About The Killing Fields (film)

 

The Killing Fields is a 1984 British biographical drama film about the Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia, which is based on the experiences of two journalists, Cambodian Dith Pran and American Sydney Schanberg. It was directed by Roland Joffé and produced by David Puttnam for his company Goldcrest Films. Sam Waterston stars as Schanberg, Haing S. Ngor as Pran, and John Malkovich as Al Rockoff. The adaptation for the screen was written by Bruce Robinson; the musical score was written by Mike Oldfield and orchestrated by David Bedford; and the costumes were designed by Judy Moorcroft.

The film was a success at the box office and an instant hit with critics. At the 57th Academy Awards it received seven Oscar nominations, including Best Picture; it won three, most notably Best Supporting Actor for Haing S. Ngor, who had no previous acting experience, as well as Best Cinematography and Best Editing. At the 38th British Academy Film Awards, it won eight BAFTAs, including Best Film and Best Actor in a Leading Role for Ngor.

In 1999, the British Film Institute voted The Killing Fields the 100th-greatest British film of the 20th century. It is now seen as one of the greatest films of all time.

Plot

In 1973 Phnom Penh, the Cambodian national army wages a civil war with the communist Khmer Rouge group. Dith Pran, a Cambodian journalist and interpreter for The New York Times, awaits the arrival of reporter Sydney Schanberg at the city's airport, but leaves suddenly. Schanberg takes a cab to his hotel where he meets up with photographer Al Rockoff. Pran meets Schanberg later and tells him that an American B-52 has allegedly bombed Neak Leung. After Schanberg and Pran go to the town and confirm the allegation, they are arrested when they try to photograph the execution of two Khmer Rouge operatives. They are eventually released and Schanberg is furious when the international press corps arrives with the U.S. Army.

Two years later, in 1975, the Phnom Penh embassies are evacuated in anticipation of the Khmer Rouge's arrival. Schanberg secures evacuation for Pran's family, but Pran insists on staying behind to help Schanberg. The Khmer Rouge move into the capital, ostensibly in peace. During a parade through the city, Schanberg and Rockoff are met by a detachment of the Khmer Rouge, who immediately arrest them. The group is taken to a back alley where prisoners are being held and executed. Pran, unharmed because he is a Cambodian civilian, negotiates to spare his friends' lives, and the group retreats to the French embassy. The Khmer Rouge orders all Cambodian citizens in the embassy to be handed over, to which the fearful ambassador complies. Knowing that Pran will be imprisoned or killed, Rockoff and fellow photographer Jon Swain try to forge a British passport for Pran, but the deception fails when Pran's image on the passport photo disappears, as they lack adequate photographic fixer. Pran is turned over to the Khmer Rouge and forced to live under their totalitarian regime.

Several months after returning to New York City, Schanberg launches a personal campaign to locate Pran; he writes letters to several charities and maintains close contact with Pran's family in San Francisco. In Cambodia, Pran has become a forced labourer under the Khmer Rouge's "Year Zero" policy, a return to the agrarian ways of the past. Pran is also forced to attend propagandist classes where many undergo re-education. As intellectuals are made to disappear, Pran feigns simple-mindedness. Eventually, he escapes and stumbles upon one of the Pol Pot regime's Killing Fields before he is found unconscious on the riverside and taken in by a different cadre of Khmer Rouge. In 1976, Schanberg is awarded the fictional AIFPC journalism award (a stand-in for the real Schanberg’s Pulitzer Prize) for his coverage of the Cambodian conflict, and he tells the audience that half the recognition for the award belongs to Pran. Rockoff confronts Schanberg and harshly accuses him of not doing enough to locate Pran and for using his friend to win the award. Although Schanberg initially defends his efforts, he ultimately admits that Pran stayed because of what Schanberg wanted.

Pran is shown living in a Khmer Rouge-held village led by a man named Phat, where he does household chores and tends to Phat's young son. Phat makes several attempts to test Pran’s understanding of French and English, but Pran continues to hide his education, claiming to have been a taxi driver before the revolution. This ruse continues until Phat catches him at night listening to an English language radio broadcast. However, rather than punishing him, Phat confides in Pran about his distrust of the Khmer Rouge leadership, and asks him to take ward of his son in the event that he is killed. During the Khmer Rouge's border war with Vietnam, Pran discovers that Phat's son has American money and a map leading to safety. When Phat tries to stop the younger Khmer Rouge officers from killing several of his comrades, he is ignominiously shot. In the confusion, Pran escapes with four of Phat’s comrades and they begin a long trek through the jungle with Phat's son. The group later splits and three of them head in a different direction; Pran continues following the map with the fourth man. However, Pran's companion activates a hidden land mine while holding the boy. As Pran pleads with the man to give him the boy, the mine goes off, killing the pair. Pran continues through the jungle alone until he eventually finds a Red Cross refugee camp near the border of Thailand. In the United States, Schanberg learns that Pran is alive and safe, and reunites with Pran at the Red Cross camp. Pran assures Schanberg of his forgiveness as the two embrace.

Cast


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