FILM · 1984 · UK
The Killing Fields
- Directed by
- Roland Joffé
- Runtime
- 142 min
- Studio
- Goldcrest Films International, Enigma Productions, International Film Investors
130 archived facts 6 topics 1 source Last reviewed Nov 2026
New York Times reporter Sydney Schanberg is on assignment covering the Cambodian Civil War, with the help of local interpreter Dith Pran and American photojournalist Al Rockoff. When the U.S. Army pulls out amid escalating violence, Schanberg makes exit arrangements for Pran and his family. Pran, however, tells Schanberg he intends to stay in Cambodia to help cover the unfolding story — a decision he may regret as…
130 Interesting Facts About The Killing Fields
Interesting Facts (28)
- #001
The real Dith Pran continued to work as a celebrated photographer for The New York Times and often spoke about the Cambodian genocide. He died of pancreatic cancer in 2008 at the age of 65, and in his final days he was cared for by his former wife and his closest friend, Sydney Schanberg.
- #002
In real life, Haing S. Ngor's wife died of a hemorrhage during childbirth under the Khmer Rouge regime (the baby died as well). Knowing she could not communicate with her husband because the regime had killed all the doctors, she kept silent and bled to death internally, effectively saving his life.
- #003
- #004
While the film was shot in neighboring Thailand, Pol Pot was still launching an insurgency in Cambodia (after Vietnam overthrew the Khmer Rouge). In fact, Thai officials were very keen for the horrors of Pol Pot's regime to be shown on screen, since it would draw international attention to the political situation there.
- #005
In an attack scene, a girl is seen sitting behind a car with her hands over her ears, crying. In real life the girl actually had a happy temperament, and director Roland Joffé had trouble making her cry. In the end the Thai translator told her that she and everyone else (cast and crew) had to stay there and could not go home. The girl burst into tears and the shot was made.
- #006
The scene with Pran's fake passport and the faded photograph was pure drama. Although a plot was devised to smuggle Pran out of the country, it never happened. When the French officials at the embassy heard about it, they realized it would jeopardize their own exit. They summoned Syd Schanberg and insisted that Pran leave.
- #007
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- #009
- #010
- #011
In the French Embassy scene, the line "adieu, l'ancien regime" (goodbye, old regime) spoken by one of the government officials depicts a small group of Cambodians leaving the Embassy and being taken away by the Khmer Rouge. This happened in real life. These Cambodians were all members of the former Lon Nol Government that had been defeated by the Khmer Rouge. Lon Nol had by then fled to the United States, leaving these people and their families behind to be regarded as traitors. Historians suggest these government members were most likely executed. Lon Nol continued to live in the United States until his death in 1985. His younger brother Lon Non served as Minister of the Interior and general envoy of the Khmer Republic and was executed by the Khmer Rouge after the Fall of Phnom Penh.
- #012
- #013
- #014
Actor Bruce Robinson wrote a screenplay, which he brought to producer David Puttnam to get his opinion on the 300-page draft he had written. Puttnam went to talk to some directors about it, and was particularly drawn to Roland Joffé's approach to the script. Joffé argued that it was not a war story but actually a love story between Dith Pran and Sidney Schanberg. That was enough for Puttnam to offer the project to Joffé.
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- #024
Epilogue: "Dith Pran returned to America with Sydney Schanberg to be reunited with his family. He now works as a photographer at The New York Times, where Sydney Schanberg is a columnist. Cambodia's ordeal is not over yet. Refugee camps along the Thai border are still full of children from the killing fields."
- #025
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Production Story (51)
- #029
The film was shot in neighboring Thailand while Pol Pot was still preparing an uprising in Cambodia; Vietnam had overthrown the Khmer Rouge. Thai officials were particularly eager for the horrors of the Pol Pot regime to be reflected on screen, so that international attention would be drawn to the political situation in the region.
- #030
The scene of Pran's fake passport with the faded photograph was entirely a dramatization. In reality, although a plan was made to smuggle Pran out of the country, this plan was never carried out. When the French officials at the embassy learned of the situation, they realized it would jeopardize their own departure and summoned Syd Schanberg, insisting that Pran had to leave.
- #031
- #032
- #033
- #034
Actor Bruce Robinson took the 300-page draft screenplay he had written to producer David Puttnam and asked for his opinion. Puttnam met with some directors and was particularly impressed by Roland Joffé's approach to the screenplay. Joffé argued that this was not a war story but a love story between Dith Pran and Sidney Schanberg; this was enough for Puttnam to give the project to Joffé.
- #035
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- #043
In one attack scene, a young girl is seen crying behind an ox cart with her hands over her ears. The director, Roland Joffé, struggled to make the girl cry, since she was naturally cheerful, until a Thai translator finally told her, 'You and everyone here will stay, you cannot go home,' which reduced her to tears.
- #044
- #045
- #046
- #047
- #048
The French and Khmer dialogue spoken throughout the film, particularly in the French embassy scene and the scene in which Schanberg, Swain, Sarun, Rockoff and Pran are captured, was never given an English dub or subtitles in the film's VHS, DVD or digital release versions. In the embassy scene, the character John Swain roughly translates some of the dialogue into English, but at the moment Pran's passport is refused, Swain asks in French, 'Is there a problem?' and receives the reply, again in French, 'I am very sorry, sir'; most of the other non-English dialogue is more advanced.
- #049
- #050
- #051
- #052
- #053
Roy Scheider, Alan Arkin and Dustin Hoffman showed strong interest in the film's lead role. But producer David Puttnam and director Roland Joffé had already decided to cast Sam Waterston. The studio was unhappy about a relatively unknown actor in the lead; fearing that the interest of famous names such as Hoffman would lead the studio to force someone other than Waterston on them, Puttnam and Joffé exaggerated the dangers of the shoot and caused most of the candidates to withdraw from the project.
- #054
- #055
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- #059
- #060
While the film was being shot in neighboring Thailand, Pol Pot was still preparing an uprising in Cambodia; Vietnam had overthrown the Khmer Rouge. Thai officials particularly wanted the horrors of the Pol Pot regime to be reflected on the screen, so that international attention would be drawn to the political situation in the region.
- #061
The scene with Pran's fake passport with the faded photograph was entirely a dramatization. In reality, a plan was made to smuggle Pran out of the country, but it was never carried out. When the French officials at the embassy learned of the situation, they realized it would jeopardize their own departure and summoned Syd Schanberg, insisting that Pran had to leave.
- #062
- #063
- #064
- #065
Actor Bruce Robinson took the 300-page draft script he had written to producer David Puttnam and asked for his opinion. Puttnam met with several directors and was particularly impressed by Roland Joffé's approach to the script. Joffé argued that this was not a war story but a love story between Dith Pran and Sidney Schanberg; this was enough for Puttnam to give the project to Joffé.
- #066
- #067
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- #069
After Haing S. Ngor was murdered, when his nephew went to his home to collect his belongings, he found that the Best Supporting Actor Oscar he had won for The Killing Fields (1984) was sitting in a cupboard and that the gold plating on it had completely worn away. Ngor, who had switched from medicine to acting, had attached so much meaning to the award that he kept it constantly in his hands.
- #070
- #071
The line "adieu, l'ancien regime" (farewell, old regime) spoken by a government official in the French Embassy scene is based on a real moment when a small group of Cambodians were removed from the embassy and handed over to the Khmer Rouge. These people were members of the Lon Nol government, which had previously been overthrown by the Khmer Rouge; Lon Nol had already fled to the United States, leaving them and their families behind as traitors. Historians believe these government members were most likely executed. Lon Nol lived in the United States until his death in 1985; his younger brother Lon Non was executed by the Khmer Rouge after the fall of Phnom Penh.
- #072
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- #074
Three of the film's lead actors later died tragically. Oscar winner Haing S. Ngor (Dith Pran) was killed in 1996 in front of his home in Los Angeles during a failed robbery attempt. Spalding Gray (US Consul) committed suicide in 2004 by jumping from the Staten Island Ferry into New York Harbor. Julian Sands (Jon Swain) disappeared in January 2023 while hiking alone in bad weather on Mt. Baldy in California; his remains, found six months later, were not sufficient to determine the cause of death.
- #075
Epilogue: "Dith Pran returned to America with Sydney Schanberg and was reunited with his family. He now works as a photographer at The New York Times, where Sydney Schanberg is a columnist. Cambodia's suffering is not yet over. The refugee camps on the Thai border are still full of the children of the killing fields."
- #076
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- #079
Behind the Scenes (13)
- #080
- #081
In one attack scene, a young girl is seen crying behind an ox cart with her hands over her ears. Director Roland Joffé, who had difficulty making the girl cry since she was naturally cheerful, finally got her to burst into tears when the Thai translator said, 'You and everyone here will stay, you will not go home.'
- #082
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- #084
- #085
- #086
- #087
The French and Cambodian dialogue spoken throughout the film, especially in the French embassy scene and the scene in which Schanberg, Swain, Sarun, Rockoff and Pran are captured, was never given English dubbing or subtitles in the film's VHS, DVD or digital streaming releases. In the embassy scene, the character John Swain roughly translates some of the dialogue into English, but at the moment Pran's passport is refused, Swain asks in French, 'Is there a problem?' and receives the reply, again in French, 'I am very sorry sir'; most of the other non-English dialogue is at a more advanced level.
- #088
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Characters & Cast (17)
- #093
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- #095
Roy Scheider, Alan Arkin and Dustin Hoffman all expressed strong interest in the lead role in the film. However, producer David Puttnam and director Roland Joffé had already decided to use Sam Waterston. The studio was not pleased with the decision to cast a little-known actor in the lead, and Puttnam and Joffé feared that the interest shown by well-known actors such as Hoffman might push the studio to force them to choose someone other than Waterston. So when describing what the shoot would involve, they greatly exaggerated the danger of the location shooting, which led most of the interested actors to withdraw.
- #096
- #097
In real life, Haing S. Ngor's wife died of hemorrhage during childbirth under the Khmer Rouge regime; the baby did not survive either. Knowing that the doctors had been killed by the regime, she stayed silent and did not try to reach her husband, dying of internal bleeding and thereby saving his life.
- #098
- #099
- #100
Roy Scheider, Alan Arkin and Dustin Hoffman showed strong interest in the film's lead role. But producer David Puttnam and director Roland Joffé had already decided to cast Sam Waterston. The studio was not pleased that a relatively unknown actor would have the lead; fearing that the interest of famous names such as Hoffman would lead the studio to impose someone other than Waterston, Puttnam and Joffé exaggerated the dangers of the shoot and caused most of the candidates to withdraw from the project.
- #101
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- #109
Deeper Meaning (15)
- #110
- #111
After Haing S. Ngor was murdered, when his niece went to his home and began gathering his belongings, she saw that the Best Supporting Actor Oscar he had won for The Killing Fields (1984) was sitting in a cabinet and that the gold plating on it had worn away completely. Ngor, who had moved from being a doctor to acting, had attached so much meaning to the award that he kept it in his hands constantly.
- #112
- #113
The line "adieu, l'ancien regime" (farewell, the old regime) spoken by a government official in the French Embassy scene is based on a real moment when a small group of Cambodians were removed from the embassy and handed over to the Khmer Rouge. These people were members of the Lon Nol government, which had previously been overthrown by the Khmer Rouge; Lon Nol had already fled to the United States, leaving them and their families behind as traitors. Historians believe these government members were most likely executed. Lon Nol lived in the United States until his death in 1985; his younger brother Lon Non was executed by the Khmer Rouge after the fall of Phnom Penh.
- #114
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- #116
Three of the film's lead actors later died tragically. Oscar winner Haing S. Ngor (Dith Pran) was killed in 1996 in front of his home in Los Angeles during a failed robbery attempt. Spalding Gray (US Consul) committed suicide in 2004 by jumping from the Staten Island Ferry into New York Harbor. Julian Sands (Jon Swain) disappeared in January 2023 while hiking alone in bad weather on Mt. Baldy in California; his remains, found six months later, were not enough to determine the cause of death.
- #117
- #118
This film was part of a series of productions in the 1980s about war correspondents. Salvador (1986), Under Fire (1983), Circle of Deceit (1981), Witness in a War Zone (1987), Cry Freedom (1987), The Killing Fields (1984) and The Year of Living Dangerously (1982) can be counted among these films.
- #119
Epilogue: "Dith Pran returned to America with Sydney Schanberg and was reunited with his family. He now works as a photographer at The New York Times, where Sydney Schanberg is a columnist. Cambodia's suffering has not yet ended. The refugee camps on the Thai border are still full of the children of the killing fields."
- #120
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Career & Awards (6)
- #125
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- #127
After Haing S. Ngor's murder, his nephew went to his apartment to go through his belongings, but found his Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for The Killing Fields (1984) sitting on a cabinet with all the gold worn off it. Clearly the award meant so much to the actor who went from doctor to actor that he had felt compelled to hold it constantly until all its gold was gone.
- #128
- #129
Three actors from this film's main cast later died under tragic circumstances. Oscar winner Haing S. Ngor (Dith Pran) was murdered in 1996 outside his Los Angeles home in what was alleged to be a bungled robbery. Spalding Gray (the US Consul) committed suicide in 2004 by jumping from the Staten Island Ferry into New York Harbor. Julian Sands (Jon Swain) went missing in January 2023 while hiking alone on Mount Baldy in California in bad weather. His remains were found on the mountain six months later, in a condition that prevented the coroner from determining the cause of death.
- #130
Sources & editorial notes
Reference databases
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