Film
Kraithong Kropaer Charawan
Kraithong Kropaer Charawan (The Crocodile Man) is a Khmer-language horror film from Cambodia's pre-1975 cinema about a man who can become a crocodile.[1] It is also known as Kroper Lok Nen, as Kropeu Charavan in Khmer, as Kraithong Krapeu Chalawon in Thai, and as A Water Warrior and a Crocodile Man.[1][2]
Synopsis
Two young men learn to fight from the same teacher, Ta Esey, until each accuses the other of murder. One of them, Charavann, can turn into a crocodile at will. He goes under the water, where a water hermit teaches him, and he marries two crocodile women.[1][2]
Charavann returns to land to take revenge on Kraitoung, the other student, whom he blames for the death of a woman. He carries Sampov Meas, a millionaire's daughter, to his underwater home, and his two jealous wives put a spell on her. Many warriors die trying to save her. Kraitoung then goes under the water, kills Charavann and his wives, and brings Sampov Meas home safely. At the end he marries Sampov Meas and her sister, Sampov Keav.[1][2]
Production and credits
Huy King directed it.[3] One film database lists the director as Kuang Hui and the screenwriter as Tyrone Hsu.[4] Dy Saveth is among the cast.[5] The film runs 102 minutes.[5]
The film belongs to Cambodia's cinema before the Khmer Rouge, when local films were often based on Khmer legends or on stories from the Ramayana.[6]
Release and reception
Sources differ on the release year. Film databases give 1971, with a release date of February 4, 1971, while another reference gives 1972.[5][7][2] The Bophana Audiovisual Resource Center, which screened a Khmer version as The Crocodile Men in January 2016, gives 1974 and a running time of 125 minutes.[3]
The film was the classic film pick of the 2014 Cambodia Town Film Festival in Long Beach, California.[1] It screened at 11 a.m. on September 7, 2014, together with "The Bamboo Cutter," the nine-minute second episode of the Dollar Series.[8]
References 8
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Cambodia Town Film Festival, Matt Dillon, Crocodile Man, and Cambodian Cinema at Cambodia Town Film Fest This Saturday (archived)
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., Crocodile Man - Wikipedia (2008-10-14)
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Bophana Audiovisual Resource Center, The Crocodile Men (screening, January 16, 2016)
- ↑ Treyler, Kraithong Kropaer Charawan (1971)
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Bingetime, Kraithong Kropaer Charawan
- ↑ Tilman Baumgärtel, Going to the Movies in Phnom Penh, circa 1967: Film Exhibition in Cambodia's Sangkum Era (1955-1970), Senses of Cinema 117 (May 2026)
- ↑ MyShows, Cambodian Horror-supernatural Movies
- ↑ Cambodia Town Film Festival, CTFF OFFICIAL 2014 FILM LINEUP (archived)
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