A symbolic tale of Bora, a country boy who leaves home to work on a glitzy Phnom Penh housing development,...
A symbolic tale of Bora, a country boy who leaves home to work on a glitzy Phnom Penh housing development, by Davy Chou (Golden Slumbers).
"A sprawling mass of neon-lit amusement parks, ritzy nightclubs and fancy apartments for Phnom Penh's rising middle class, Diamond Island is much more than a partially completed mini-city. It's a statement of national ambition and intent. When naïve 18-year-old Bora (Sobon Nuon) joins thousands of other workers at Diamond Island his life changes dramatically. He finds new friends, and new temptations. His brother Solei (Cheanick Nov) reappears five years after he went missing. Solei seems happy and wealthy, but is he hiding something? Then there's Aza (Madeza Chhem), a lovely girl who catches Bora's eye. Beautifully filmed in a city undergoing massive physical and social change, Diamond Island is a graceful but sharply observed coming-of-age tale." (Sydney Film Festival)
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100 %5 reviewsRotten Tomatoes® rating
82 %24 reviewsAudience score rating
"Cambodian-French helmer Davy Chou's intermittently stylish teen movie lacks narrative momentum but has heart to spare."
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Variety
Variety"The deliberately aimless rhythms and low-stakes plotting make clear that Davy Chou is predominantly interested in cultural anthropology."
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Slant Magazine
Slant Magazine"The film ultimately works more as a social portrait than as a rather classic bildungsroman, revealing all the sweat, suffering and heartache it takes to build one massive diamond in the rough."
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Hollywood Reporter
Hollywood ReporterDiamond Island | Details
Award winner- Winner of the SACD Prize at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival Critics' Week
- Runtime
- 101
- Genre
- Drama
- Country of origin
- France, Cambodia, Germany, Qatar, Thailand
