The Killing Fields

**_When a Southeast Asian country decides to reset to Year Zero_** Just after the USA withdraws from Vietnam, the Khmer Rouge overtakes Phnom Penh in April, 1975 as an American journalist (Sam Waterston) is forced to leave his Cambodian buddy behind (Haing S. Ngor). The latter has no choice but to endure Pol Pot’s genocide over the next 3.5 years. “The Killing Fields” (1984/1985) is a harrowing docudrama based on the true story. It’s the furthest thing from a fun flick, but it effectively takes you back to the Cambodian holocaust and provides a good idea of what went down. It’s the furthest thing from a conventional war flick, so stay away if that’s what you want. The best part is Dith Pran’s mind-blowing experiences after his American buddies depart, but that doesn’t occur until an hour and 28 minutes into the film, which reveals the weakness of the production: There’s too much padding in the prior section. For instance, a dozen minutes is blown on a sequence at the French embassy concerning making a fraudulent passport for Pran, which turned out to be irrelevant anyway. Cutting 20 minutes from the runtime would’ve worked wonders. I should add that John Malkovich, Julian Sands and Craig T. Nelson appear in peripheral roles. It’s interesting to see them when they were younger. It runs 2 hours, 21 minutes, and was primarily shot in Thailand. GRADE: B