Spalding Gray's
Swimming to Cambodia is a
1987 Jonathan Demme-directed performance film. The film is a performance of Spalding Gray's monologue which centered around such themes as his trip to Southeast Asia to create the role of the U.S. Ambassador's aide in
The Killing Fields, the
Cold War,
Cambodia Year Zero and his search for his "perfect moment". The film grossed slightly over a million dollars.
Performances
Swimming to Cambodia was originally a theatre piece on which Gray spent two years working. The original running time of the performance was four hours long and took place over two nights.
Swimming to Cambodia won Gray an
Obie award.
In 2001, Gray took
Swimming to Cambodia back to the stage in
Los Angeles,
Chicago and
Albany, New York.
Film
The opening shots of the film depict Gray walking toward
The Performing Garage in New York. He goes in and after walking in past the audience, he takes his seat behind a table. On the table is a glass of water, a microphone and a notebook which Gray brought with him. Behind him are two pulldown maps. One is a map of Southeast Asia and the other is a diagram of the bombing of Cambodia, which Gray tells the viewers/audience was called
Operation Menu. There is also back-lit projection screen which has projected on it a picture of a beach.
The soundtrack for this film was composed and performed by
Laurie Anderson, who would also score Gray's follow-up film,
Monster in a Box. Gray returned the favor by providing the voice...
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