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FitnessProsBooks.com - Swimming To Cambodia
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Audience Rating: Unrated
Binding: DVD
EAN: 0624262124252
Feature: Swimming To Cambodia
Format: Color
Number Of Items: 1
Publication Date: 1987
Region Code: 1
Running Time: 85
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Features
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Swimming To Cambodia
The Killing Fields
Spalding Gray
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: HIstory
Comment: I understand that public schools may not really teach about Pol Pot and the Rouge. Therefore, I suggest this as a background that one should then research in History. My Schools always did cover these Events and There is also plenty of video footage out there in relation to these events. Oh Yeah... Taking the DVD as an art Piece, Spalding Gray is a great talent in monolouges as well as writings. He is no longer with us... And his legacy of media is rich and eye- opening.
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Bad Transfer
Comment: Though the monologue is wonderful and the Jonathan Demme's style undeniable, I must caution anyone considering this particular dvd. The picture is cut off on the top, bottom, left, and right. The picture quality itself is fine but it is distracting for a while, knowing that you are not seeing the full picture.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Diving into Spalding Gray.
Comment: Swimming to Cambodia is fundamentally an autobiographical monologue, and one only peripherally connected to the (excellent) film that inspired it, The Killing Fields. Those unfamiliar with Spalding Gray's works may be perplexed by his self-centered, occasionally manic or depressive, and deeply personal ramblings. Gray's monologues are meant to be watched, not read. It's difficult to imagine his drawling New England accent, the ironic and self-deprecating humor, and the incredible honesty with which Gray would sit at a table with a glass of water and share, fundamentally, himself. Jonathan Demme's film does justice to the Spalding Gray live experience, with minimal-but-powerful use of props and sound effects.
Swimming to Cambodia is not the first of what became his signature internal dialogs, but as it is the earliest work available on film, it's a good place to start. Those who may recognize him from his work in small film roles (Beaches (Special Edition), King of the Hill), or theater (including a much-loved role as the Stage Manager in Our Town) may be surprised to learn of his collection of solo stage work. Some are available only as a manuscript (Sex & Death to the Age 14), others as a sound recording (It's a Slippery Slope), and three have been filmed (Monster in a Box: The Movie, Gray's Anatomy), including this piece. Gray's work should be explored as a whole; the narrative of his life informed and expanded on continuing themes of anxiety, his mother's battle with mental illness and early-middle-aged suicide, his relationships with women, his eventual fatherhood. His final, unfinished monologue, Life Interrupted: The Unfinished Monologue is accompanied by the epitaphs of those who knew and loved him, and who were saddened by but understood his final succumbing to depression in 2004. Start at the beginning, and get as close to the live versions of his works as you can.
If you're looking for insight into the political history of Cambodia, or deeper meaning in the Oscar-winning film based on a true story about the friendship between an American journalist and his Cambodian counterpart, you've come to the wrong place. Gray does address topics like the sex trade in Cambodia (often graphically), and his experience filming The Killing Fields in Thailand, but he weaves these in with his thoughts on his adopted home town, New York, or a train ride from Philly to Chicago. But if you're interested in the opportunity for an honest (and often humorous) glimpse into the mind of a brilliant, insightful, and emotionally complicated performer, this is the beginning. Spalding Gray blurred the lines between life and performance, and so I urge you to experience his work as a living process, the way he shared it.
Customer Rating:
Summary: alternative cinema
Comment: Engaging, absorbing, not the usual big-screen drivel. To watch this film is to understand the elegance of expression which has been lost in the present era.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Brilliant film, excellent disc. Fast delivery.
Comment: This is one of my favorite films, which is sadly otherwise unavailable on DVD. This vendor provided a pristine copy in rapid time (three days). Excellent quality, just as promised, rapid delivery. Good deal.
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Editorial Reviews:
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Spalding Gray sits behind a desk throughout the entire film and recounts his exploits and chance encounters while playing a minor role in the film 'The Killing Fields'. At the same time, he gives a background to the events occurring in Cambodia at the time the film was set.
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