The Killing Fields
Director: Roland Joffé
In 1975, tyrant Pol Pot took over Cambodia and “cleansed” his country of over two million people during the “Year Zero” campaign carried out by his forces, the Khmer Rouge. Covering the proceedings were New York Times correspondent Sydney Schanberg and his Cambodian photographer, Dith Pran. They stayed behind when Phnom Penh fell, Pran was seized, and Sydney made it his life’s mission to save him.
If you see only one title on this illustrious list, make it this one. As things progress, one feels the pressure constricting one’s innards, the tingling across the scalp, the almost numbing effect of the score and helicopters at one notable event, and the truly stunning power of their last two lines. I haven’t seen it since the theatrical run, and still I’ve put hand to forehead at least five times while writing this piece.
Chilling it was during Argo to hear one American reflect upon the characteristic that brought him to being in that paralyzingly frightening predicament ~ it bore a precise and unnerving echo to a conversation between two individuals here; the observation stops one in one’s tracks, and very nearly undoes Sydney. Word to the wise, that is all…
Harrowing and triumphant, The Killing Fields is where Sam Waterston earned my permanent unconditional affection, and while you’re watching, bear in mind that Haing S. Ngor, who portrayed Pran, himself was seized by the Khmer Rouge during Year Zero. Mercy…
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