tobias@ucla-cs.UUCP (12/09/84)
I just saw "The Killing Fields." For those who don't know, the movie
is about a New York Times reporter, his Cambodian interpreter, and Cambodia.
It is about a friendship and the will to survive amid large-scale deavstation.
It also is the most human portrayal of man in an inhuman world I have ever
seen.
If this movie does not make you consider what is going on in the
world today, then I don't know what possibly could.
Jay Tobias
tobias@ucla-cs.arpa
{...ihnp4,ucbvax,sdcrdcf}!ucla-cs!tobiascitrin@ucbvax.ARPA (Wayne Citrin) (12/16/84)
"The Killing Fields" was one of the films I most wanted to see this season, but I found it a great disappointment, despite the praise of critics and New York Times columnists. For those of you who don't know what it's about, it's the story of Sydney Schanberg, New York Times Cambodia correspondent in 1974 and 1975, and his Cambodian stringer Dith Pran. At the fall of Phnom Penh, Schanberg was able to escape, but Dith Pran had to stay behind and suffered under the Khmer Rouge. They were ultimately reunited several years later. The problem of the film is that it attempts to do three things, and it is not successful at any of them. First, it tries to convey the horrors of the war in Cambodia, but despite a number of gruesome scenes, there is a detatchment. I felt that "Apocalypse Now" and "The Deer Hunter" were much more effective at conveying the horror of the war in Southeast Asia. I realise that those films were about Vietnam, not Cambodia, and that they took considerable liberties with the facts, while "The Killing Fields" is based on a true story, but here I'm considering the emotional impact and effectiveness of the films. Secondly, "The Killing Fields" tries to show something of the role of journalists in the war, but although we see Schanberg and Dith Pran cover one story, we get no idea of what Schanberg did to deserve the Pulitzer Prize that he eventually won for his Cambodia reportage. "Circle of Deceit" and "Under Fire" were much better films about western journalists in third world revolutions. Finally, the film is about the friendship between Schanberg and Dith Pran, but I didn't think that the friendship was convincingly portrayed. Besides this, the characters in the film made too many speeches; most of the sentiments expressed could have been conveyed visually instead of having the characters preach at the viewer. The film also dragged at times, there were too many scenes in which people just sat around waiting. Good editing could have fixed this. Also, the Mike Oldfield music was often annoying and inappropriate. What was good about "The Killing Fields"? There were a number of beautiful and visually memorable scenes; the acting was good, even if the screenplay wasn't as good; and all involved seemed to be genuinely interested in the subject - its heart is in the right place. However, "The Killing Fields" is basically a Hollywood film trying to grasp a complex period of recent history and not succeeding. I give it **1/2 (out of ****). Wayne Citrin (ucbvax!citrin)
ajs@hpfcla.UUCP (ajs) (02/15/85)
Just saw the Killing Fields. One of the best movies I've seen in quite a few years, depicting the American situation in Southeast Asia. The graphic depiction of the atrocities incurred by both sides involved in the conflict show the futile hostility of warfare. One scene depicts a young girl sitting on a pick-up truck. In the background adults are scrambling for cover as shells are falling helter skelter in the streets of Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia. The child, knowing that she is scared and confused, can only cry out amidst the utterly insanity of the conflict occurring around her. The scale of the bloodshed shown in this film, with the incredible realism carved out by the director, wreaks havoc with the mind of the viewer. Scenes are meticuluously carried out. This film will almost certainly win the Academy Award for Best Picture and the director and actor awards will also go to individuals involved in this film. Al Tielebein (posted by Alan Silverstein)