My Mother is Arb
Encyclopedia
My Mother is Arb is a Cambodian
horror film
.
's destructive Democratic Kampuchea
regime, during the painful rebuilding of Cambodian cultural life in the pro-Soviet People's Republic of Kampuchea
. Since the Khmer Rouge
had suppressed and persecuted Khmer folklore, this movie —which went back to the roots of traditional popular legends— became an immediate success with the Cambodian public after the long years of cultural uprooting.
Konm Eak Madia Arb has the distinction of being the first movie made in Cambodia after the Khmer Rouge era.
This film is based on a Cambodia
n myth about a malevolent spirit called Arp
. This spirit has a female head and bloody entrails instead of a body. It hovers over the ground in the night, haunting places and scaring people. The special effect
of the Arp
character was achieved by gluing pig's entrails to the head of a doll.
.
After that night, the boy lives in terror. He becomes afraid that his mother will kill him any time, but pretends that he does not know his mother's secret. The boy wonders what will become of him in the future, living with malevolent Arp under the same roof and what will happen if the secret becomes known and he hears everyone say: Your mother is an Arp
Cinema of Cambodia
Cinema in Cambodia began in the 1950s, and many films were being screened in theaters throughout the country by the 1960s, which are regarded as the "golden age"...
horror film
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
.
Background
This Khmer folklore-based movie was produced shortly after the fall of Pol PotPol Pot
Saloth Sar , better known as Pol Pot, , was a Cambodian Maoist revolutionary who led the Khmer Rouge from 1963 until his death in 1998. From 1976 to 1979, he served as the Prime Minister of Democratic Kampuchea....
's destructive Democratic Kampuchea
Democratic Kampuchea
The Khmer Rouge period refers to the rule of Pol Pot, Nuon Chea, Ieng Sary, Son Sen, Khieu Samphan and the Khmer Rouge Communist party over Cambodia, which the Khmer Rouge renamed as Democratic Kampuchea....
regime, during the painful rebuilding of Cambodian cultural life in the pro-Soviet People's Republic of Kampuchea
People's Republic of Kampuchea
The People's Republic of Kampuchea , , was founded in Cambodia by the Salvation Front, a group of Cambodian leftists dissatisfied with the Khmer Rouge, after the overthrow of Democratic Kampuchea, Pol Pot's government...
. Since the Khmer Rouge
Khmer Rouge
The Khmer Rouge literally translated as Red Cambodians was the name given to the followers of the Communist Party of Kampuchea, who were the ruling party in Cambodia from 1975 to 1979, led by Pol Pot, Nuon Chea, Ieng Sary, Son Sen and Khieu Samphan...
had suppressed and persecuted Khmer folklore, this movie —which went back to the roots of traditional popular legends— became an immediate success with the Cambodian public after the long years of cultural uprooting.
Konm Eak Madia Arb has the distinction of being the first movie made in Cambodia after the Khmer Rouge era.
This film is based on a Cambodia
Cambodia
Cambodia , officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia...
n myth about a malevolent spirit called Arp
Krasue
The krasue is a certain female spirit of Southeast Asian mythology.This ghost has been the subject of a number of movies in the region, including Konm Eak Madia Arb , a Cambodian horror movie which has the distinction of being the first movie made in the People's Republic of Kampuchea after the...
. This spirit has a female head and bloody entrails instead of a body. It hovers over the ground in the night, haunting places and scaring people. The special effect
Special effect
The illusions used in the film, television, theatre, or entertainment industries to simulate the imagined events in a story are traditionally called special effects ....
of the Arp
Krasue
The krasue is a certain female spirit of Southeast Asian mythology.This ghost has been the subject of a number of movies in the region, including Konm Eak Madia Arb , a Cambodian horror movie which has the distinction of being the first movie made in the People's Republic of Kampuchea after the...
character was achieved by gluing pig's entrails to the head of a doll.
Plot
The film's story is about a young boy who lived alone with his mother in a big house on a remote location. One night he finds out his mother's well-kept secret by chance and he realizes that she is the evil spirit ArpKrasue
The krasue is a certain female spirit of Southeast Asian mythology.This ghost has been the subject of a number of movies in the region, including Konm Eak Madia Arb , a Cambodian horror movie which has the distinction of being the first movie made in the People's Republic of Kampuchea after the...
.
After that night, the boy lives in terror. He becomes afraid that his mother will kill him any time, but pretends that he does not know his mother's secret. The boy wonders what will become of him in the future, living with malevolent Arp under the same roof and what will happen if the secret becomes known and he hears everyone say: Your mother is an Arp