Review of The Killing Fields (1984) by Reed D — 26 Sep 2011

"The Killing Fields" is a story of perseverance and survival. It presents a grim adaptation of an eyewitness article written by Sidney Schanberg, New York Times correspondent, about the tragedies that occurred during the Cambodian Civil War. The film brilliantly captures the intense emotional struggle of those who painfully endured the hardships of the war. It leaves the audience with a sense of pity for the people unfortunate enough to have been caught in the middle of such brutality.

When conflict began in 1973, Schanberg arrives in Cambodia and is aided by a local translator and journalist, Dith Pran, reporting about the impending dangers caused by the domino effect from the neighboring Vietnam war. As the rebel Khmer Rouge regime gains momentum, Schanberg and other journalists were captured. Dith Pran, endangering his life in the process, miraculously saves them all but was unable to escape Cambodia. Instead, he was taken and sent to a prison camp in the countryside and subjected to torture and forced labor. During those years, Dith Pran witnessed his country spiral into madness and the innocent laid dead in mass graves. Back in the U.S., Schanberg had received the Pulitzer Prize for his coverage in Cambodia. Unable to bare the burden, he admits to having "left" Dith Pran behind.