KILLING FIELDS, THE

Synopsis

New York Times correspondent Sydney Schanberg (Sam Waterston) is sent to Cambodia in 1972 to cover the war between the revolutionary Khmer Rouge and the government. He meets Dith Pran (Haing S. Nor in an Academy Award® winning performance): a local journalist who becomes his trusted assistant, interpreter, and friend. When the Khmer Rouge troops enter Phnom Penh in April 1975 and seize control of the country, Pran throws himself at their mercy to save the lives of Schanberg and several other foreign correspondents.

What follows for Pran, and for all Cambodians, is unspeakable horror. Whilst Schanberg spends four and a half years seeking news of his friend, nearly half the population of seven million are massacred by the Khmer Rouge or die of starvation and disease. The once rich Cambodian countryside now bears a new name: “The Killing Fields”.

Based on Pulitzer prize winning Schanberg’s 1980 article for the New York Times, “The Death and Life of Dith Pran”, this is the story of Pran’s heroism and the struggle for the two men to reunite.

Director: Roland Joffe

Actor: Haing S. Nor , Sam Waterston

Rating: M
Running Time: 136 mins

Languages: English

Genre: Drama
Year Of Production: 1984
Country: UK

Number of Discs: 2
DVD Release Date: 10 Mar 10
Colour/B&W: COLOUR
Format: PAL
Region: 4
Aspect Ratio: 16:9
Audio: 5.1 & 2.0
HOH: No
Catalogue Code: DAVID1890

Special Features

Disc One
Audio Commentary with director Roland Joffé

Theatrical Trailer

Disc Two
BBC Documentary - The Making of The Killing Fields - 60 Mins
Exclusive Interview with Producer David Puttnam