“They always used me,” Duch declares as the film begins. Rithy Panh** often had the same feeling about himself with regard to the former director of S-21; indeed, the filmmaker wondered whether he wasn’t serving as a sort of “coach” to Duch as he prepared for his trial.

Certainly, the major themes of debate before the judges in the ensuing months are described with clarity by the defendant. Nothing is missing from Duch’s confession. After ten years in prison, he was more than ready to stand before the bench.

By Thierry Cruvellier*

Unfortunately for the viewer’s peace of mind, the Duch case is more than the simple story of a perverse, manipulative villain. The film shows us that however well-prepared the master of interrogation may have been, he is not always master of himself. In one gripping scene, Duch acts as if he were in the days of the revolution. Realising the ambivalence of his performance, he gives an overly hearty, uncomfortable laugh - then trails off, looking lost. “They called us ‘pure instruments of the Party,’” he whispers. “Back then, it was a great honour.”

How to be Duch
‘Duch, Master of the Forges of Hell’, in showing how a man is transformed into a mass murderer, is unequalled in the field of documentary work.
It is unprecedented - a direct, devastating account of how a man becomes a Duch. Rithy Panh gives us the best of his exceptional knowledge of the case, his tenacity in the face of confrontation and his vital sense of humour, placing his subject face-to-face with himself, rather than overwhelming him with his own judgement.

The history of the Khmer Rouge and its crimes unfolds without commentary, driven only by a host of archival sources and by the voice of Duch. Nothing, it would seem, has been left out, including certain truths that transcend – without exonerating – Duch’s crimes at S-21.
After all, the major part of Duch’s work consisted of being a Khmer Rouge who killed other Khmer Rouge, including some of his superiors, who would themselves be sitting in the defendant’s chair - had they not fallen prey to the monstrous machine they served.

Duch tells more than any other Khmer Rouge

Duch distorts, avoids, effaces. “There are many stories, but I’ve forgotten them. Why did I forget? So I wouldn’t be too tormented,” explains one who is certainly in a position to know that “full and sincere” confessions do not exist. Duch knows we don’t tell the whole truth: “It’s in one’s interest, because we’re afraid, because we’re…ashamed.” And yet, never before has a Khmer Rouge of his rank – or for that matter, any mass murderer – said so much to a filmmaker.

This work is unprecedented in the annals of international justice. The long-awaited ‘Duch, Master of the Forges of Hell’ is testimony to Rithy Panh’s powerful, ceaseless, painstaking work on the crimes of S-21. Duch had been the missing link - now he is a cornerstone. This is not a film about the Duch trial - it portends and illuminates it. At the end of the proceedings, during which victims turn a deaf ear to Duch’s remorse and his demands for forgiveness, he executes an abrupt about-face. He dismisses the French lawyer who had helped build his defence and petitioned for him to be acquitted, sorely disappointing those who had hoped for expiation or reconciliation.

“If they don’t pardon me, we’ll stay where we are”

A year before, as he sat before the camera, Duch seemed to sense he would arrive at this impasse. “The day I am pardoned, I will prostrate myself in gratitude. And if they don’t pardon me, we’ll stay where we are, waiting for life to come to an end.”

(*) Thierry Cruvelier, former IJT editor-in-chief,  author of ‘Le maitre des aveux’ (The Master of Confessions), 2011.

(**) Rithy Panh’s other films include his 2002 documentary on Duch’s detention camp, S-21: ‘The Khmer Rouge Killing Machine’.