The Killing Fields | Sam Waterston, Haing S. Ngor

The Killing Fields | Sam Waterston, Haing S. Ngor | The Killing Fields

DVDs:

The Killing Fields

	The Killing Fields Sam Waterston, Haing S. Ngor Warner Home Video, 2001 average customer review:based on 96 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Powerful

Excellent, excellent film. Very powerful. The story focuses on a byproduct of the Vietnam War - the atrocities in Cambodia. We see the situation in its infancy as conditions go from bad to worse. From the perspective of a journalist, we bear witness to the atrocities on one hand and the will to survive on the other. The struggle to overcome external forces is on display here in full regalia. Five stars and worth every one.

The Killing Fields

Harrowing tale of man's appalling cruelty to man would seem incredible were it not true. Director Joffe crafts an authentic and intelligent portrayal of individual heroism, as Pran overcomes enormous hardship and suffering to seize his chance for freedom.. Both Waterston and Ngor (a non- professional actor who won an Oscar) are outstanding. A disturbing but important film.

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A Master Piece

I've seen this movie more than 20 times since its release in the mid 80s. Its one of my top 10, equal to another master piece "The Ninth Configuration".
What really touched me is the true friendship between Sidney and Pran; one sacrificing for the other; a virtue rarely found in today's material world.
The commentary by the director is superb, adding another dimension to the humanity behind the story.

Great Film, Jaded History.

I've of two minds on The Killing Fields. On the one hand, it is an excellent drama and an excellent movie. On the other, I could not stand its anti-American viewpoint and deliberate distortion of history. The Khmer Rouge were not caused by the American bombing of Cambodia. They had been around for decades and once empowered acted in a manner that is fairly common among communist totalitarians (see Mao and Stalin). If anything, the US bombing ended up delaying their takeover as it killed off 10,000 of their number and probably allowed the pro-western government to remain in power for an extra two years. Pol Pot was one of the more sinister and evil individuals to ever walk the earth but to pretend that a twisted person like that came about due to bombing is to completely misunderstand human psychology. The blasts at Nagasaki and Hiroshima were thousands of times worse than what transpired in Cambodia but produced no Japanese Pol Pots. Q.E.D.

At any rate, flawed historical account aside, this is a wonderful movie. You might not like the main character who is played masterfully by Sam Waterston, however. "Self-Righteous" Sid Schanberg's personality is very hard to take as he seems to be only capable of criticizing everything and everyone. He has little generative to say. Haing S. Ngor's portrayal of Dith Pran is superlative and he owns the second part of the movie which is a major reason why it is so memorable. One of the best elements in the film is its lingering sense of doom which one feels from the very beginning. You know what is coming and it's going to be a complete horror show. I think the mood and movement of The Killing Fields is the way in which it truly excels. The film also commemorates the 1.7 million people who lost their lives during the reign of Khmer Rouge which is a great achievement. We should be grateful that it does so.

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