European Films

France-based Cambodian director Rithy Panh takes a sober look at off-duty prostitutes in Cambodia in his documentary Le papier ne peut pas envelopper la braise (Paper Cannot Wrap Up Embers), which won the Best Documentary title at the European Film Awards last year. If the film makes quite an impact, it is because of the candidness of its subjects and the way Panh creates a heart-breaking portrait of these "women of joy" without once resorting to voice-over or off-camera remarks during filming. The whole film in fact unspools like a hellish, real-world version of the confessional booths so popular in reality shows, though the women's plight is obviously much worse, which in this case lends them some dignity.

The film’s wordless opening minutes are strictly in the tradition of the Asian cinema of Tsai Ming-liang, observing the characters before letting them speak. The first mention of sex only happens about ten minutes in and is actually by the ladies’ tout, who calculates the wages of the ladies and the pimp in what looks like a school booklet. Gradually, Panh reveals his protagonists through the conversations they have with one another, showing the women as fierce but also defeated by their lowly position and clear shackles to their pimps. Talk of their faraway villages, abortion, what’s for dinner, who has drugs to spare, the advantages of suicide and the nature of true love are all subjects that seem to come up indiscriminately.

It also becomes clear that, at least from the point of view of these women, international aid is not helping them, either because it does not reach them or, when it does, it does not resolve any of their problems, sometimes even making them worse. Aids and abortions are also constantly on their mind, with one of them exclaiming without a hint of irony: "If you’ve got aids, you die. If you don’t have it, you die too. So what’s the difference?" while another dryly notes: "What do we have left at the end of the year? Two, three abortions and our dues to the boss".

The film is at its most devastating when two of the women start a huge verbal fight with their tout in the room next door, which makes them giggle and smile – the only satisfaction of the day.

It is a shame that the film, shot digitally by Panh's regular cinematographer Prum Mesa, is not more risky than the occasional close-up; a sleeping, manicured hand full of beer caps is a singularly beautiful shot and a dozen more of such finds could have spiced up the narrative visually, making it something unmissable on the big screen. As it stands, the film will not lose much if seen on DVD or TV.

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