City of Ghosts

Plot

Jimmy (played by Matt Dillon) is a conman who's been working for a fake insurance company in New York City that is being investigated by the FBI after it cannot pay claims that have poured in after a hurricane. Discovering that his mentor and the mastermind of the scheme, Marvin (James Caan), has skipped the country and gone to Thailand, Jimmy boards a plane with the intention of trying to collect his money.

Once in Bangkok, Jimmy meets Joseph Kaspar (Skarsgård), a partner in the scheme who's living with his Thai katoey companion Rocky (Kyoza). Joseph informs Jimmy that Marvin has moved on to Cambodia, where he's planning an even greater scam. So Jimmy sneaks across the border and makes his way to Phnom Penh.

He checks into a seedy hotel run by a Frenchman named Emile (Gérard Depardieu) and has his passport stolen by another traveller. Later Jimmy has his sunglasses stolen by a macaque monkey.

Needing to travel around, he hires a cyclo driver named Sok (Kem Sereyvuth), who becomes the only person Jimmy can trust. He also meets an NGO worker named Sophie (Natascha McElhone) and dabbles in romance with her while attending a rave party at an ancient temple.

Eventually, Marvin turns up, but the scam he's trying to get together – involving corrupt Cambodian government officials, high-ranking military and the Russian mafia – turns out to be more risky and dangerous than anyone ever imagined, taking Jimmy on a surrealistic odyssey.

Cast

Soundtrack

The soundtrack for City of Ghosts features an eclectic mix of music that includes 1970s Khmer rock and roll, French pop and American pre-World War II blues and jazz. The album contains the following tracks:

1. "Both Sides Now" – written by Joni Mitchell; performed by Dengue Fever
2. "Et moi, et moi, et moi" – written by Jacques Dutronc and Jacques Lanzmann; performed by Jacques Dutronc
3. "Wait Ten Months" – performed by Ros Serey Sothea
4. "Sak Kra Va" performed by Chan Chaya
5. "Do You Believe In Love At Sight" – performed by McKinney's Cotton Pickers
6. "Hilo Hula" – performed by Mike Hanapi and the Llima Islanders
7. "Have You Seen My Love" – performed by Ros Sereysothea
8. "Parlez Moi D'amour" – performed Lucianne Boyer
9. "I Want A Little Girl" – performed by McKinney's Cotton Pickers
10. "Mou Pei Na" – performed by Sinn Sisamouth
11. "Coining" – performed by Maes Samouen
12. "Giant Woman" – performed by Pan Ron
13. "Close Fit Blues" – performed by Clarence Williams
14. "I'm Sixteen" – performed by Ros Sereysothea
15. "Ne Te Fache Pas" – performed by Sinn Sisamouth
16. "Love Pillow" – performed by Choun Malai
17. "Dear 5" – performed by Peter Whitehead

In the film, James Caan performs the Khmer-language song "Bong Sorlang", but it is not on the soundtrack CD.