The Killing Fields (1984)

Director:

Roland Joffé

Writer:

Bruce Robinson (screenplay)

Release Date:

2 November 1984 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | History | War

Tagline:

He was a reporter for the New York Times whose coverage of the Cambodian War would win him a Pulitzer Prize for international reporting. But the friend who made it possible was half the world away with his life in great danger... This is the story of war and friendship, the anguish of a country and of one man's will to live.

Plot:

A photographer is trapped in Cambodia during tyrant Pol Pot's bloody "Year Zero" cleansing campaign, which claimed the lives of two million "undesirable" civilians.

Plot Keywords:

Cambodia | Khmer Rouge | New York | New York Times | Photographer

Awards:

Won 3 Oscars. Another 23 wins & 18 nominations

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Sam Waterston	...	Sydney Schanberg
Haing S. Ngor	...	Dith Pran (as Dr. Haing S Ngor)
John Malkovich	...	Alan 'Al' Rockoff
Julian Sands	...	John Swain
Craig T. Nelson	...	Major Reeves
Spalding Gray	...	U.S. Consul
Bill Paterson	...	Dr. MacEntire
Athol Fugard	...	Dr. Sundesval
Graham Kennedy	...	Dougal
Katherine Krapum Chey	...	Ser Moeum
Oliver Pierpaoli	...	Titony
Edward Entero Chey	...	Sarun
Tom Bird	...	U.S. Military Advisor
Monirak Sisowath	...	Phat - Khmer Rouge Leader
Lambool Dtangpaibool	...	Phat's Son

Runtime:

141 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English | French | Khmer

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Australia:M | South Korea:15 (DVD rating) | Argentina:18 | Chile:18 | Finland:K-16 | Norway:15 | South Korea:15 | Sweden:15 | USA:R | West Germany:16 | Netherlands:12 | Netherlands:16 (DVD rating) | Singapore:PG | Portugal:M/16 | UK:15

Filming Locations:

Bangkok, Thailand

Company:

Enigma (First Casualty) Ltd.

Trivia:

The year the film was released, Time Magazine's Cultural Highs and Lows of the Year, had as the lowest point, 'David Puttnam's decision to use John Lennon's Imagine in The Killing Fields'.

Goofs:

Continuity: During the evacuation of the U.S. embassy, a soldier is taking down the U.S. flag and climbs back into the building of the embassy, but he forgets his assault rifle.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Sydney Schanberg: Cambodia. To many westerners it seemed a paradise. Another world, a secret world. But the war in neighboring Vietnam burst it's borders, and the fighting soon spread to neutral Cambodia. In 1973 I went to cover this side-show struggle as a foreign correspondent of the New York Times...

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Zomergasten: (#4.5)" (1991)

Soundtrack:

Imagine

Honest, Worthwhile film-making...

I saw this film a while back and just saw it again on TV. If you are interested in seeing a great, tense drama this is a good start. Honest and unapologetic directing from Roland Joffe and fine performances from Sam Waterston & John Malkovich (plus nicely played small parts by Craig T. Nelson & Spalding Gray.) Above all of them, however, is Haing S. Ngor as Dith Pran, the Cambodian journalist assisting the New York Times reporter played by Waterston during the conflicts in Cambodia around the time of the Vietnam war. This was Ngor's first film and had no previous acting experience. Quite a performance from Ngor, earning a well deserved Academy Award. Interesting note, Ngor himself led a very similar life to his character. Wonderfully touching film, you should see it.