Film

Jailbreak

Jailbreak (ការពារឧក្រិដ្ឋជន) is a 2017 Cambodian action film directed by Jimmy Henderson that features the Khmer martial art of bokator.[1][2] Its Khmer title means "Protect Criminals."[1]

Synopsis

Cambodian police arrest a mobster known as Playboy, believed to lead the Butterfly gang. Three local officers and a French-Cambodian exchange officer escort him to prison at Koh Kla.[1][3] Playboy says he is not the real boss and offers to name his employer. The gang's true leader, Madame Butterfly, puts a bounty on him, and the prisoners riot to get him.[1] Trapped inside, the officers fight the inmates to survive and protect their key witness, while Madame Butterfly and her team of women assassins come to the prison to kill him.[1][2] The film's tagline is "If You Give Up, You Die."[3]

Production and credits

The Franco-Khmer producer Loy Te made the film for his company, Kongchak Pictures, as part of an effort to widen Cambodian cinema beyond romantic comedies and ghost stories.[1][4] Kongchak had produced the horror film Run in 2013 and the action thriller Hanuman in 2015, which Henderson, an Italian filmmaker living in Cambodia, directed.[1] The idea grew out of a meeting between Loy Te's team and the French-Cambodian stuntman Jean-Paul Ly during the filming of Hanuman.[4] Henderson then wrote an ensemble action film set in one location, with Michael Hodgson as co-writer.[1][3] The project took nearly two years from first talks to preparation. It was delayed seven months when Jean-Paul Ly joined the Marvel stunt team for Doctor Strange.[4]

The budget is given as $260,000 by Wikipedia, $250,000 to $300,000 by Le Petit Journal and $200,000 by Le Monde.[1][4][5] Puprom Entertainment was one of the main investors, and True Money, Sting and Johnny Walker were sponsors.[4] The film was shot entirely in Cambodia, and the prison was built in a disused school near Phnom Penh.[4][5]

Godefroy Ryckewaert was director of photography. Dara Our and Jean-Paul Ly choreographed the fights. Remy Hou designed the costumes and Samnang Pak was art director.[2] The Cambodian rap duo Kmeng Khmer and Fabio Guglielmo Anastasi composed the music.[1] The dialogue is about 60 percent Khmer, 35 percent English and 5 percent French.[5] Many action scenes were filmed in long takes with few cuts.[6]

Bokator, a traditional Cambodian combat style, nearly disappeared under the Khmer Rouge and during the Vietnamese occupation that followed, and resurfaced in the early 2000s.[6] The film sets its bokator fight scenes beside slapstick comedy.[1] Its strong female characters were meant to challenge gender stereotypes.[5]

Cast

  • Jean-Paul Ly as Jean-Paul, the French-Cambodian officer
  • Dara Our as Dara
  • Tharoth Sam as Tharoth, a Cambodian MMA champion and bokator fighter
  • Dara Phang as Sucheat
  • Céline Tran as Madame Butterfly, her first action role
  • Savin Phillip as Playboy
  • Laurent Plancel as Suicide
  • Sisowath Siriwudd as Bolo
  • Rous Mony as Scar
  • Eh Phuthong as the cannibal
  • Sok Visal as Colonel Pros
  • Kong Ka Chan, Dy Sonita, Chiva Pech and Georgina Tan as Madame Butterfly's henchwomen[1][2][5]

Release and reception

Jailbreak opened in Cambodia on January 31, 2017, in seven cinemas in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap, including Legend Cinema, Platinum Cineplex and Major Cineplex.[3][5][4] A viral marketing campaign and a mobile phone game supported the release; the game had been downloaded by 58,000 people in Cambodia by the time the film opened.[1] Shows sold out in Cambodian cities.[1] Le Monde counted 45,000 viewers, a first for a local production.[5] The film was selected for the Cambodia International Film Festival soon after release and was sold to seven Asian markets, including China and South Korea.[1][6]

At the Fantasia International Film Festival in Montreal in July 2017, the jury gave the film a special action prize for its fight and camera choreography, and the audience gave it the Bronze prize for Most Innovative Feature Film.[1] It was also selected for festivals in Udine, Bucheon, Austin, London and Stockholm.[7] It was released in the United States on September 29, 2017.[8] Netflix acquired rights outside Asia and released the film in May 2018.[1]

The Phnom Penh Post called the film a possible defining moment for Khmer cinema, and The Khmer Times called it an ambitious film that largely succeeds as Cambodia's first Khmer action film.[1] The Hollywood Reporter compared it with Ong-Bak and The Raid.[1] M, le magazine du Monde called it a leap forward for Cambodian cinema and praised its women characters.[2]

Watch

References

  1. ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 1.17 1.18 Wikipedia, Jailbreak (2017 film)
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Wikipédia, Jailbreak (film, 2017)
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Cambodia Film Commission, Jailbreak
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 Le Petit Journal Cambodge, CINÉMA: Jailbreak, le premier blockbuster cambodgien en salle le 31 janvier (January 7, 2017)
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 Le Monde, Le cinéma khmer passe à l'action (March 1, 2017)
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Variety, Film Review: 'Jailbreak' (July 25, 2017)
  7. ↑ Film Movement, Educational: Jailbreak
  8. ↑ IMDb, Jailbreak (2017)
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This page was last edited on 26 September 2026, at 23:40.