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Dogora is a film capturing the lives of
the people of Cambodia. Dogora was created by Patrice
Leconte, and is currently only available on a French
release. Dogora has not plot, actors or script.
Dogora is similar in style to Baraka and
Koyaanisqatsi.
Dogora captures the daily routines of the people of Cambodia. Dogora is a
street level documentary, without any explanation. Your
imagination must answer any questions you may have. Dogora captures the
interaction between the people of Cambodia very well. Particular
attention is paid to the children of Cambodia, which prove a
fascinating subject.
For people that have seen Baraka or Koyaanisqatsi, Dogora will have a familiar
style. Dogora has a more precise subject matter than the other films, but
uses many of the same techniques to present the subject.
There are several note worthy scenes in Dogora. The moped
scene, where the various passengers of many different mopeds are shown.
Its amazing what can be carried on a moped. There are several long scenes
in Dogora, which work very well. The everyday lives of people travelling,
sleeping, eating, working and playing are all shown in a natural manner.
Sweatshop factories and rubbish dumps are shown, giving a
reminder of the poverty found in Cambodia. However the
obvious images of Angkor Wat and other temples are not
present. The start of the film shows fine painting of the temples, but no
real images are shown. This is clearly a deliberate decision.
Several scenes in which monks are shown are deliberately out of focus. The
scenes continue for some time, allowing the viewer to understand the images and
what they mean, without actually seeing the subject clearly.
The musical score of Dogora was created by Étienne Perruchon. The music
was scored before the film was shot. Patrice Leconte listened
to tapes of the score whilst shooting, to set the scene and add rhythm to the
shot. The score is surprisingly not traditionally Eastern. Choirs
and classical music make the score, which can seem a little mis-fitting at
times. The chants used in the recordings are an invention of the
composer, which he called ‘Dogorienne’, this is where Dogora takes its name.
Ron Fricke explored the spiritual world in Baraka,
Godfrey Reggio explored the relationship between man, nature and
technology in the Qatsi trilogy. Patrice Leconte does not seem to show
such a theme in Dogora. Instead he concentrates on the people of
Cambodia.
Patrice Leconte explains that he always dreamed of making a film without actors,
a plot or script. Clearly inspired by Ron Fricke and Godfrey
Reggio's work. After a visit to Cambodia Leconte concentrated on creating
Dogora, which has become a personal film for him.
Dogora was filmed in Panavision HD Cam, with Patrice Leconte
controlling the camera. The images are stunning, with vibrant colors,
capturing the bustling life around the camera well.
Write your own review of Dogora
DVD
The Dogora DVD is released by TF1 in France only. The DVD
is region 2. As the film has no dialogue subtitles are not
required. However, the extra features are not subtitled. If you do
not understand spoken French well the extras are a visual only
experience. The extras give a good behind the scenes glimpse into the
making of the film.
The Dogora DVD contains an excellent 36 page booklet, although it is entirely in
French. It contains a diary of the shooting of the film.
Credits
Director - Patrice Leconte
Music - Etienne Perruchon
Editing - Joelle Hache
Has the tag line Ouvrons les yeux, which translates as 'Let us open the eyes'
Images
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