The Killing Fields

Rating:
Summary: thought provoking
Review: I saw this movie in my sophmore year of high school and continue to think about it to this day. We also got to meet Dith Pran. He informed us that not only was this movie almost completely accurate, the only things that were changed were scenese of such horror they were not allowed to recreacted. It is a truly powerful and wonderfully done movie.

Rating:
Summary: "The wind whispers of fear & hate. The war has killed love."
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: Great movie!
Review: If "The Killing Fields" were to be summed up in one word, that word would be "perfect." This movie has excellent acting, excellent camera work, and a very entertaining and engaging plot.
When I first put this movie into my VCR, I had no idea what to expect. I knew fairly little about Cambodia and the Khmer Rouge; in fact, all I really knew was that it was nominated for best picture, and that everyone really seemed to like it. When the movie was done, I understood why everyone liked it. It is simply one of the greatest films ever.
The film begins with an American journalist, Sydney Schanberg, and his Cambodian assistant and guide, Dith Pran. The movie seemed to have a simple dreary feeling to it, until a scene where the two are sitting at an outdoor café, and there is a large explosion out of the blue. At this point, the pace quickly picks up. Sydney and Dith travel from location to location, trying to write stories about the fighting between the Khmer Rouge and the government. Sydney and Dith are captured by the Khmer Rouge, and Sydney is able to escape to America, but Dith is left to face the Khmer Rouge alone.
The second half of the movie deals entirely with Dith's story. Dith struggles to survive under the harsh conditions of the Khmer Rouge work camps. In the camps the children are trained by the Khmer Rouge, and the adults are sent to the fields to work. No one is allowed any personal possessions, including food. The adults are "reeducated" in an attempt to destroy Cambodia's history, and start anew. Dith manages to escape the camps, and in one of the movie's most powerful scenes, finds the "killing fields."
The next section of the movie is a bit hard to understand, because most of the dialogue is not in English, and there are no subtitles. But, Dith finds a job as a domestic servant for a fairly well off family. The leader of the family is killed by the Khmer Rouge, and Dith flees with a few of the members of the family. All of Dith's companions are killed off, and Dith finally ends up working at a rural hospital.
During this time, Sydney has become a very successful writer, but never forgets about Dith. Sydney had been searching for Dith ever since he left Cambodia. Finally, Sydney finds out Dith is alive, and in the dramatic final scene they reunite.
The film was very interesting from start to finish. It's a good idea to see the movie multiple times, so you can really understand what happened at the beginning better.
The acting in this film is top notch. Haing S. Ngor steals the show. Ngor himself was a refugee from Cambodia, and despite no acting experience was perfect for the part. Ngor acts with an immense amount of passion and emotion, and you can tell he really means it. There is no question Ngor deserves the Oscar he received. Sam Waterston did a good job with Sydney. Sydney didn't seem like too great of a guy to begin with. In the beginning he seemed very self-centered and egotistical. However, Sam Waterston did a great job portraying the character, but despite being a supporting actor, Ngor had the greatest performance.
Roland Joffe's goal when he made this movie was to draw attention to the situation in Cambodia, and it is clear that there is a significant political agenda throughout the movie. This becomes especially apparent during Sydney's speech were he criticizes America for not paying more attention to the situation in Cambodia.
It's questionable how good the movie really is about explaining the situation in Cambodia during the Khmer Rouge's take over. There is no background information and you really only get to see what is going on through the limited eyes of the main characters. You don't really get to see it from the Khmer Rouge's perspective or from the U.S.'s perspective. Instead of presenting the facts and letting the viewers form their own opinions. Joffe says "Here's what I think is happening, and here is what I think should be done." It certainly only presented a small piece of the situation.
But despite these small criticisms, "The Killing Fields" is a masterpiece. It has an excellent plot and wonderful characters. It definitely is one of the greatest movies of all time. Just don't watch this movie expecting any sort of documentary style information on Cambodia or the Khmer Rouge. The movie didn't set out to explain things. The number one goal of this movie was to entertain, and it does just that.

Rating:
Summary: Outstanding
Review: I have seen this move several times. No doubt the most significant was on the veranda of a the Sunway Guesthouse in Siem Reap, Cambodia. As the cicadas chirped on the outside, the lizards crawled the walls on the inside, a group of western tourists sat riveted as they viewed the accurate account of the country's recent past. This was not luxury--$$/night backpacker accommodation.

The story and the director's cut with Roland Jaffe talking over the movie scenes, make this DVD worth having. Watch it over and over, you won't be disappointed, because the scenes take on new meaning with each viewing.

It wouldn't hurt to read books by David Chandler and Ben Kiernan in between viewings.

This is important and experience changing stuff.

Rating:
Summary: One of my favorites
Review: This is one of the most powerful movies I've seen in a while. Set in 1975 Cambodia, it details the rise of the Maoist guerrillas of the Khmer Rouge against the country and eventually the capital Phnom Penh. This movie is a true story about the journey of Dith Pran, a Cambodian journalist working for an arrogant writer for the New York Times. Pran is forced to stay behind in Cambodia when the Khmer Rouge expel all foreigners after the fall of the capital. Pran is then transferred to a forced labor camp, one of many in which almost the entire urban populations of Cambodia are sent to.

The Khmer Rouge's policy, consistent with that of Maoism and other communist groups, is that non-farmers are traitors. The Khmer Rouge are not discriminate, they kill anyone who they perceive as a threat to their power. And anyone they feel is not an uneducated farmer is a threat. Hence, the Khmer Rouge pursues relentlessly for evidence of pre-revolutionary life. Anyone found out to have been a doctor, teacher, soldier, government official, religious leader, anyone speaking more than one language, or anyone else suspected of being somewhat intelligent, are singled out and murdered. Pran survives by convincing his captors that he was a taxi driver before his imprisonment.

After seeing fellow prisoners picked off one by one for a variety of so-called crimes, Pran plans his escape. After seeing a man be hauled off for execution for the crime of having uncalloused hands, Pran escapes through the rice paddies and heads for the Thai border. Along the way, he's recaptured by a supporter of the Khmer Rouge, who has his own farm. This farmer's own ideas and alliances illustrate the real life factioning and infighting that existed within these Maoist's own ranks.

Pran finally makes it into Thailand, where he is reunited with the writer Sydney he'd once worked for in Phnom Penh. Thus ends the movie as an excellent, powerful true story of one man's survival of, percentage-wise, the worst genocide in history. The one flaw of the movie is the tendency to sneak a little blame in there directed at America, who's bombing of NVA supply routes through Eastern Cambodia is somehow linked to the rise of Maoist guerrillas in the north. History shows full well that these insurgents were supported and instigated by China and elements of the North Vietnamese communist government. While U.S. bombing of enemy supply routes certainly didn't help stabilize the country when the Cambodian government needed stability very badly, it is a blatant deception to blame the emergence of the Khmer Rouge on it.

For more personal stories of genocide survivors, read "Children of Cambodia's Killing Fields", by Dith Pran. Some of these stories make Pran's look like a picnic by comparison.

Rating:
Summary: A very realistic picture of war
Review: A detailed movie about the horrors that happened. It often looks more like TV report and information than movie.
I watched the original french version (the french DVD cover is slightly better than the one depicted here).

Rating:
Summary: Most memorable film
Review: This film had some of the most memorable scenes of any movie I have seen. Furthermore, I don't think the movie went overboard in its portrayal of America's role in the Cambodian tragedy. On the contrary, the Khmer Rouge got the lion's share of negative coverage.

Rating:
Summary: True to Cambodia
Review: I was born in Cambodia at the end of the holocaust and my parents escaped the killing fields. This movie is a great representation of what happened there during Pol Pot's horrific reign. I love how the movie really shows all the political arguments against helping Cambodia at the time. It portrays America's ignorance and unwillingness to help a country that suffered a holocaust comparable to that of Nazi Germany. Three million people died and, yet, the U.S. did nothing to help. In fact, the U.S. military abandoned the country. American washed their hands clean of the events that were taking place. This movie not only helps to make Americans aware of what happened, but it also ridicules the country for its blantant ignorance. Although this movie has many horrible and graphic scenes in it, none is comparable to actually being there and experiencing those events first hand. My parents survived it, although millions did not. Every Cambodian family has had at least one family member killed during the holocaust. This movie is the only movie I know that best speaks of the pain and suffering that millions endured and still endure today (there are still mine fields all over the country).

Rating:
Summary: Stunned, Outraged, and Confused but loved it!
Review: "The Killing Fields" is about relationships. Roland Joffe is hooked on that little picture within big picture "thing." Truth is, the Joffe/Puttnam duo did in "The Mission" (also available on Amazon.com) and they are doing it here. The real locus of his (and Puttnam's) movies is to explore the interchange between two characters within this epic backdrop. In this case it was the Cambodian civilians. What that does is set a two hour melodrama within a historical context and does not explore the latter with any depth. Joffe really loves to take creative license with all his wonderful scenery -- in "The Mission" it was the Iguaca Falls, in this movie it is Angkor Wat.

After having read David Chandler's "Voices from S-21" I got the sense that the killing was done in a more systematic fashion. The movie makes the Khmer Rouge look like a bunch of uncontrolled thugs. It looses the sense of institutional terror a film like "Schindler's List" works very hard and very successfully to portray. Chandler takes great pains to compare the Killing Fields to the Nazi Concentration Camps. He fails as much there as Joffe, et al. do here with "The Killing Fields."

So what is it guys? Is it the secret killing of S-21, the rampage of "The Killing Fields" or a combination of both? For someone trying to get a handle on the horrors, the causes and the rebuilding of Cambodia, where is one to turn? Nonetheless, for all criticism I throw at this movie, I still feel it is a good one. The action flows really well. The scenes are exquisitely designed and managed. The acting superb and certainly the directing wonderful -- as a history lesson, maybe Joffe takes lessons from Oliver Stone (or vice versa). I was stunned, outraged, and confused but loved it.

Miguel Llora

Rating:
Summary: A horrific look at war in the Third World
Review: The Killing Fields takes you into the horrific realm of the Third World country of Cambodia amidst war, and doesn't flinch any step of the way.

Based on the true story of New York Times reporter Sydney Schanberg (Sam Waterson) covering the battle with his native translator Pran (Haing S. Ngor), this film covers their friendship as they conduct investigative reporting while trying to avoid getting killed, at least until the reporter and his crew is sent home, minus Pran. The second half of the film follows the captive Pran trying to escape from his prison camp while Sydney helplessly awaits state side.

It seems this film stays true to real events, and it is convincingly portrayed by its actors, especially the nonprofessional actor Ngor, who won an academy award for his role as Pran. It is also beautifully photographed and shows the horrors of war first hand. But unfortunately the film has one major weakness: Lack of focus. You never really have a feel for where the movie is trying to take you. Of course, it's based on real events and that's how life often is, but the filmmakers could have made the film more cohesive and unified without distorting fact.

Despite this flaw, the film still manages to be an engaging and honest look at the atrocities of war. It especially hits home in the second half, sharing its glimpse into the brutal world of prison camps. Definitely worth your time for both its historical context as well as its horrific account of war in the Third World.