Killing Fields - Schreiendes Land (1984)

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

Director:

Roland Joffé

Writer:

Bruce Robinson (screenplay)

Stars:

Sam Waterston, Haing S. Ngor, John Malkovich

Won 3 Oscars. Another 24 wins & 22 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Sam Waterston	...	Sydney Schanberg
Haing S. Ngor	...	Dith Pran (as Dr. Haing S Ngor)
John Malkovich	...	Al Rockoff
Julian Sands	...	Jon Swain
Craig T. Nelson	...	Military Attaché
Spalding Gray	...	U.S. Consul
Bill Paterson	...	Dr. MacEntire
Athol Fugard	...	Dr. Sundesval
Graham Kennedy	...	Dougal
Katherine Krapum Chey	...	Ser Moeum (Pran's Wife)
Oliver Pierpaoli	...	Titony (Pran's Son)
Edward Entero Chey	...	Sarun
Tom Bird	...	U.S. Military Advisor
Monirak Sisowath	...	Phat (K.R. Leader 2nd Village)
Lambool Dtangpaibool	...	Phat's Son

Storyline

Sydney Schanberg is a New York Times journalist covering the civil war in Cambodia. Together with the local journalist Dith Pran, they cover some of the tragedy and madness of the war. When the American forces leave, Dith Pran sends his family with them, but stays behind himself to help Schanberg cover the event. As an American, Schanberg won't have any trouble leaving the country, but the situation is different for Pran; he's a local, and the Khmer Rouge are moving in.

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Plot Keywords:

khmer rouge | cambodia | escape attempt | genocide | prison camp | 

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Taglines:

Every so often, there is a film that is destined to be talked about and remembered for years to come.

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | History | War

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Certificate:

16

Did You Know?

Trivia

Stanley Kubrick once considered filming 'The Killing Fields', but a close aide reviewed the book as "un-cinematic", according to notes and letters in the Kubrick archive in London.

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Goofs

The Vietnamese strike aircraft are American-made T-33 Shooting Star trainer jets. These were never in use by the Vietnamese People's Air Force, and none were known to have been sent to South Vietnam. Their use in the film, however, was necessitated as it was available from the Royal Thai Air Force, and the scenes were being shot in Thailand.

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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 its 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. It was there, in the war-torn country side amidst the fighting between government troops and the Khmer Rouge guerrillas, that I met my guide and interpreter, Dith Pran, a man who was to change my life ...

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Connections

Referenced in The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson: Ricky Schroder/Lisa Eilbacher/Justin Wilson (1985)

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Soundtracks

Nessun dorma
(from Puccini's opera "Turandot")
Performed by Franco Corelli
Composed by Giacomo Puccini
Performed by Orchestra Del Teatro Dell'Opera Di Roma (as Orchestra del Teatro dell Opera Di Roma)
Conducted by Francesco Molinari Pradelli
Courtesy of EMI Records Limited

User Reviews

poignant

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.

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English French Khmer Russian

Release Date:

22 February 1985 (West Germany)

Also Known As:

Killing Fields - Schreiendes Land

Filming Locations:

USA

Box Office

Budget:

$14,400,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$32,181, 4 November 1984

Gross USA:

$34,700,291

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$34,700,291

Company Credits

Production Co:

Goldcrest Films International, International Film Investors, Enigma Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

141 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1