The Killing Fields

Starring: Sam Waterston, Haing S. Ngor, John Malkovich, Julian Sands, Craig T. Nelson, Spaulding Gray, Bill Paterson, Athol Fugard, Graham Kennedy
Directed by: Roland Joffe
Rating: R
Genre: Drama
1984

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: An American (Sam Waterston) and Cambodian (Haing S. Ngor) journalist work together to expose mass murder in Cambodian and must decide whether to flee the country or stay and continue reporting.

Review:

Tim: Wow, The Killing Fields is such an exceptionally made, powerful movie. I was a bit surprised that more people don't discuss it- I'm not even sure I'd ever heard of it before sitting down to see it. It's a great movie. Watching it from the lens of 35+ years later does raise some flags with the film, but I found it to be a beautiful, dramatic, important movie. It's one I would love to see again.

Like most Americans who care at least a bit about history, I'd heard of Pol Pot's takeover of Cambodia and I had a vague idea of the atrocities committed there. That's it. I didn't know much about the story. I never took the time to reflect on the immense human toll of those events. This movie helped me do that by painting such a vivid picture of it on screen. We could have spent more time with Cambodians, yes. But, we do see the "Year Zero" murders and we get a small sense of what it must have been like to be in a country that felt like it was tearing itself apart, which shockingly little resistance from the global community. This is an event that never should have happened and more people around the globe should know about it. I appreciate this film educating me, at least a little.

The movie's emotion arc is the story of a friendship between two journalists- one, an American and the other, a native Cambodian. This is a powerful, emotional connection between two men, brilliantly portrayed by Sam Waterston and Haing S. Ngor. I loved this approach because it puts a face and a name on what could feel like a senseless, immeasurable tragedy. By showing these events' impact on the life of one man, we can extrapolate from there. I thought Waterston did a very good job in the lead role. He was nominated for an Academy Award, deservedly so. Waterston portrays this reporter's courage and diligence, his willingness to risk his own safety for the story. The more powerful moments come later, though. The moments of second guessing, of regret. Waterston does all this superbly.

While Waterston is great, I don't know if I have the words to describe what Haing S. Ngor does here. I'm not sure I ever will. Ngor grew up in Cambodia and suffered for multiple years from torture and imprisonment, like was depicted here. A former doctor, he wasn't a trained actor when he took on this role. It was his first time acting and he walked away with an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. That is stunning, but he absolutely deserved it. Ngor is a big reason this is a great film. His performance feels effortless, authentic. Perhaps he was able to tap into his own personal experiences and somehow let that translate on screen. His Dith Pran is the emotional heart of the movie. The character is selfless, intelligent, brave beyond words. He plays a secondary role to the Americans, but he's really the star of the film. Everything he does on screen is fascinating. You watch Ngor play this role and it feels so lived in, so authentic. I loved that as the movie progresses, it becomes more and more Dith Pran's story. Ngor rises to the challenge and completely overtakes the movie with his beautiful performance. It's truly one of the more remarkable performances I've seen. The fact that it came from a non-actor nearly takes my breath away. Ngor's life was obviously not easy, and I was saddened to hear he was shot to death, 12 years after this movie was released. He obviously impacted the lives of many throughout his own life. I appreciate that he captured something beautiful on screen and all these years later, it impacted my life, too.

Waterston and Ngor do a terrific job leading the film, but the supporting cast is effective, too. John Malkovich was a welcome surprise here. His role might be the next biggest outside of those two, but it's still fairly small. Malkovich takes this role, which could have been an afterthought, and he elevates it greatly. His performance is physical and he takes up more space than you'd think the character would. It's a very strong performance. It was nice seeing Craig T. Nelson in a small role. Julian Sands does good work, too.

Now, while I love this movie, it does have some issues. The primary one likely wasn't a big issue in 1984, but feels off by today's standards. This is a movie about Cambodian and the atrocities committed on their people, but every meaningful character save one is white. This feels like a story about Americans in Cambodia. I wish the cast had been more diverse. Ngor is asked to represent the entire Cambodian populace as the only meaningful Cambodian character. As stated, he does so in such a remarkable fashion that it somehow feels okay in the context of the film. Still, I just wish this movie had more Cambodian characters to better show their story.

I wanted to hit that point, but it doesn't detract from this being a great film. I was completely enthralled by the story from beginning to end. Roland Joffe directs a film that feels like it comes from the work of a master. I couldn't believe how gritty and lived in the movie feels. It never seems like you're watching a Hollywood production- it feels like you're there, in Cambodia, during this terrible time in history. I'm not sure how he accomplished that, but it's vivid and greatly contributes to the film. Nothing about this production feels slick or glossy. It feels real.

In addition to Ngor's deserved Best Supporting Actor, the film did also win Best Cinematography (well deserved, as just mentioned) and Best Film Editing. Three Academy Awards is a big achievement and it speaks to this film's merits. It was nominated for 4 others- Waterston's Best Actor nom, Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay. I know Academy Award nominations aren't everything, but in this case, they do show what a powerful, great movie this is.

In short, I was a huge fan of The Killing Fields. It's a hard movie to watch, but it's an important film. It's entertaining, shocking, horrifying, and inspirational. I'm so glad I finally watched this film.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 8



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