Movie Monday: Holly 2006
“Out of thousands, he tried to save one.”
Fifteen years ago, today, the drama film Holly debuted at the Edinburgh International Film Festival. Directed by Guy Moshe and, written by Moshe and Guy Jacobson, it starred Ron Livingston, Chris Penn, Virginie Ledoyen, Udo Kier and Jacquie “Thuy” Nguyen as Holly.
Shot on location in Cambodia, including many scenes in actual brothels in the notorious red light district of Phnom Penh, “Holly” is a captivating, touching and emotional experience. Patrick, an American card shark and dealer of stolen artifacts, has been ‘comfortably numb’ in Cambodia for years when he encounters Holly, a 12-year-old Vietnamese girl in the K-11 red light village. The girl has been sold by her impoverished family and smuggled across the border to work as a prostitute. Holly’s virginity makes her a lucrative prize and, when she is sold to a child trafficker, Patrick embarks on a frantic search, through both the beautiful and sordid faces of the country, in an attempt to bring her to safety. Harsh, yet poetic, this feature forms part of the ‘K-11’ Project, dedicated to raising awareness of the epidemic of child trafficking and the sex slavery trade through several film projects. The film’s producers endured substantial hardships in order to be able to shoot in Cambodia and have also founded the Redlight Children Campaign, […] a worldwide grassroots initiative generating conscious concern and, inspiring immediate action against child sex-ploitation.
IMDb Summary from Anonymous
Trivia Bits:
♦ Tom Sizemore was originally slated to play Freddie but, after being arrested for failing several drug tests, he was dropped from the production and replaced by Chris Penn.
♦ This was one of Chris Penn’s last films.
Cosmic-Observation 
August 17, 2021 at 12:06 AM
Looks sad. I’m glad awareness of human trafficking was highlighted. It’s rampant across the globe. Labor trafficking is just as bad if not worse.
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August 17, 2021 at 3:23 AM
Yeah. I’d probably have trouble watching this. Human trafficking disgusts me. What kind of insanity invades the human psyche to create this? It’s something I can’t wrap my head around.
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August 17, 2021 at 11:35 AM
So you haven’t seen the movie?
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August 17, 2021 at 5:40 PM
Oh, no. When I do movie posts, I don’t always know anything about them. My last post on the Rise of the Planet of the Apes, I *had* seen that.
I do two different kinds of movie posts: Releases (Movie Monday) & #1s (Flick Friday). I do the same thing with music: Releases (Music Monday) & #1s (Tune Tuesday). Song Saturday is my Samsung playlist…stuff I like.
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August 17, 2021 at 10:57 PM
Just wondering why you present movies you haven’t seen? Is it a topic that you want to teach others about? (Sorry I’m nosy.)
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August 18, 2021 at 3:40 AM
I was asked the very same thing a couple of years ago. Another blogger asked me why I wrote about movies I hadn’t seen. She did in-depth reviews on movies and TV. I told her “…you do reviews, I cover events.” I approach most things like an historian (or a reporter?), or, if you prefer “just the facts, ma’am.” If there is something that I am posting about that is tied to my life, I will mention it, like writing about The Breakfast Club (and the co-worker telling me I looked like Ally Sheedy, to him). That movie means something to me. However, I would never do any kind of “review” on anything. As far as I am concerned, my “in-depth” opinion of something is irrelevant. I might make a comment but, that is it. Plus, I’m no writer. Some bloggers can write short stories or poetry. That is not me.
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August 18, 2021 at 12:28 PM
Thanks for the explanation, Vic. It helps me understand where you’re coming from.
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August 18, 2021 at 10:54 PM
I am nothing if not a researcher. I am a voracious reader and sharing information is something that comes naturally. Any personal opinion of said shared information is useless.
That is also a helpful trait when doing computer programming or web programming. My ex-Marine used to call me “nuts & bolts” or “wrapped around the axle.” I am very detail oriented, sometimes to my own detriment. I see patterns and connections in things.
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August 18, 2021 at 11:05 PM
Are you on the ASD spectrum? Just curious.
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August 19, 2021 at 4:32 AM
That is a very good question. I don’t have an answer. I’m pretty sure my mother is, tho… She’s a little on the weird side. We haven’t spoken in over 30 years. She has given her four brothers a fit with bizarre behavior. Needless to say, my teen years were quite difficult. The good news is, I was basically raised by both grandmothers (formative years).
I may, indeed, have a touch of “the spectrum.” It wouldn’t surprise me but…how on earth would you test for such a thing?
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August 19, 2021 at 12:39 PM
Sometimes toxic parent, whatever the reason for it, is best stayed away from. It’s painful on both sides as I can attest to from personal experience but if it saves worse grief and heartache, it’s the best choice. That comes with guilt also as many can’t understand not having a relationship with their parent. But many do understand.
If you really want to know, a psychologist can test you.
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August 19, 2021 at 2:32 PM
She’s something. She’s been arrested for stalking an ex-boyfriend’s wife and when she was fired from her job, she refused to leave & had to be escorted out by deputies. I got all that from my paternal uncle whom was in LE.
She’s not dangerous. She wasn’t overtly abusive, she’s just not all there. Honestly, I think she was vaccine injured because my grandmother mentioned a behavioral change after vaccines.
I’ve had several people express sorrow at my not having a relationship with my mother. I have no sorrow. I know how she was/is. I bonded with my grandmothers.
I’ve seen several psychologists/psychiatrists over the years. None have ever suggested that my behavior was autistic-like. They never even asked.
I wouldn’t dare seek an evaluation, now. 😳 As crazy as the world is, I’d be carted off.
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August 19, 2021 at 6:25 PM
LOL on the last part. Aspergers is at the high-functioning end of the spectrum.
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August 19, 2021 at 10:12 PM
I have a friend with Asperger’s and follow a blogger in the UK whose son has Asperger’s. They can suffer sensory overload, easily but, can have great wit.
It’s possible that she has Asperger’s. She did (does?) hold down jobs (she’s 74). When she was escorted by the deputies, she’d been fired for being terse with the public, one too many times. She’d been there for 15 years. It wasn’t about the stalking charge.
My grandmother named her after Rita Hayworth.
A few years ago, she and her brothers sold the property that my grandmother owned. The property had been transferred into all five names when my grandmother was still alive (lifetime rights). It sold for millions, so…she is OK. The eldest brother passed in 2018:
https://www.joyners.net/obituaries/meredith-m-griswold/1684/
Yes. The joke about the last name was not lost on my family…thank you, Chevy Chase.
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August 17, 2021 at 2:11 PM
I think it would be very hard for me to watch this, though I know a few survivors of Asian childhood misery and abuse. Amazingly, these people are very well grounded today ..
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August 17, 2021 at 5:42 PM
Wow.
Yeah. I doubt I would be able to watch this, either.
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August 24, 2021 at 9:31 AM
This would be hard to watch…very hard. I just noticed…that is the guy off of Office Space. It looks good but…I think I will pass.
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August 24, 2021 at 1:23 PM
Yeah…not gonna go there.
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