This remarkable and deeply affecting film is based upon a true story of friendship, loyalty, the horrors of war and survival, while following the historical events surrounding the Khmer Rouge takeover of Cambodia in 1975. The authentic, unforgettable epic film, directed by Roland Joffé (his first feature film) and produced by David Puttnam (the Oscar winner three years earlier for Chariots of Fire), was shot on location in Thailand and Canada. Cambodian doctor, non-actor Haing S. Ngor, in his film debut, was an actual survivor of the Cambodian holocaust. He was tortured and experienced the starvation and death of his real-life family during the actual historical events revisited in this film. He subsequently won an Academy Award and a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of Dith Pran.

 

Cambodia, 1973: The United States and the Cambodian military government under Lon Nol have imported the Vietnam War into the former neutral country. The fights against the Vietcong in Cambodia began three years ago, and, according to the concerns of the domino theory, the US bombings are inexorable and continuous. The country is devastated and the civilian population is mostly affected. The communist Khmer Rouge is becoming more and more powerful: Supported by the population, against the US and Vietnamese heteronomy, the Khmer Rouge installs a nationalist regime.

At this point of time, the well-respected New York Times journalist Sydney Schanberg (Sam Waterston) travels to Indochina to report about the Cambodian revolution. His translator and assistant is the Cambodian journalist Dith Pran (Haing S. Ngor), who becomes a loyal friend. Together, they write reports to inform the Western World about the happenings in the country.

 

In 1975, the Khmer Rouge occupies the capital city Phnom Penh. The era of a terror regime and holocaust under Pol Pot starts one year later. First, the people in Cambodia are looking forward to a future without war; they have not known peace for more than seven years. But the impression is deceptive. The Khmer Rouge wants to strengthen the farmers and to abolish any urban lifestyle. Any kind of individuality is removed; a new tyranny of unity and supervision is installed. Cambodia turns into a dictatorship of fear and constraint work, where money and education are abolished, books are burned and banks, schools and hospitals are closed.

As the Khmer Rouge accesses power, the whole population of the city is deported to the rice fields, intellectuals are murdered in The Killing Fields outside of Phnom Penh, foreigners leave the country, as the American and European journalists do. Schanberg, Pran, photographer Rockoff (John Malkovich) and the British journalist Sands (Jon Swain) find shelter in the French Embassy. They plan to travel abroad. But Dith Pran, as Cambodian citizen, does not have an exit permit. Either he would have to flee to Thailand or, as highly educated journalist, he will be murdered by the Khmer Rouge.

Being already on the point of fleeing, Schanberg convinces Pran to stay. But the attempt of providing a forged passport for Pran fails. So he misses his only chance to flee and he has to leave the Embassy lonely, while his companions have to say goodbye. Back in the USA, Schanberg is tortured by his consciousness, not knowing if he is responsible for Pran’s death. The journalist tries everything to find his Asian friend, but Pran remains untraceable in the rice fields of Cambodia.

 

Pran does survive. The film portrays his struggle to stay alive in the rural, barbaric 're-education' labour camp – always hiding his past and his abilities, suppressed and mute, separated from family and friends, constantly fearing that somebody could recognize him or find out that he speaks several languages – his two escape attempts from his captors, and his horrifying walk through the skeletal remains of the brutal massacres in the Valley of Death.

 

When he is about to be killed by the Khmer Rouge, Pran flees with a small group of Cambodians through the woods. He arrives safely in Thailand, the only survivor of the small group, weeks later. He finally reunites with Sydney on 9^th October 1979 and narrates the last line of the film, affirming that Schanberg needn't ask for forgiveness because there was literally nothing to forgive:

 

Sydney: (Do you) forgive me?

 

Dith Pran: Nothing to forgive, Sydney, nothing.

 

The postscript for the film is provided as a footnote, as the camera slowly pans to the left over the rooftops, and looks out over rice fields:

 

Dith Pran returned, with Sydney Schanberg, to America to be reunited with his family. He now works as a photographer for The New York Times where Sydney Schanberg is a columnist. Cambodia's torment has not yet ended. The refugee camps on the Thai border are still crowded with the children of the killing fields.

During the four year reign of terror by the Khmer Rouge approximately two million people died through genocide, in concentration camps, or due to forced labour. In 1979, the Khmer Rouge was overthrown, but its leaders have never been called to account.