The Joy of Living(HKAFF 2019)

From 1955 to 1970, Norodom Sihanouk ruled an increasingly affluent and modernised Cambodia with a doctrine fusing wildly disparate ideas from across the political spectrum. As a filmmaker, he also liked to experiment with genres, having directed lavish historical romances, political thrillers and documentaries from the 1960s up until his death in 2012. The Joy of Living embodies Sihanouk's unique approach in covering all bases with what he did, this time within just one film. Revolving around a princess who exploited the absence of her imprisoned husband by indulging in endless affairs with lovers young and old, The Joy of Living is at once a critique of the excess of Cambodia's social elite and a celebration of their lavish lifestyles in the 1960s, especially the exuberant pop music John Pirozzi immortalised in his 2014 documentary Don’t Think I've Forgotten: Cambodia's Lost Rock and Roll.