I recently watched The Killing Fields because I remember it being a big deal when I was a kid. It was nominated for 7 Academy Awards and won two, best supporting actor and cinematography.

Maybe it hasn't aged well but I don't get all the hype. I don't think the story is told all that well and the dialogue is mediocre. Is that too harsh or did the genocide carry this movie more than the script/acting?

"Survival in the Killing Fields" book is great. I bought it at the airport in Cambodia because I didn't really have a clue what happened other than knowing names like Pol Pot and Khmer Rouge. It's written by Haing Ngor… mentioned in the post below.

I definitely rolled my eyes at that.

Wiki:

Quote:

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Pol Pot transformed Kampuchea into a one-party state which he called Democratic Kampuchea. Seeking to create an agrarian socialist society that he believed would evolve into a communist society, Pol Pot's government forcibly relocated the urban population to the countryside and forced it to work on collective farms.

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There is no such thing as peaceful socialism. It either stops being socialism (like in Scandinavian countries) or it turns violent as people try to escape.

Also, trying to avoid talking politics in this movie is like trying to ignore the commies in Doctor Zhivago or nazis in Shindler's List. It just becomes a movie about random people being a-holes to others for no stated reason. The entire point of The Killing Fields is to "never again". How can we do that without considering the cause?

Righteousgemstone said:

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Interesting fact.

The main character played by Haing Ngor was an actual Cambodian physician who survived the Khmer Rouge killing fields. He was a refugee to the US where he settled in LA. He was then murdered in a stick up robbery gone bad.

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Yeah, and the reason he was murdered was because he didn't want to give up the locket with his dead wife's picture inside of it. Very sad story that he made it out of Cambodia, and he ended up being killed by some stupid punks trying to pull a snatch and grab.

1988PA-Aggie said:

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Lived in the Quad in '86. One guy on the floor, can't remember his name, escaped with his parents from Cambodia in the late 70's. He didn't talk too much about it, but did mention in one conversation fleeing through fields, having armed soldiers pursuing them, sleeping on the ground, eating anything possible. He had a fair amount of scars on his arms and hands. It was like he was reading a movie plot to us.

At the time, us dorm-mates probably didn't realize the gravity of the situation and fear/stress that he experienced. But looking back on it years later and learning more about what happened there...wow!

One of the nicest guys. Humble and polite constantly with an incredibly bright and genuine smile.

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Interesting. Wonder if it was the same guy I knew.

Had a CS class with a kid in fall of 86 and again in Spring of 87 and he had written an article/story he was looking to get published about his experiences which mirror what you describe. I didn't know that at the time, he never spoke of it to me. But he asked me to read and effectively edit his story for him as he struggled a bit with the English written language and wanted it to be ready for submission. No idea if it ever got published but reading it was gut wrenching and incredibly sad. He lost many family members and survived unbearable conditions. I had so much respect for him.

Your description of his attitude and personality also line up with the guy I knew.

I read this book. It is fantastic. I watched The Killing Fields afterwards and was left unimpressed compared to the book.

I've read several books on The Khmer Rouge as we visited Cambodia while I was on assignment in Singapore. Horribly tragic what those people had to endure… in the spirit of "equality."