The Killing Fields

'The Killing Fields' is a 1984 British drama film directed by Roland Joffé, exploring the Khmer Rouge reign of terror in Cambodia and the experiences shared between two journalists: Relentless New York Times reporter Sydney Schanberg (Sam Waterston) and Cambodian interpreter Dith Pran (Dr. Haing S. Ngor). The casting for the movie was chosen appropriately and the storyline portrayed an accurate historical representation of the events that occurred in Cambodia and the treatment of prisoners in the labour camps. Through perfecting both aspects of casting and storyline accuracy, Joffé has created an emotional yet historically accurate movie to be enjoyed by a wide range of audiences.

Ngor’s life experiences during Pol Pot’s regime significantly
enhanced his portrayal of Pran in the film. Originally uninterested in taking up the role, Ngor was inspired by his experiences in Cambodia to "…show the world how deep starvation is in Cambodia, how many people die under communist regime. My heart is satisfied. I have done something perfect." [People magazine, 1985]. Pat Golden, the casting director, requested Ngor to act out a scene on camera in which Pran would be convincing his wife to leave the country. Joffé said in response ‘…He cried, and he made Pat cry. He did it five times, and he cried five times. At that point, I knew this was an actor, not a gifted amateur.’ [People magazine, 1985]. Prior to the time when Cambodia was seized by the Khmer Rouge, Ngor was practicing as a gynaecologist and surgeon but was forced to hide these skills to avoid being killed along with other intellectuals and professionals. After being expelled from Phnom Penh to a concentration camp, his wife, My-Huoy, died in childbirth. Although Ngor had the skills to perform a Caesarean section, he would have been killed, along with his wife and child. The emotion from this experience was what made his scene filmed on camera so emotionally intense, as he had experienced a similar loss to the cue. Smaller details are also portrayed in the film, such as times when Ngor had to forage for snails, mice and grasshoppers to supplement his diet of rice gruel, shown where Pran is eating in the rain and grabs a lizard to eat. Through applying his experience of the Khmer Rouge regime, Ngor was able to enforce the authenticity of Pran.
Accurate portrayal the final stages of the Cambodian Civil War and the start of the Khmer Rouge regime shows the audience an exact replication of the events that unfolded in Cambodia.
In 1962, Pol Pot began forming a guerrilla army known as the Khmer Rouge to oppose Prince Norodom Sihanouk’s rule. In 1970 when the United States attacked Cambodia, the Vietnamese were driven deeper into Cambodia where they eventually joined the Khmer Rouge. A combination of the happenings resulted in economic and military regression in Cambodia and led to many favouring Pol Pot. A key event was the incident in which the American B-52 Stratofortress accidentally bombed the town Neak Leung. This is one of the first scenes where Schanberg and Pran are seen together and they observe the situation. Joffé creates a particularly moving scene is when the camera focuses on a young girl, sitting atop a pile of rubble whilst crying and shaking in the aftermath of the bombing. People are seen running around frantically, many wounded and dead surrounding the pair. Further into the film, there is a scene where Khmer Rouge are parading through the city with the Cambodians and everyone is in a light-hearted mood. Joffé’s use of sudden change in music shows how only hours after the Khmer Rouge ‘befriend’ the Cambodians, they are sending them out into the countryside as part of the ‘Four Year Plan’; a plan which ‘called for the collectivisation of all private property and placed high national priority on the
cultivation of rice.’ [A History of Democratic Kampuchea (1975-1979) (2007)]. By replicating the events that really happened aided with dramatic effects, the film portrays a strikingly correct account of post-civil war Cambodia and the start of the Khmer Rouge regime.
Incorporating the Khmer Rouge’s methods of torture in labour camps invokes shock and empathy amongst the audience. The second half of the film shows the separation of Schanberg and Pran and the maltreatment of Cambodians who have been sent off to agricultural grounds as part of the Khmer Rouge’s ‘Year Zero’ plan. Joffé has effectively portrayed the twisted nature of the Khmer Rouge, the average age of the troops being seventeen. Citizens in the camps were usually tortured rather than shot by guns as the Khmer Rouge had to conserve their resources. Such methods included cutting off fingers and other limbs, burning at the stake and placing plastic bags over the heads of victims. In an interview, Ngor gave a personal account of when the Khmer Rouge suspected he was a doctor. “He uses the plastic bag to put on my head and tied it around my neck. Two minutes only, you die…I am shaking, then he takes off the bag and throws water on me.” [People magazine, 1985]. The film shows a scene in which a man and his wife are accused of being doctors, and the Khmer Rouge take the couple and place plastic bags over their heads until they suffocate. Staying true to the facts, Joffé executed this scene accurately and shockingly in the film as the audience sees a young girl placing a plastic bag over the man and woman’s heads, invoking emotions of terror in the audience after observing the cruel nature of the Khmer Rouge. The audience is left both shaken yet empathetic towards the countless Cambodians who experienced torture like this.
In summation, ‘The Killing Fields’ serves incredibly well as a reconstruction of historical events in Cambodia in the 1970s.
Joffé’s masterpiece provides an realistic, non-Hollywood approach to the film through casting a veteran of the Khmer Rouge regime and providing an accurate recount of the events that led to the Khmer Rouge takeover and punishments in camps. By tying all these aspects together, Joffé’s work is sure to remain in history as one of the greatest historical reconstructions of all
time.