The Killing Fields

The story of the Cambodian genocide is one that has practically no parallels in terms of sheer brutality and the impact it has had on a country. And yet this is pretty much the only film that had some sort of widespread reach in the western world. It's a real pity that it wasn't a better film. I did see the movie when it came out originally and while I didn't think it was a brilliant film at the time, it got me interested enough in the subject to read up on in it. Including Dith Pran's book which the film is based upon. Having re-watched it now for the first time in decades and with a lot more background knowledge, the film is full of very big flaws. One of the driving forces for this film is meant to be the friendship between Dith Pran and Sidney Schanberg, but for the first half of the movie, Sidney treats Pran like a low-level employee and there's no real warmth on screen between them. It's only when Pran is forced to leave the French embassy where they've been hiding out and gets sent to a Khmer Rouge labour camp that suddenly this great friendship is highlighted, even though there was little evidence of it shown beforehand. The second half of the movie, with Sidney back in the US and Dith Pran left behind in Cambodia is where the film somewhat hits its stride. That said, reading about his actual experiences, the film feels almost tame in comparison. Roland Joffe also missed a chance of making a bigger impact here by deciding to not use subtitles for any of the Khmer dialog throughout the movie. This means that the second half where it's almost exclusively featuring Cambodians has to work on a visual level for viewers who don't understand the dialog. That means many of the scenes are over-simplified and make them feel less realistic than they should have been. Likely the decision to not use subtitles also means that Dith Pran's time in the killing fields was shortened so much in the movie that it feels like it lasted a couple of weeks rather than the four years it really was. The by far worst aspect of this movie though is the music! I'm sorry but as much respect as I have for Mike Oldfield, he absolutely cannot write movie scores. The music here is so completely out of place and distracting, it ruins all the otherwise great scenes. A perfect example of that is when Pran, Schanberg and a couple of other journalists get captured by Khmer Rouge troops and held hostage in an abandoned Coke factory. What would have been an incredibly tense set of scenes gets absolutely ruined by the music that sounds like it would be better placed in an episode of Gumby. It's so distracting, it almost makes it comical. This is by no means a terrible film. But a few relatively minor changes could have easily made this a great film.

Brief Summary: This movie depicts the story of one Dith Pran engulfed in one of the most tragic genocidal regimes to ever grace this planet. Pran has been caught in the Year Zero program, an attempt from the Khmer Rouge to wash away all preknowledge of societies and start everyone over as simple farmers. 'Wash away' is being used in a light context though, people such as doctors, students, teachers, etc are being killed. Children are being honoured and respected as their minds have not had the time to be corrupt by the western traditions. This explains the fact that many of the Khmer Rouge are in fact teenagers. We experience through our eyes the many horrid nightmares Dith experiences at the hands of these young tyrants. Review: A pretty typical story of an individual being caught in a 'wipeout' program much akin to the many holocaust films out there. What makes this film stand out is that it shows the viewers a different regime in history with very much the same effects on its population as the holocaust. The acting is superb by all degrees, in fact, the main actor Dith Pran (real name Haing S Ngor) has actually been through the horrors of Pol Pot's regime. In conclusion, a nice movie to watch just to see the power of a regime other than the Nazi's as well as a man who has to go through all of it. 8/10 - Won't be forgotten (in a good way!)

A must see movie... The story about relationship and life, in decisive situations. And also a struggle towards guilts and torments. Watching this movie, I'm thinking about how many sorrows and death brought by such horrifying ideology and minds. And how this things still happened to this moment. One interesting plot, revealed how the west always want to tell the east what to do, and what they think best for them (which is in fact sometimes it's not). From the moment the military covered up their mistakes and their misjudgement about the country, to the day Sam Waterstone felt guilty about his demand for Dith Pran to stay with him and help his journalism work, while he also told Dith Pran (Haing S. Ngor) to get his family off country. And the pattern also still happens to this moment. Imagine...

Although The Killing Fields has a reputation as the definitive work on the Khmer Rouge genocide, it is actually a rather shallow treatment of the topic. It does not give much insight into the motivations of the Khmer Rouge or of its own characters for that matter. The film follows journalist Sydney Schanberg and his Cambodian translator Dith Pran as they cover the fall of the Cambodian government. In his enthusiasm to cover the story, Schanberg decides to stay behind when the American Embassy evacuates. This results in Pran being stranded in Cambodia for the duration of the Khmer Rouge regime. The film works best when it focuses on the personal drama between Schanberg and Dith Pran. Sam Waterston gives a good performance as Schanberg, making us empathize with the character even when he acts like a self-indulgent jerk. Haing S. Ngor is excellent as Pran, earning his Oscar with a moving performance. However, the film does not give us any insight into the characters, particularly why Pran, who is clearly terrified, decides to stay behind with Schanberg. Their relationship, while compelling portrayed by the actors, is not explored in any depth, leading to unintentional homosexual overtones. More gallingly, the film does not really give any insight into the Khmer Rouge or why they carried out their atrocities. With Nazis and other more familiar historical villains, viewers will generally have a good sense of their ideologies and motivations. This is not necessarily the case with the Khmer Rouge. We do not really get a sense of who the Khmer Rouge are targeting or why? This is a particularly glaring omission as many younger Americans are only familiar with the Cambodian genocide from this movie. Furthermore, the film's general lack of on-screen violence results in a failure to convey the true horror of what took place. This flaw is acknowledged even by some involved in the film. As Haing Ngor reported in his autobiography, both he and Dith Pran thought the film's violence should be more graphic to convey the brutality of the Khmer Rouge. If you want a true sense of who the Khmer Rouge were, see the documentary S21: The Khmer Rouge Killing Machine, which goes into far greater detail.

I love John Malkovich and Julian Sands. And I find Cambodia and Pol Pot interesting... but this film just didn't really hold my interest. Some parts are good, others are slow... I don't know. I know this film is praised, and I do not doubt the value of it... I just couldn't find it. Maybe I was distracted, maybe I was in the wrong frame of mind. I don't know. Someday I will see it again and give a better appraisal. But for now, this is it... just a sense of uncertainty. I can't think of any other films about Cambodia (although this was filmed in Thailand), so it's safe to say it's the best of its kind. Actually, come to think of it, with the endless supply of Nazi films, why aren't there more Cambodian or Pol Pot or Khmer Rouge films?

The Killing Fields is one of the most influential films of the 20th century. Its provocative and dangerous subject matter stresses the importance of communication and the freedom to communicate. Based on the Khmer Rouge occupation and genocide of Cambodia in the 1970's, the film tells the story of two men, catapulted into chaos and peril. The movie is first and foremost, a historical account. The events are based off the true story of Dith Pran and Sydney Schanberg. Given that I had not known much about the Cambodian genocide of the 1970's prior to seeing this film, I must herald the piece as a successful feat of cinematography that served as both informational as well as inspirational. The film is believable, realistic, and heart wrenching. I immediately felt for the two main characters as they quickly exchanged trust and fell victim to the powers of political violence. While it is slightly romanticized, The Killing Fields still manages to produce a message with real life implications.

It's been over 20 years since I saw this film and parts of it still haunt me.....brutal, emotional scenes which I do NOT want to see ever again. It's just too gut-wrenching and uncomfortable to sit through a second time. Generally, it's two hours of suffering and torture. Who wants to watch that? It IS a powerful story, though, based on the true life adventures of Dith Pran (played by Haing S. Ngor) who somehow survived the unbelievably-brutal regime of Cambodia dictator Pol Pot. Other reviewers here have detailed the storyline, so there is no sense me rehashing that. Suffice to say this is a movie that - be warned - is very tough to view in many spots - but will leave you emotionally drained. Ngor's harrowing performance is one to remember, as is the horrible story of what happened in the mid '70s in Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge. This movie was filmed with Thailand and the scenery there, along with the excellent cinematography, makes this a visual treat. Some have complained that the film is too slow for them. Others didn't like this because it was overtly anti-American in some regards (the bombing of Cambodia). I can understand those complaints. What bothered me most was that I just found the whole based-on-a-true happening story too sad.

I watched this movie with my father shortly after it came out on video, so I would have been only 9 or 10 at the time. I did not see it again until this year, but I could still remember the scene of a lone man stumbling across a field strewn with the skeletons of his countrymen. Watching it again was both a moving and a worthwhile experience. There are so many scenes which will, as the movie case says, haunt the viewer long after watching. The scene already mentioned, Waterston and Ngor wandering through the remains of the homes of Cambodian civilians destroyed by American bombs, a little girl, her hands over her ears, crying and screaming, surrounded by explosions and gunfire. The acting performances are top notch all round, particularly, of course, by Dr. Ngor. The team of Joffe and Menges is superb, as they also are in The Mission. Both films are in my video library. As an aside, whatever happened to Joffe? Super Mario Brothers? The Scarlet Letter? The Mission and The Killing Fields are such rich, well-crafted films. It's a shame that actors and directors are pulled towards Hollywood. Artistic integrity is priceless. Perhaps that's why it's given away by so many.

I can't put my finger on exactly what it is about this film that gets to me so much, but it is THE most haunting, emotional film experience... and I've only ever seen it on video. Excellent performances from Waterston, Ngor and Malkovich. A brilliant score by Mike Oldfield. Scenes of high emotion, tension, drama, horror and even one or two pieces of light relief (well, it has got Australia's Graham Kennedy of comedy fame). The stand-out scenes for mine are those in the French Embassy; I can never watch the final scene from this sequence with a dry eye. An excellent film and the soundtrack is not a bad investment either.

What was taken away after a viewing of The Killing Fields is not any sort of empathy with those poor Cambodians or the plight of Dith Pran, but a genuine hatred of Roland Joffe for believing his audience is made up of moronic dolts so ignorant and unsophisticated that they need to be told that the insanity and murder on display is a very bad thing. Really, thank god for the 30 inserts of crying children while overpowering sadness-score swells exponentially. Feel bad! You must FEEL BAD FOR THEM! Joffe's narcissism viciously attacks us at every turn with how goddamn important he knows this film is. It's brutal and insulting. This is a shame, as there are some skillfully choreographed sequences where our protagonists are shuffled from place to place in total confusion as to the situation. These contain little to no dialogue and articulate a great deal through imagery. Of course there is the outrageously bizarre musical accompaniment that deflates any interest in the scenes. It's as if Joffe hired Trent Reznor and Danny Elfman and told them to meet somewhere in the middle. The much hyped performance of Haing S. Ngor is not Earth shattering but definitely impressive, especially as a non actor who totally out-acts the rest of the cast. The tragedy is that as a man who actually survived all the misery we see in this film, he deserved to be in a far better portrayal of the insanity the Khmer Rouge put Cambodia through. All we learn about the calamitous conflict is that "it sucked." Granted, the focus of this film is on the characters of the reporters, but the audience should know a bit about what they are seeing. The Khmer Rouge appears like a magical force that simply showed up and took over. This might be asking for too much of a different film, but it seems necessary for something that clearly wants to be the total embodiment of the Cambodian conflict. A film that bastardizes John Lennon's "Imagine" in such a horrific, tug-at-the-heart-strings fashion deserves no such moniker. It's an ending so overdone and steeped in cheese that all in the audience will cry, but not for the intended reason.