Amazon.com video review:
This harrowing but rewarding 1984 drama concerns the real-life
relationship between New York Times reporter Sidney Schanberg and his
Cambodian assistant Dith Pran (Haing S. Ngor), the latter left at the
mercy of the Khmer Rouge after Schanberg--who chose to stay after
American evacuation but was booted out--failed to get him safe
passage. Filmmaker Roland Joffé, previously a documentarist,
made his feature debut with this account of Dith's rocky survival in
the ensuing madness of the Khmer Rouge's genocidal campaign. The
script spends some time with Schanberg's feelings of guilt after the
fact, but most of the movie is a shattering re-creation of hell on
Earth. The late Haing S. Ngor--a real-life doctor who had never acted
before and who lived through the events depicted by Joffé--is
outstanding, and he won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar. Oscars also
went to cinematographer Chris Menges and editor Jim Clark. --Tom
Keogh
