In the Shadow of Angkor Wat - Video Recording Review

Arts & Activities, Jan, 2003 by Barbara Herberholz

Video/55 min./$19.95. Level; College. Public Media/Home Vision Entertainment, 4423 W. Ravenswood Ave., Chicago, IL 60640-5802, (800) 826-3456.

Produced in France, this documentary tells of Khmer, Cambodia's flourishing civilization where over 100 temples were thought to have been built at Angkor. However, not all of them remain, as successive kings modified or destroyed the temples of their predecessors. These master builders created temples, the most monumental and best known being Angkor Wat, completed in the 12th century. Khmer art was religious, and all architects and artists were ranked somewhere below the gods, but above ordinary humans. The descendants of these early people continue to worship at the site and find religious spirit in the statues and intricate bas reliefs that tell of births, cooking, conflicts and everyday occurrences. Natives provide commentary in their own language, while close-ups of the artworks are shown and an English voice-over translates their remarks.--J.J.H. For information about this publication, circle No. 389 on the Reader Service Card.