AustLit

'Showing in the Orizzonti sidebar at this year's Venice Film Festival, Ruin (2013) is by turns a gritty and dazzling lovers-on-the-run tale set in modern day Cambodia. Directed by Michael Cody and Amiel Courtin-Wilson, the film tells the story of two of society's worst-off down-and-outs. Sang Malen plays Sovanna, a young prostitute who is beaten and mistreated by her pimp when she feigns illness to escape work. She manages to escape, but Phnom Penh - and Cambodia, for that matter - is no place for a young girl on her own. Fortunately she meets Phirun (Rous Mony), an aggressive young local factory worker.

'A vague spark of affection is ignited and Phirun promises to shelter the girl, but following a murder they are forced to flee the city and look to survive on the road.'

Source: Cine Vue (http://www.cine-vue.com/2013/09/venice-2013-ruin-review.html). (Sighted: 9/9/2013)

'Dan is in love with Leanne. They were born on the same day - 19th June 1960. They eat together. They live together. They steal together. When Dan's love is suddenly ripped away from him, he is reduced to savagery. The past is not a dead thing, but may return, like a hunter, to follow us for a time.'

Source: Screen Australia. (Sighted: 29/1/2014)