One of the great films of the last 100 years.

Rating: 10/10 (27 June 2003)

Seeing the Pianist after re-watching 'The Killing Fields' for the what seems like the 10th time, I feel compelled to make a comment. Compared to 'Schindler's List' and 'The Pianist', both of which seem to be somewhat less than the sum of their parts,in contrast 'The Killing Fields' distinguishes itself by being more than the sum of its parts and is indeed one of the great achievements in cinema. As someone here said, "Sam Waterston is at his self-righteous best...", that is so true. But, Haing Ngor is a revelation! His performance is one of the great acting performances ever. I know that is a mouthful and sounds preposterous but it is absolutely true. This film reaches out and grabs you by the throat and engages you emotionally without bludgeoning like 'Schindler's List'.There is not an extra minute or unnecessary scene in the entire movie, as there is in 'The Pianist'. The supporting roles are given the time and space to make their impact and the acting is top notch. The photography is unbelievably real and beautiful as well as sensitive and nuanced. The direction is as tight as in a great thriller but respectful and beautifully paced. A Triumph. It disturbs me to note that this film is number 240 something out of the top 250 and 'The Pianist' number 29! That is shocking and not at all indicative of the relative merits of the two films. This says to me that many of the people who watch films and vote on this website are sorely lacking in a real knowledge of film history and indeed of history itself. Thus they are taken in by Hollywood's 'PC' attitudes these days and are unable to make distinctions between mediocre and great or or even between fact and fancy. Is this because of the youthful age of many of these people? My guess is yes. Many of the so-called generation 'X-ers' and their successors have been treated to a dizzying menu of mediocre films from Hollywood for the last 15 years or so. They missed the great films of Hollywood's apotheosis, they missed the New wave and also the great films of the '70's and lastly they missed the stunning films that came out in the early and mid '80's. I can only say that every film lover should go back into the vaults and look again or for the first time at some of these great films and then come back and look once more at 'The Killing Fields' and 'The Pianist' and then put them in their proper place. I give the this film a 10/10 and put it in my own top 20, if not top 10 of all time. That's where it belongs here at IMDB.