Movie Trailer:

The 1984 film The Killing Fields was based on real events of Pol Pot's reign in Cambodia in the 1970's. Journalist Sydney Schanberg was a foreign correspondent in Cambodia for the New York Times with Dith Pran as his translator. The team stayed in Cambodia even after the United States left the territory. Schanberg was able to evacuate the country but his search did not stop for is friend who was apprehended by the Khmer Rouge.

We analyzed this film for historical accuracy, framing and ideologies, and portrayal of characters and events.

Overall we found this film to be very truthful and true to the records kept on the subject. The writers and director kept the facts very clear in the movie with only a little "added Hollywood" in the film. The portrayal of events and characters were quite accurate. The little changes in the movie (such as using Coke product placement and adding the dramatic passport scene) are excusable in our eyes because we understand that the main purpose for most movies is to be profitable.

From this project we learned a lot about Cambodia and the events that happened there. We have a better understanding of how hard it is to make a movie 100% accurate. Of course there are going to be discrepancies, that is natural, but if they want to, they can make the movie quite similar to life. We found it really interesting how many tiny details were included from the book in the movie, such as the yellow silk flower Schanberg held in his right hand after being taken by the Khmer Rouge.

Hollywood can be very influential. This film did have influence worldwide as we have stated elsewhere in the blog. We applaud those involved in the film for staying mostly true to historical facts.