The Killing Fields (1984)

Director: Roland Joffé

Starring: Sam Waterston, Haing S. Ngor, John Malkovich

A journalist is trapped in Cambodia during tyrant Pol Pot’s bloody ‘Year Zero’ cleansing campaign, which claimed the lives of two million ‘undesirable’ civilians.

Director Roland Joffe did an incredible job in capturing the very essence of what friendship means. ‘The Killing Fields’ is a moving drama that sends out a strong message of friendship and loyalty.

The shocking reality of war is so well depicted here. The film is just as unpredictable as life itself. The actors did a very good job in bringing the characters to life, especially Haing S. Ngor as Dith Pran. (Ngor himself, was a captive during the Cambodian war where he was imprisoned and tortured).

Parts of the film looks like an advertising vessel for Coca Cola, which is a pity, but I suppose they were a big sponsor. Apart from that, this is a very well done film. I did find the latter part of the second act and into the beginning of the third act a bit dragged out. Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t in the least boring, but found it too long. It does span a few years, though, so I suppose they wanted to show us the agony Dith Pran had to endure, making way for a good finale. Note: if you’re expecting an action packed war movie, this is not that type of war movie.

‘The Killing Fields’ won three Oscars for Best Supporting Actor, Best Film Editing, Best Cinematography. It received a further 46 award nominations, of which it won 24, including Best Actor, Best Screenplay, Best Film, Best Production Design, Best Sound…

Would I watch it again? Probably not.