Friendship Amidst Carnage

Rating: 8/10 (3 December 2013)

Roland Joffe directed this powerful true story about New York Times journalist Sydney Schanberg(played by Sam Waterston) who is covering the Cambodian Civil War in 1975 with the help of local journalist Dith Pran(played by Dr. Haing S. Ngor, who won a best supporting actor Academy Award) who stays behind with him when the Khmer Rouge won the war, putting Pran's life in danger, though he saves Sydney's life, even though this leads to him being imprisoned in labor camps, where the communist revolution of Pol Pot proves devastating for all, while back in the U.S., Sydney does all he can to help Pran... Superbly directed and acted film vividly shows the chaos and evil of the Cambodian communist revolution, leading to a most moving ending, with the song being played proving to be a bittersweet irony.