A reporter film

Rating: Null/10 (10 June 2003)

I refer to this film as a reporter film since it reminds me of Salvador and some other similar films were reporters are the main characters and the film unveils through their reporting experience of the horrors of some country. The Killing Fields is not a very good reporter film, it doesn't have the effectivity of Salvador and also I have a personal dislike of Sam Waterston, I am not sure why this is so. Maybe because I have seen him in so many b-level tv-movies and shows such as Law&Order and his somewhat preachy posture in his films.
The story is an important one and it deserves to be told but the film doesn't suck the viewer in very well, possibly this is due to the fact that the Cambodian/Kampuchean conflicts are not as widely known and filmed as is e.g. the Vietnam war. Anyway, I suppose the film is good in that it tries to tell an important story and enlighten the audience.
Something that was said by an earlier reviewer caught my attention, even though the film doesn't focus on the support that the NVA gave to Pol Pot and his movement I would definately not deem this film as false because of this. Also the fact that it was the Vietnamese army that finally toppled Pol Pot's reign is an indicator that he was not a very popular figure in the _very_ shattered sphere of communistic countries. I do not see this film as particularily anti-american or anti-nixon, the most poignant points are made about the actual acts of genocide committed by the Pol Pot regime.

Anyway, this film is a fictive tale of horrific events that still haunt the lives of millions of Cambodians. 5/10