Customer Reviews

The Killing Fields

5 star:		(61)
4 star:		(29)
3 star:		(12)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I saw this 1984 film when it first came out, but after reading
"River of Time" by the British journalist, Jon Swain, I knew
I had to see it again. This time, it had an even stronger impact on
me. The screenplay is based on the true story written by Sydney
Schanberg, a New York Times reporter in Cambodia who had to leave his
Cambodian friend and colleague Dith Pran behind when the Khmur Rogue
took over the country in 1975. Dith Pran is forced into a worker's
camp, where he endures unspeakable agonies until he finally
escapes.

The movie won three well-deserved academy awards. One was
best for cinematography. I can understand why. Even though the movie
was shot in Thailand, the feeling of Indo-China and the area along the
Mekong display its great beauty as well as the countryside. Jon Swain
describes this in his book, but there is nothing like seeing it on the
screen. And then there are the killing fields themselves, with bones
and rotting corpses that Dith Pran discovers. Anyone who has ever
seen this film will never forget this scene.

The second award was
for film editing. That was a job of real artistry. It is always a
choice of what tiny segments of a scene to emphasize and the editors
got it exactly right. There was the terrified child holding her hands
over her ears to shut out the bombing sounds. There was the tiny
vegetable that Dith Pran plucks off a plant with relish when he is in
the prison camp. There is the wash of blood on the floor in the
hospital where people were dying.

Dr. Hang S. Ngor won an Oscar for
his role of Dith Pran, one of the few non-professional actors to ever
win an Oscar. He was especially suited to the part because he,
himself, had endured 4 years of torture and imprisonment in a
Cambodian work camp. He had to hide his identity of physician and
watch his young wife die in childbirth while there. No wonder he was
able to play the part so well. I understand he was murdered in his
garage in his home in Los Angeles in 1996 during a robbery in which he
tried to protect a memento from his wife.

The entire cast was
wonderful, each acting performance outstanding. Sam Waterson played
Sydney Schanberg with passion and realism. John Malkovich played his
photographer sidekick. And Julian Sands had a small role as
journalist Jon Swain who was one of the three westerners saved from
execution by the intervention of Dith Pran and whose tried
unsuccessfully to forge a passport to help Dith Pran escape.

Even
though the movie was 141 minutes long, I was totally absorbed with the
same kind of horrific fascination I felt while reading Jon Swain's
book. It's hard to believe that such horrors go on in the world while
we sit here in our comfortable lives. This movie shocks us into
reality. And makes us appreciate our blessings. It also reminded me
of the role of the journalist to go out on the front lines and risk
their lives for their stories. They are to be applauded as being the
witnesses to their times.

Highly recommended. But don't expect a
good night's sleep afterwards.

This movie could be considered an "Epic". It is very good, especially the last couple minutes when Pran finally reaches safety & then is visited by his old journalist friend.

I took one star off because apparently the DVD version is not as long as the original. The original version showed a scene where the Vietnamese Army liberated the Khmer Rouge village right before Dith Pran makes his escape. This scene was missing & also some of the other scenes seemed shorter than they originally were. I would estimate that about 15 to 20 min. of film was chopped out of this version. I hate it when film studios do this. It's sacrilege!!!
Hopefully a Directors Cut is released so I can again see the film in it's full form.

Hands down, "The Killing Fields" is one of the most harrowing films I've ever seen...and also one of the most inspiring. It depicts the relationship between New York Times reporter Sydney Schanberg (played by Sam Waterston) and his Cambodian interpreter Dith Pran (Portrayed by the late Dr. Haing S. Ngor, who won a Best Supporting Actor Academy Award for his performance). The story is set in Cambodia during the mid 1970s, when the Khmer Rouge, under Pol Pot, overran the country and began one of the worst programs of systematic genocide in history. (It is estimated that over 3 million of Cambodia's 7 million people were executed by the Khmer Rouge from 1975 to 1979.) Pran saves Schanberg and several other Western reporters from execution by the Communists, but is forced to stay behind in Cambodia when his journalistic colleagues are evacuated. How Pran survives his ordeal in the Cambodian "Killing Fields," and makes his escape, is an inspiring testament to the strength of the human will and the bonds of friendship.

The movie is beautifully acted and filmed. Sam Waterston is appropriately caustic as the hard-boiled "New York Times" reporter, Sydney Schanberg. Haing S. Ngor brings a touching sensitivity and wonderful inscrutability to his role as Dith Pran. Director Roland Joffe masterfully captured the chaos of the last days in Cambodia before the Communist takeover, and the horror and oppression of the Khmer Rouge forced education camps.

"The Killing Fields" is not a movie for the faint-hearted. It has many bloody scenes of violence none of which are gratuitous, and the scenes depicting the killing fields are terrible in their realism and power.

Still, "The Killing Fields" is a powerful and thought-provoking film, and should not be missed.

The insanity of Pol Pot and his regime, Hell on Earth!

I just watched "The Killing Fields" after almost two decades after I first saw it in the eighties and I cannot believe how intense and gripping this movie is to this very day. Of all the genocides in human history this one that took place in Cambodia between 1975 and 1979 just after the Vietnam War is probably the worst in human history. This is not only because of the number of people who were killed or because of the torture and methods of extermination of the poor victims but because the communist Khmer Rouge, the very guys who were supposed to run the government were doing it to their own people. This was not some enemy indulging in hate crime. Coinciding with the US pullout of Vietnam, as the foreigners also leave, Cambodia celebrates happily welcoming their new military government but the initial revelry soon turns to a life threatening situation as the Khmer Rouge gradually start mobilizing their plans. The mass evacuation of all the people in the major cities to the fields begin. No one is spared, including bed ridden patients in hospitals. Simultaneously the killings begin. According to their screwed-up principles all educated people (even all those who were wearing spectacles were considered educated) foreigners, anyone related to the former government, the sick, the unhealthy were all to be exterminated and what follows is Cambodia's period of hell. Without any value for human life Cambodian citizens are butchered like animals. People are killed anywhere and everywhere without respite and their corpses abandoned without proper burial or funeral. Khmer Rouge's motto when it comes to human life - "if they survive no gain; if they die no loss". I also read from reports on sites on the web that after years of war the Khmer Rouge had totally lost the value of human life.

In all other cases of genocide there was hatred and enmity for one regime for another. But in the case of Cambodia, the Khmer Rouge killed their very own people and two million of them with their stupid and bizarre ideals that got them nowhere. Many foreigners were also killed and these include Vietnamese, Pakistani's, Muslims, Christians and Buddhists. In fact The Khmer Rouge were just waiting to find the most silly reason to dispose somebody or anybody. The film also reminds the world what will happen to people and governments if power is given to those madmen who have no idea about how to use it. These Caligulas eventually end up abusing the system with gross misuse of power. Only the murders in Sierra Leonne and the stories of child soldiers can come close to the crimes that happened in Cambodia but then again there is no comparision. Dith Pran whose story is told in this movie continues his crusade to this very day of educating people in Cambodia and around the world of what went on in his country in those years of torture, pain, suffering and death so that such an incident never takes place again. There are several sites online describing the genocide.

The Khmer Rouge believed that only labour and an agrarian society could revive Cambodia's economy and so "everyone" was made to work in the fields. They had a target of producing a targeted quantity of rice per acre and only very few of the groups could achieve that target. Every worker was exhausted to starvation on poorly fed meals causing widespread disease and malnutrition resulting in further deaths. Hungry people scavenged on whatever that was edible and because only cultivated crops were to be consumed other plantations and crops were either removed or destroyed. In their places mines were planted everywhere. Pol Pot called them "the prefect soldiers" Millions of them were planted, almost one for every citizen of the country. The Khmer Rouge were also against wasting bullets and victims were clubbed or bludgeoned, killed with sharp bamboo sticks or had their throats slit and left to die.

The Movie tries best to cover all aspects of this regime's insane thinking. But here's more. I remember watching Roland Joffe (director of this movie) explain this in a documentary other things that were taking place during the regime though they weren't shown in the movie. One of the worst crimes that was committed by the regime was in the Tuol Sleng school (now converted into a war museum) that was converted into a prison (nicknamed the notorious S12) through which 14,000 or so people went in an only a handful survived. The rest were tortured to the limits of unimaginable and unbearable pain and agony and subsequently murdered in the nearby Choeung Euk, before the forced and framed confessions were extracted out of them. The paintings of Vann Nath one of the few survivors (who survived because of his painting skill) tell it all. Most of the grizzly images he painted are graphic and certainly not for the faint of heart.

The other aspect of the movie is the well dramatized indoctrination of the masses, particularly the children. Children were brain washed because it was easy to get a new generation with the ideals of party ingrained in them than teach or convert an older generation Children were allowed to judge a prisoner's or a victim's fate, spy on people, even their own parents and for all which they were praised and given better positions. It is not sure if the children were doing it out of fear or survival. The Khmer rouge did not believe in and strongly discouraged parent-child family set-up. As converts to the regime peasants were involved in torture and killings too. Many of these guards and soldiers were barely out of their teens. Of the several disturbing scenes in one very moving scene a volunteer in one of the indoctrination classes raises her hands to be forgiven. What was on her mind? Escape this dreadful life by getting killed or maybe she thought she would be forgiven and allowed to live. Little does she know that she and many others who exposed themselves as educated were going to their graves the very same evening.

Finally when the Khmer Rouge were ousted, they left behind just a handful of doctors and engineers for the entire nation. Even the Vietnamese who finally liberated Cambodia from the Khmer Rouge and who had seen enough in the war in their own country were appalled by what the fleeing Khmer Rouge forces had left behind.

There are tons of info on the genocide on Wikipedia and elsewhere on the web. Dith Pran has his own site. Dr. Haing S Ngor who played Dith Pran and who was a Cambodian Genocide survivor himself won an Oscar for Best Actor in a Supporting Role in 1985. Unfortunately he lost his wife and family in the Genocide. The pain and fear is very much there on his face and playing a Cambodian would have been second nature. Unfortunately he was killed in Los Angeles in the late nineties during a burglary. I'll never forget his Oscar award acceptance speech where he tearfully dedicated the award to the millions who had died and to his homeland, Cambodia. Another Cambodian in the U.S who became popular by writing about her life during the Khmer Rouge times is Loung Ung. The movie also won Oscars for Best Cinematography and Best Editing. Besides the Oscars the movie won several awards world wide. Shot in Thailand the movie has some very amazing made sets. Particularly note the war torn streets through which Haing and friends make their escape. You also cannot help enjoying the village side of these countries despite the crimes that were going on in them.

The only annoying thing was the pop music of Mike Oldfield at certain times of the movie but John Lennon's "Imagine" played at the befitting moment was a lovely touch by Roland Joffe and will certainly move you. "Band on the run" by P.McCartney and the Wings is also heard earlier in the movie.

During the nineties I remember reading and even watching on TV, how Pol Pot (I am quite sure it was him) on one occasion was literally man handled by the people of Cambodia when he tried to enter Cambodia via the main airport. Almost everyone was trying to get his share of the bashing. He was lucky to have got away alive. He and many of the war criminals got away with their crimes never to be tried. Some surrendered and some were captured but most of them are either at large or escaped persecution or punishment.

Released 6 years after the ousting of the regime this is the closest that you can get to the horror and crime that took place in Cambodia's worst period in history.

Very highly recommended, this is a must-see!

There appears to be is a growing audience that appreciates the artful integration of entertainment with education, and few recent movies have accomplished this goal so well as did the classic Academy Award winning movie, "The Killing Fields". Set in Cambodia during the closing days of the American involvement there in the early 1970s, it powerfully relates the true story of an edgy, ambitious, and dangerously inquisitive American correspondent for the New York Times, played superbly by Sam Waterston (of TV's "Law And Order"), and his Cambodian photographer/assistant, played magnificently by the late Haing S. Ngor, who ironically was murdered by street thugs in Los Angeles a few years ago. This movie managed to be both a critical and a box office success, and its depiction of the events leading to the mass murder of millions of ordinary Cambodians by the indigenous communist Khmer Rouge created a kind of worldwide awareness of just how extensive the bloodbath in Cambodia was.

This movie is largely based on the actual experiences of New York Times journalist Sidney Schanberg and his Cambodian assistant Dith Pran during the merciless onslaught by both sides during the extension of the Vietnam War to Cambodia and involving both American forces and the indigenous Khmer Rouge. The movie offers a quite graphic portrayal of the conduct of that war, and the horrible aftermath as the Americans withdraw and the Khmer Rouge come home to angrily roost over the remaining civilians left in the urban centers of Cambodia after the army leaves. The movie takes great care to detail the ways in which the communists attempt to "re-educate" the populace by routing out the educated, the intellectuals, and those with sympathies for the former French colonial government. The bloodbath that ensues is told through the personal experiences of Dith Pran before his eventual escape to Thailand and the west. This is a quite entertaining, sophisticated, and historically accurate effort to show the consequences of the American capitulation in southeast Asia, and the all too human consequences for the individual people left in the vortex of this horrible set of historical circumstances. The exploration of the ways in which the Cambodian holocaust is executed make this movie a terrific teaching tool by showing how critically we can look at the lessons of history. Enjoy!

After nearly twenty years, The Killing Fields still remains one of the most powerful films ever made, a brilliant piece of moviemaking that leaves a searing imprint in the mind long after the first viewing. This isn't a film to be taken lightly, but rather a serious examination of the horrors of war and individual conflicts and struggles, and for that is on par with Steven Spielberg's work on Saving Private Ryan and Schindler's List, certainly a noteworthy comparison.

The film opens in 1973, as the Vietnam War comes to an end, but the conflict still continues to spread. The Khmer Rouge, a radical political group, is slowly taking over war-torn Cambodia. The film's first 2/3's chronicles the journeys and friendship of two hournalists, Sydney Schanberg (Sam Waterston) and Dith Pran (Haing S. Ngor), as well as photographers Al Rockoff (John Malkovich) and Jon Swain (Julian Sands).

The American Embassy makes the crucial decision to evacuate but Schanberg refuses to leave, and his partner Pran, out of loyalty, also willingly stays behind while his family is evacuated. But further political trouble ensues, and Pran is eventually forced to remain in Cambodia, pushing him into a struggle to survive the re-education camps and the Killing Fields.

Perfectly directed, this easily remains director Roland Joffe's best work to date. Like Michael Cimino, it's something of a tragedy to see him take a step backward with every film he's gone on to make. But none of his later works do anything to belittle what he's accomplished here. He captures the insanity of the time period, the political confusion, the chaos, and the downright terrors of war, doing all this not from a soldier's point of view, but from civilians.

Joffe's depiction creates so much tension from so many situations. Suspenseful and heart-pounding segments include an evacuation of American personnel and a desperate attempt to fake a passport to keep Pran in the embassy. The last hour, which focuses almost entirely on Pran, is absolutely seat-gripping and terrifying, a descent into the depravities of war and to an extent, even the human condition. It's at this point the film takes on an almost apocalyptic atmposphere, a mood so strong it feels inescapable.

The film is so riveting not only because of Joffe's direction, but also because of enagaging and sympathetic characters. Haing Ngor carries most of the emotional load as Dith Pran, and comes through magnificently in a role that's touching and brave. Having faced the actual terrors of war in Cambodia, Ngor is brilliant, delivering one of the best performances I've ever seen. Sam Waterston, who's never been better, is superb as the journalist and friend who's overcome with guilt. Solid suport from John Malkovich and Julian Sands rounds out this terrific cast.

I find it very difficult to believe that The Killing Fields has become something of a forgotten relic over the years. It remains an outstanding piece and perhaps the best war film of its era. The film is even more harrowing than Oliver Stone's Platoon, more realistic than Apocalypse Now and Full Metal Jacket, and more intensely personal than The Deer Hunter. Despite its stance as something of a forgotten relic, The Killing Field's importance and impact remain, and by today's standards, has an even more terrifying imprint. The Killing Fields, while certainly a graphically violent and downbeat film, is ultimately just as inpiring as it is depressing. This may be a flinching, no-holds barred experience, but it is one that must be seen. Truly unforgettable, and one of my personal favorites.

I'll try hard not to slide into the "Triumph of Humanity" routine as many a doting reviewer is wont to do, but despite its age (about 25 years), it's misplaced use of Lennon's music, and its willed oversight of some inconvenient facts (e.g., the blanket bombing of Cambodia by US airplanes), this is a phenomenal movie. For several reasons.

First, Southeast Asia's tryst with wars has germinated into a bunch of memorable film epics (Full Metal Jacket, Apocalypse Now) and some good contextual dramas (Deer Hunter). But here is a story told a little closer to the ground, of people who were not very "important" and certainly not very powerful, who got caught up in events that were indifferent to them. It succeeds because it conveys both a political/human rights story and an intense personal drama.

Second, the movie doesn't succumb to typical Hollywood devices where haphazard chances of life and unanticipated twists of fate tiptoe into a theatrical formula with such alacrity that what might once have happened to a real person begins to look like it happened to John Wayne. Killing Fields trusts us instead to find the characters interesting in their rawness against their grotesque realities. It is a risk that works and makes it into a deeply affecting experience.

Third, the film is a masterful achievement on all technical levels. The stunning visuals of Cambodia are convincing, which makes the point that much more strident. The background score, or the lack of it at crucial moments, is marvellous. But the most special moments are the human ones: the conversations, the exchanges of trust, the waiting around, the sudden fear, the quick bursts of violence, the desperation.

Fourth, and most important, it is doubly memorable because of its authenticity. Not only is the story true, the co-star Haing S. Ngor was a non-actor, a medical doctor by training, and an actual survivor/refugee of the real 'Killing Fields' of Cambodia.

The movie may be seem slow-paced in the second half to some as we see our Cambodian protagonist camouflage himself to escape the dreaded Khmer Rouge, but that's because it relies less on dialogue at this stage and more on the stirring visuals.

It's the sort of stuff one wishes never to have to watch, much less live through. But what a fabulously constructed motion picture!

Of all the wars which ravaged the pages of America's history, none has been quite as devastating as the Vietnam War, a costly and controversial battle which cost the lives of thousands of men and women. Many films have been produced which focus primarily on this era of U.S. history, but none have been as "deep" and long-standing as Roland Joffe's "The Killing Fields." As to not destroy the context of the film for the viewer who has not yet seen the movie, I shall not delve into a plot summary, but I will place some of my view(s) within this comment space. First, cinematographer Chris Menges's excellent effects created the sense of doom which permeated the quiet, humble country of Cambodia and its war-stricken victims, portraying the despair and suffering of the civilians. Close-up shots of congealed blood, rubble and ultimate devastation of the nation truly drove home the essence and appreciation of the film. Second, the friendship which developed between the two men in the film illustrated the fact that admist the guns, bombs and bullets, glimmers of humanity and empathy still existed, and was capable of being brought forth-- hence, the uncanny comradeship between these two individuals. With this in mind, I leave this comment with the realization that despite the hatred which was rampant between the countries at that time, two men chose to rebel against those chains, and forged a companionship which no gun or bomb could ever eradicate.

I've recently read a ton of Cambodian history - "First They Killed My Father", "River of Time", "Brother Number 1", and a few others. My interest started with this movie.

"Killing Fields" is not perfect. I agree with some earlier reviewers that the anti-American take is a bit too much. The counter-point to that is, I guess, that the Nixon Admin brought a lot of that on it's decendents. And don't forget that 1984 (the year this movie was released) was the height of the Reagan years - Hollywood was much more anxious to take shots at the Establishment in those days than they have been during the Clinton love-fest.

"Killing Fields" does a few things very well: I got a sense of what Indochina must have been like before 1975, and what the madness of the Khmer Rouge takeover must have been like. The scenes of the evacuation of Phnom Penh are one of the highlights of the movie - total chaos. I also got a sense of life under the Khmer Rouge - physical labor right out of the Middle Ages, no food, fear of the "Organization", fear of the child-soldiers, fear of each other.

Some technical points: You really have to pay attention - the accents of some of the Cambodian actors and (especially) the actor who plays Pran are hard to understand. This is doubly unfortunate during the 2nd half of the movie, when "Pran" narrates the action. It took me at least 2 viewings of these scenes to understand what was going on. Also, during "Pran's" journey to Thailand, it's very unclear who some of his companions are and what happens to them.

Overall, "Killing Fields" is an important and interesting movie. I recommend it highly.

There are films that continue to haunt you long after the end credits fade away. There are films that horrify you because of the gruesome imagery that bombards you while you sit in the darkened theater. And then there are films whose haunting and horrifying nature is magnified even more because it is based on events that actually happened. Such a film is Roland Joffe's "The Killing Fields."

"The Killing Fields" chronicles the journey of two friends who find themselves swept up in the revolution in Cambodia during the 1970s. As the Khmer Rouge comes to power, New York Times writer Sydney Schanberg (Sam Waterston) and his assistant Dith Pran (Haing S. Ngor) witness firsthand the transformation of Cambodia's cities and countryside under the new regime. As the situation becomes more dire, Schanberg finds himself in a difficult situation - he knows Pran will run afoul of the new government once the Khmer Rouge completes their takeover but Schanberg still needs him to finish his duties for the New York Times. Both men hope for the best but when Pran attempts to leave the country, he finds that his window of opportunity has disappeared and he is trapped in Cambodia.

"The Killing Fields" is a film that pulls no punches. Watching Pran trying to stay alive from day to day is a sobering viewing experience. While its story explores the broader political implications of the rise of the Khmer Rogue, the true drama revolves around Pran who embodies the personal suffering of all of the regime's victims. While Waterston is outstanding, this is a film that delivers it message through Pran, and Ngor is more than up to the demands of his role. His performance is honest to the point of heartbreak. This film is not easy to watch but it is a worthwhile journey for those with the courage to sit through it.