CAMBODIA'S NEW
CELLULOID ECONOMY
Copyright 2001 www.tombraiderchronicles.com Source:
www.theage.com
[ April 23rd 2001 ]
News
carrier The Age reports today of the growing ecominical
interest from Cambodian officials of Hollywood
producers choosing their relatively poor country
for high budget motion pictures, and of the territorial
price some regions will pay for such invitation.
They
couldn't be happier that Hollywood has discovered
a new, relatively inexpensive and until recently
improbable location for filmmaking: Cambodia.
Ordinary people in one of the world's poorest
nations are pleased to pick up scraps - $US5 ($A9.74)
a day for the lowest paid extras - from the Hollywood
cash cow. If they're lucky enough to get in on
the action. And official Cambodia, too - after
nearly three decades of war, murderous revolution
and isolation - is mostly eager for the kind of
international exposure and big money that American
movies can generate. Hard on the heels of Tomb
Raider, a videogame-turned-blockbuster movie,
Matt Dillon has come to star in and direct what
he describes as an "atmospheric thriller'' called
Beneath the Banyan Trees. Others are on their
way.
That's
what worries some officials, since tourist traffic
largely streams toward one of the world's great
architectural wonders: Angkor. Some United Nations
cultural officials criticized the filming of Tomb
Raider among those ancient temples in northwestern
Cambodia. Aside from fear of physical damage,
the film's very title rang foul, given that the
temples are still being mercilessly pilfered by
antique hunters. Ang Choulean, the official charged
with protecting the monuments, said no damage
was done, but he expressed concern about the possible
effects of the film, which is based on the popular
videogame and stars Angelina Jolie as sexy adventuress
Lara Croft. "What I fear is this increased number
of tourists, because in my opinion we are not
efficient enough yet to manage this movement properly,''
he said, noting that even without Hollywood the
number of visitors to Angkor has increased dramatically.
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