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Kingsman and the temple of doom: Cambodia bans spy flick | Kingsman and the temple of doom: Cambodia bans spy flick |
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Hollywood’s light-hearted spy blockbuster Kingsman: the Golden Circle has been banned in Cambodia due to a scene that portrays the country and one of its famous temples as a hotbed of crime. | |
The action-comedy sequel follows a fictional British spy organisation that joins forces with an American counterpart to search for a drug lord’s hideout, which turns out to be a jungle-ringed temple in Cambodia. | The action-comedy sequel follows a fictional British spy organisation that joins forces with an American counterpart to search for a drug lord’s hideout, which turns out to be a jungle-ringed temple in Cambodia. |
Bok Borak, director of the Cambodian culture ministry’s film department, said the “unacceptable” movie had been banned from cinemas for “using the name Cambodia as a hideout for criminals”. | |
“And what is more worrying is that it uses one of our temples as a place to produce drugs, to kill people cruelly … So we don’t allow the screening of this film in our country,” he added. | |
He said the movie was not filmed in Cambodia but the drug lord’s temple resembled the well-known Ta Prohm – a site in the Angkor complex that is tangled in tree roots and which was used as a set for Lara Croft: Tomb Raider. | |
“Our temple is a world heritage site that we must protect and it is not a place for such things,” Bok Borak said, adding that a letter would be sent to the film’s producers “to show our frustration”. | “Our temple is a world heritage site that we must protect and it is not a place for such things,” Bok Borak said, adding that a letter would be sent to the film’s producers “to show our frustration”. |
Westec Media, which purchased the local distribution rights for the film, could not be reached immediately for comment. | Westec Media, which purchased the local distribution rights for the film, could not be reached immediately for comment. |
Cambodia is a popular smuggling route and destination for narcotics, particularly methamphetamine and heroin, and notoriously corrupt authorities have made it an easy hideout for foreign criminals and fugitives. | Cambodia is a popular smuggling route and destination for narcotics, particularly methamphetamine and heroin, and notoriously corrupt authorities have made it an easy hideout for foreign criminals and fugitives. |
The south-east Asian nation has intensified its war on drugs in recent years and there have been thousands of arrests, some involving senior officials. | The south-east Asian nation has intensified its war on drugs in recent years and there have been thousands of arrests, some involving senior officials. |
It is not the first time Cambodia has outlawed entertainment it considers harmful to the country’s traditional values. In the past two months the government has banned two Hollywood films – including the horror movie Jigsaw – for excessive violence deemed inappropriate for local audiences. | |