Media Credit: Courtesy photo "The Killing Fields" focused on the Year Zero massacres committed by Pol Pot. [Click to enlarge]

It may not be a harvest-time horror movie, but "Killing Fields" is a frightening portrayal of real human nature which also allows hopeful insight to human behavior.

The established English film, released in 1984, braids the genres of history, war and drama to emerge now as a film that deserves to be seen.

Roland Joffe directs the movie that unravels the true story of Dith Prang, a U.S. citizen held captive as a slave laborer during Pol Pot's infamous Year Zero massacres that began during 1975 in Cambodia just following the United State's secretive bombing of Cambodia during the Vietnam War.

Prang is the guide and translator to New York Times journalist Sydney Schanberg, who covers the tumult in Cambodia through 1975.

As the Khmer Rouge move closer to the U.S. Embassy and the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh, it becomes apparent to the journalists that U.S. military bombings are escalating the conflict to a very dangerous level.

Instead of evacuating, Prang decides to stay with Schanberg to cover the story. Schanberg leaves later with ease. For Prang, a Cambodian native and U.S. citizen, there is a different story.

The second half of the film dedicates itself to the account of Dith Prang. During this time, the movie's dialogue slows to a near halt. As the film's theatrical spotlight dims, the stage is set for the award winning technical displays that test Hollywood standards as silent action unfolds.

From the music to the overwhelming humanitarian themes, the quality of "Killing Fields" renders closely to its 1979 fictional predecessor, "Apocalypse Now". Nothing is closer, though, than the film's soundtrack. The music is high–pitched and alarming, foreshadowing mood so effectively it is unavoidable.

The film is 141 minutes long, but the cinematography has no problem nursing short attention spans. Pictures of the beautiful Cambodian background contrast with the gruesome images of murder and government corruption. These images parallel the symbolic use of bright and dark lighting on the characters seen earlier in the film.

Dr. Haing S. Ngor received one of the films' three Oscar awards in 1984 for his performance as Dith Prang, a dedicated and selfless assistant to Schanberg.

John Malkovich plays photographer Alan Rockoff in an impressive supporting role. Rockoff's photographs accompanied many of Mr. Schanberg's original stories.

Both of these characters elevate the role of Schanberg's character in the film, played by Sam Waterston. Schanberg is a driven and already successful journalist who proves his humanitarian worth when he searches endlessly for Prang who is stuck in Cambodia.

"Killing Fields," now a 21-year-old movie proves its worth as it stands out as a classic that must be seen.

Article Tools