Tum Teav (film)

History of the film

Tum Teav (Khmer: ទុំទាវ) is a 2003 Romance-tragedy Cambodian film portraying the tragedy of the star-crossed lovers Tum and Teav. The film inspired a love story which has been told throughout Cambodia since the 19th century, revived a Khmer proverb states that The Cake is never bigger than the Basket.

Literally, daughters (cake) were thought not to be able to find a good family without the help of their mothers (basket). This 2003 remake of the classic story played to packed theatres in Phnom Penh and has been credited with helping fuel the revival of the long defunct Cambodian Cinema industry.

Synopsis

The film starts with Tum, a talented novice monk,with his friends, Pich, are going to a village to sing a classic song. Meanwhile, Teav, the daughter of rich woman in a village, hears some news about a handsome monk with the beautiful voice from her waitress. So she offers her mother, Pai,to invite him to sing for her. As Tum sings along in Teav's house, they, immediately, fall in love from the first sight.

It is reciprocated and Teav offered Tum some betel nut and a blanket as evidence of the feelings she had for Tum and prays to Buddha that the young monk will be with her for eternity.[2] Tum is very pleased to accept the offers, to see she feels the same way he does. After That Tum can't control himself to stop thinking about Teav.The feeling grow stronger and eventually he persuade Pich to quit the monkhood. Both of them then go to the chief monk and tell their intention.It is fine for Pich to leave but The chief of monks cam foresee that Tum would have the bad luck if he quit being a monk.

To his love for Teav, he listens nothing to The chief of monks's advice so he decide to quit the monkhood by himself in the forest. As himself is now not the monk, he initially spends some time in Teav’s home despite her being ‘in the shade’ (a period of a few weeks when the daughter is supposedly secluded from males and taught how to behave virtuously), and wastes no time in abusing the mother’s hospitality by sleeping with her daughter.

Then Tum's good reputation of his voice,was heard by the King, he invite to the royal palace to sing for the King.For the price, The King gives Tum as a specialist Singer in the palace. there and then, Teav's mother knew everything of Tum and Tum, she is unaware of this event and has alternative plans, intending to marry her daughter off to the governor’s son,then she dropped the idea when her daughter was chosen to be with the king, but resurrected it as soon as she learned that her employment at the court wasn't leading anywhere, when Tum and Teav are married with the support of the king because of their true love.

So Pai feigns illness as a ruse to lure Teav to her village whereupon she tries to coerce her into taking part in the wedding ceremony.When Tum receives a news from his Friend, Pich about Teav's wedding.He tell it to the King and turns up with an edict from the king to stop the ceremony, but on arrival instead of presenting the order, he gets drunk, announces he is Teav's husband and kisses her in public; his behaviour make everyone Especially The governor's son who going to become Teav's husband get angry,then they take Tum to kill under the banyan tree. Once Teav hears that Tum has died, she runs out from the wedding and finds Tum's body beneath a banyan tree.

Teav prays that she will meet Tum in every life she lives and commits suicide. Only after that does the governor discover the king’s letter. This film finishes with the king exacting rather extreme punishment – slaughtering every family member (including infants) remotely connected to the deception and the murder of Tum, making hereditary slaves of the entire village and exacting crippling extra taxes from a wider area in perpetuity.