Sbek Gong (Kon Nhug Nhiew in Thai) is a Cambodian film that has claimed the unprecedented feat of becoming the top-grossing film of all time in the Cambodian box office, with revenues of US$300,000 (9.7 million baht). It is showing in selected theatres in Bangkok this week.
A scene from the Khmer film Sbek Gong.
The supernatural comedy also had a very high budget — $680,000 — and though it may sound tiny compared to films in larger film industries, it is a considerable amount in Cambodia, where the film was released on Aug 14 and quickly became a nationwide phenomenon.
Sbek Gong follows group of men who train with a witchcraft master. The two protagonists, Sakda and Nupol, survive the intensity of the training, only to fall in love with the master's beautiful daughter, Van. When Van chooses Sakda and the pair start their lives together, Nupol becomes enraged and tries to kidnap her. Attempting to escape, the couple jumps off a waterfall and both die. Meanwhile, Nupol is killed by lightning. The three are reincarnated with memories from their previous lives, making them bound to meet again.
The film's director, Pol Vibo, was in Bangkok earlier this week to promote the film. Pol Vibo was a famous writer of comedy books before being offered the position of general manager for a television channel. Having collected experience in showbiz, he decided to make a film at his own expense, despite having no background in film direction.
"I thought that since my fans loved my jokes in my writing, they will love them even better if they are shown on-screen," Pol said. "Shooting a movie is not very difficult when you have a team of experts such as a cameraman and a director of photography, you just direct whatever is written."
Sbek Gong's popularity seems to have prompted a resurgence of interest among locals, who want see more of Khmer films. A spate of commercial films are now under way, as other filmmakers sense that the country's industry is really recovering for the first time after a long period of gloom.
"I am starting to wake everyone up," Pol said. "With this movie, I say let's start something good so that we can make money in our home and start promoting our country to the world."
Despite its success, Sbek Gong has made back just over half of its budget. Pol, however, said he will still be happy if his film does not make a profit — or break even.
"In my country, everyone is excited, saying our movie is going back to before the Khmer Rouge regime," Pol said. "We have proven to my nation that we have done it. And I say to myself, I have succeeded."
The Khmer film industry had its heyday during the 1960s, a period known as the golden age, when many films were made and received international attention, the most popular among them being Puoh Keng Kong, which revolves around a Cambodian myth about a girl with snakes for hair. The film was successful throughout Southeast Asia, especially in Thailand.
But after the Khmer Rouge arrived, the Cambodian entertainment industry was wiped out. The consequence of the ruthless regime left the country with trauma, resulting in inactivity. As the international film industry enjoyed a place in the fast lane towards the beginning of the 21st century, the Khmer film industry instead was sluggish and unresponsive to new cinematic technology. As a result, Cambodian theatres were overtaken by foreign films and the world's memory of Khmer cinema began to fade away.
Over the past decade, if lucky, the Cambodian film industry would make up to 10 films a year. But with the popularity of Sbek Gong, perhaps a renaissance is on the way.
The film is dubbed in Thai, but also shown with English subtitles.
