, like Narang.

I remember us having a similar discussion, you and me.

We couldn't agree then.

The first condition

for a successful revolution

is obedience.

I respected my superiors' orders.

I obeyed with discipline.

Like the pilots who dropped bombs on our villages.

In turn, my subordinates

respected my orders.

And the Theravada prediction was fulfilled.

The Cambodians lost everything,

their families, property, children...

Even their lives!

Your dreams of a utopian communist society

gave way to rottenness, famine

and executions.

You know these lines?

"Father, have you ever killed a man?"

"Yes, my son."

"And what did you feel?"

"He was an enemy.

"I felt nothing."

You were lucky.

You missed the wars your country waged last century.

Some people refuse to go to war.

And become traitors.

I am to be judged

by a court,

but it is your judgment I want to know.

You are the only person I trusted.

Still today,

I believe what you say.

I want to know what you think.

What would be fair punishment for me?

Punishment equal to the victims' suffering.

You're going to testify?

I don't know.

I refused the defense's request.

The court will decide.

You must do it, dad.

That's the way it is.

At his second trial, Duch was sentenced to life in prison.

Summoned by the court,

Francois Bizot dedicated his testimony

to Ung Hok Lay and Kang Son (Narang).

Subtitles: Simon John

Subtitling: Eclair Group