Partial Cast List1
Sam Waterston as Sydney Schanberg
Haing S. Ngor as Dith Pran
John Malkovich as Al Rockoff
Julian Sands as Jon Swain
Craig T. Nelson as Military attache
Spalding Gray as United States consul
Bill Paterson as Dr. MacEntire
Athol Fugard as Dr. Sundesval
Graham Kennedy as Dougal
Katherine Krapum Chey as Ser Moeum: Dith Pran's wife
Oliver Pierpaoli as Titony: Dith Pran's son
The Killing Fields is a movie released in 1984, directed by Roland Joffé, which details the true story of the relationship between an American journalist and a Cambodian translator/photojournalist during the rise of the Khmer Rouge regime.
Warning! Plot spoilers follow.
In early 1975, civil war was still raging in Cambodia. New York Times journalist Syndey Schanberg had been covering the Cambodian conflict since 1972 with his able translator and friend, local war correspondent Dith Pran. The two men monitored the rising tensions as the Khmer Rouge regime prepared to take power, and realized that the situation was rapidly becoming extremely dangerous. Dith Pran, as an educated Cambodian2, was in a much worse position than Schanberg, who had some protection because of his status as a foreign citizen. The two ended up staying on in country, although Dith Pran's family was sent away to safety.
When the Lon Nol government was finally overthrown, violence and killing became rampant, and Schanberg and two other foreign journalists, Rockoff and Swain, were trapped by the Khmer Rouge. Pran managed to save their lives by convincing the troops that Schanberg, Rockoff, and Swain were French, and thus neutral. They all took refuge in the French embassy, but the three foreigners were forced to leave the country soon afterward. Despite their best efforts, Dith Pran, as a Cambodian, was detained by the Khmer Rouge and sent to a re-education camp in the countryside.
Back in the United States, Schanberg was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for his reporting from Phnom Penh, which he accepted on behalf of himself and Dith Pran. Wracked with guilt that he didn't insist Pran flee while there was time, Schanberg (with Rockoff and Swain) continued to attempt to locate Pran and arrange his release. For years Dith Pran endured torture and starvation in a forced labor camp. In 1979, four years after his incarceration, he managed to escape, and fled across the border to Thailand and freedom.
This script was written by Bruce Robinson, based on the memoirs Schanberg released in 1980 entitled The Death and Life of Dith Pran: A Story of Cambodia, and was filmed in Thailand. The movie is incredibly powerful, partly because of the subject matter, and partly because of the high quality of the acting and cinematography. The violence is often graphic, but never gratuitous, and highlights the instability and terror of the time effectively. This movie had a massive impact on me, and I find that there are certain scenes from it which linger in my mind regardless of how long it's been since I've last seen it. It is well worth watching, but be prepared for an emotionally difficult viewing.
Interesting trivia
- Haing Ngor was not an actor, but a medical doctor whose life experience closely paralleled that of Dith Pran. He was recruited for the part when the casting agent saw his face in some of her friend's wedding photos.
- Haing Ngor was murdered in 1996 in Los Angeles. Rumor said it was done by Khmer Rouge operatives, but there was no proof.
- When The Killing Fields was released in 1984, Schanberg was still working at the New York Times.
- Sydney Schanberg is currently active as an advocate for POW/MIA's.
- Dith Pran became a photojournalist for the New York Times in 1980.
- Dith Pran is currently heavily involved in promoting awareness of the Cambodian Genocide. You can learn more about his efforts at www.dithpran.org
1 - Cast list from IMDb, http://us.imdb.com/Title?0087553
2 - For reasons why it was bad to be an educated Cambodian, I refer you to (darsi)'s excellent writeup above. It was comparable to being a member of the bourgeois class during the French Revolution.