Killing Fields

Rating: Null/10 (28 September 2011)

The film, "The Killing Fields" is influential and enlightening. The movie begins with an American reporter for the New York Times, Sydney Schanberg who is covering the war in Cambodia. Sydney travels with his Cambodian interpreter and friend, Dith Pran to uncover information about the war. As the war continues to advance, Pran's family evacuates the country but Pran decides to stay and help his friend Sydney with the report. Soon after the communist party takes over Cambodia, Sydney and Pran flee to the embassy in attempt to evacuate. Because Pran is Cambodian, he is unable to return to America, and Schanberg is forced to leave him behind. Years later, Schanberg receives an award for his reports, but he is unable to be satisfied knowing that Pran is still missing. By the end of the film, Schanberg hears news that Pran is alive, and he travels to Thailand to meet his long lost friend.
The last scene, along with many other turning points in the film, had me drowning in tears. The thought of losing a friend in such a manner provoked terrible feelings of sorrow and despair. The film captivates the audience with its moving story of the Cambodian war. Pran's journey through the "Killing Fields" of Cambodia had me on my toes throughout the film. It's an excellent movie because it embodies the audience with intense scenes of adventure and tragedy. Although the ending is tear-jerking and eye-opening, it is also reassuring to see these two great friends meet after everything they went through.