Holly Screening
August 7, 2008
Filed under Media & Music, Review
August 5th: As much as I loved the wonderful opulence of the gala film screening Tuesday night at the Hearst building, it would be wrong to tell you that I had a good time. Yes, I fulfilled a lifelong fantasy of standing within touching distance of both Miss Universe and Miss USA at the same time and it was everything I ever thought it could be. Still, this night ultimately left me quite sad. Oh the wine was fantastic and the tray of fancy hors d’ouerves I sucked down were delicious, but the screening of the movie “Holly” was so disturbing it shot through my soul like a jagged bullet of terrible truth.
You see, I have always had a fundamental belief, maybe more of a hope, that the world and most of the people in it are basically good souls. After seeing “Holly” , a brilliantly realistic portrait of a 12 year-old Vietnamese girl who is sold into prostitution by her own parents for $20, I have to admit that my belief in the goodness of people has been deeply shaken. Up and coming writer–director Guy Moshe captured the essence of a stark and disturbing underworld of sexual slavery that exists not only on the backstreets of Cambodia, but all over the world at this very moment.
When Holly is sold and placed under the control of a heartless owner, her innocence and beauty are immediately put up for sale to the highest bidder. Played with heart-wrenching passion by actress Thuy Nguyen, Holly dreams of escaping this wretched house of prostitution and saving her little sister from a similar fate. When a down and out American poker player meets Holly, he forms a deep bond to her and goes to great lengths as he tries to save her from a dark world that will no doubt crush her spirit and destroy her innocence forever. Ron Livingston of ‘Office Space’ fame plays the role of Patrick and gives an incredibly moving performance.
I do not want to spoil the ending, so all I will say is that this is the most unsettling must-see movie of the year. This film is a modern day Schindler’s List – a motion picture that will break your heart and open your eyes to a terrible evil that can no longer be allowed to go on. According to Interpol, children are kidnapped or stolen and forced into the global, multi-billion dollar sex industry every day. In fact, they now estimate that the trafficking of children and young women is the third largest criminal activity in the world. In fact, the trade is so profitable in Cambodia that the mafia put a death warrant on the film-makers because they did not want the world to see the powerful truths in this film.
“I am being punished for being evil in another life,” young Holly says in a remarkably sad moment of introspection. As I searched my own heart to ask why this sweet young girl was in this place, I realized a terrible truth: she is being punished because humanity lets age-old evils continue to be born again without end. This film is a courageous call to action and you don’t have to go out and try to save a child on the streets to make a stand.
Just see this movie when it comes out on DVD and let it move you to look around your world with sharper eyes.
For more information about what can be done to fight this problem, please visit Redlightchildren.org.
-Adam
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