Major Themes/Frames
THEMES
As does any book or film, the Beyond the Killing Fields text as well as The Killing Fields film have some similar major themes that envelope them both. After much research and deliberation we narrowed our choices down to three main themes. Lasting Friendship, Conformity/Adaptation for survival, and Communism.
Lasting Friendship: In both Schanberg’s book The Death and Life of Dith Pran, as well as the 1984 film The Killing Fields, the main overall theme is the lasting friendship between Dith Pran and Sydney Schanberg. In the first part of the book, Sydney is experiencing all the horrific things right along with Dith, and no matter what happens they stick together through it all. When the American embassy is evacuated, they decided that despite the danger, they will stay in Cambodia together to finish the story. Later they are imprisoned by the Khmer Rouge to an almost guranteed death, but Pran talks to a soldier and pleads for their lives for an hour before being successful in somehow saving both of them. Schanberg later asks Pran about how he managed to pull it off and Pran replies with: “you don’t speak Khmer, and I cannot let you go off and get killed without someone talking to them and trying to get them to understand. Even if I get killed, I have to first try to say something to them. Because you and I are together. I was very scared, yes, because in the beginning I thought they were going to kill us, but my heart said I had to try this. I understand you and know your heart well. You would do the same thing for me.” (p. 78)
This scene in the film where Pran is leaving the French Embassy and being separated from Sydney, Pran speaks about how he loves Sydney “like his brother” and would do “anything for him.” The clip also goes on to demonstrate Sydney’s relentless quest to find Dith after they have been separated.
In this final scene of the film where Pran and Schanberg finally reunite, they both cry and embrace for a very long time. No words are needed to describe what they are both experiencing the the deep brotherly love they feel for each other.
The lasting friendship of Sydney Schanberg and Dith Pran is the theme that the entire book and movie rely on. The story line/plot follows the life and experiences of these two men and tell the incredible story of the strong friendship they have that is able to outlast such horrific war-torn terror. It’s this theme that makes both the book and film endurable for readers and viewers.
Conformity/Adaptation For Survival: This is another main theme throughout both the film, and the book the film is based on. In the book when Pran and Schanberg are seized by the Khmer Rouge soldiers, Pran tries to convince the driver of the car that no one in the car is American and that everyone is french. In order to survive, when Schanberg and the other men imprisoned speak, they speak only in french. When describing this situation Schanberg writes: "Whatever meager words we exchange among ourselves are in French. Rockoff speaks no French, so we run our hands across our lips in a sealing motion to let him know he should keep his mouth shut." (p. 77) This on-the-spot adaptation ended up being a factor that saved both Dith and Sydney's life that day. Later, when Pran and Schanberg are seperated and Pran is still stuck in Cambodia fighting every day for survival, Pran's go-to history about himself is that of being a lowly taxi driver. Pran was clever and did all he could to hide his education and Times journalistic background. A cameraman for CBS named Sophan was not so smart. Sophan told the soldiers of his background thinking they would let him be a cameraman for the new government. Pran later found out that Sophan and his entire family had been executed. By adapting to the situation and lying about his personal background, Pran saved his own life.
In the book there are countless other times that Dith was faced with the decision to either conform or die. He still showed his independence in little ways (such as shaving his head as his buddhist custom) and was lucky to survive despite not completely following all the rules at all times. One night he snuck out of his hut and crawled into a paddy to steal rice kernels and ends up getting caught. He is then blatantly beaten. He almost got the death penalty but was somehow spared. He was then "paraded before the entire commune of six hundred and denounced for his "crime." He was forced to swear that he would never again break the commune's rules. The oath he was made to pronounce was, "If I break the rule, I will give my life to you, to do with as you please." Dith Pran chose conformity over death.
Survival played a crucial role because Khmer Rouge believed in the Year Zero, where there were no divisions, and if you had any prior knowledge or training it meant you would be killed. In the movie Dith Pran has to pretend to be a taxi driver prior to the camps because if they had known of his knowledge he would have been killed. What is interesting about that is that the actor, who played Dith Pran, Dr. Haing S. Ngor, survived the Khmer Rouge as well and also had to adapt to survive. He had medical training and had pretended he didn’t have any prior knowledge. It even went so far as his wife dying in child birth, although he could have helped her, he didn’t because if he would have revealed that he was a doctor his wife and well as him, would have been killed. Ngor also had to get rid of his eye glasses because the Khmer Rouge thought that if you had glasses it meant you read too much. In the Year Zero Documentary, many Cambodian survivors mention how most of their family members were killed. One girl even said one of her family members were killed just because she was too pretty. The documentary also mentions that they had to ask to do anything, even sleep or they would be killed. This just goes to show how much the survivors had to conform to survive, the times of the Khmer Rouge were brutal, and many did not survive. In the book, Pran tells his simple rule of survival. "If you tell the truth, or argue even a little bit, they kill you" (p.92) The Khmer Rouge's such forceful ways such as this were what kept them in complete power at all times.
Communism: Another major theme in both Shanberg's book and movie is communism.The Khmer Rouge gained control of Cambodia in 1975. Khmer Rouge is also known as the Communist Party of Kampuchea (CPK). The country became known as Kampuchea until 1979. Led by Pol Pot, who believed in the ‘Year Zero,’ during this time the government had total control. Khmer Rouge wanted no class divisions; no money, no books, no schools, no hospitals, etc. Abandoned buildings like schools and hospitals became reeducation camps. In the movie, Dith Pran goes to a rice field where he is reeducated about his beliefs. This is an example of the total control the Khmer Rouge had. In the movie it also shows the Khmer Rouge taking control, when they force everyone to evacuate into Phnom Penh and other cities nearby to force everyone to part take in rice fields. The whole march of people hopping over the fence shows the control the Khmer Rouge had over Cambodia.
FRAMES
There are also many ways directors frame things in movies, and authors frame things in books. The three main ways we found in which Beyond the Killing Fields and The Killing Fields are framed are: Government as a source of power, Whites framed as dominant, and Citizens framed as helpless.
Government framed as a source of power: This is a frame that gives the Khmer Rouge and Pol Pot an extremely intimidating reputation. Whenever any soldiers in the movie showed up in scenes, the fear on the citizens' face was immediately apparent. Near the beginning of the film, Sydney and Dith witness a bunch of soldiers drive up in a jeep playing a song by The Beatles and see them ruthlessly blind fold two men and kill them on the spot. Sydney and Dith were at gunpoint due to Sydney pretending to take a picture of the enfolding scene. The young soldiers have extreme power and intimidation amongst the cambodian people because of the large amount of weaponry available at hand to the soldiers. In the movie when Dith Pran sneaks out to drink the blood of the cow and is caught by the Khmer Rouge, he is beaten by them and then tied to a tree. This demonstrates the government as having ultimate power and control over all the citizens. If the Khmer Rouge doesn't like something the citizen does, they can lash out in whatever way preferred. There are no boundaries to the extent of the government's control over the citizens. Another instance of government taking complete control in the film is when Sydney and Dith are imprisoned and Sydney is forced to wait to go to the bathroom for a very long time. He has Dith ask one of the soldiers for him if he can "take a piss" but the solider says no simply because he can.
Whites framed as dominant (White Privilege): This is a frame that occurs time and time again throughout both the book and the movie, starting with the fact that Sydney Schanberg himself is white. Sydney is depicted as being the main character in the movie, as well as the hero. He’s the protagonist. Since the book The Killing Fields is from Sydney’s point of view and the movie is based off of the book, everything is going to be represented somewhat differently than it would be had the book been written by a Cambodian citizen. Both are different viewpoints and on different sides of the spectrum. Since Sydney is white and doesn’t look anything like he is Cambodian, there are instances he gets special treatment. For example, when Dith Pran has to try to doctor a passport in order to stay in the French embassy, Sydney isn’t in any sort of danger in the slightest. Being Cambodian is dangerous. An excerpt from the book says, “The French ask us to be ready to turn in our passports the next day so they can catalog who is in the compound. This means that what we feared is true: the Cambodians with us cannot be protected.” (p.82) In reality, this is extremely ironic. When in Cambodia, the people most in danger are those that are Cambodians themselves. Another instance of white dominance is the part in the book and movie when Dith Pran has to evacuate his family. While Sydney is simply trying to decide if he himself wants to stay or not, Dith still has the responsibility of a family to take care of and keep safe while Sydney doesn't have to worry at all whether or not his family is safe.
Citizens being framed as helpless: The filmmakers frame the Cambodian citizens as being helpless to the Khmer Rouge. Dith Pran, and other captured Cambodians are examples of this. This framing would be correct, many Cambodians suffered during the Year Zero. In the movie, Pran is starving when captured by the Khmer Rouge and sneaks over to the cattle to drink their blood for survival. When he is caught, he is totally and completely helpless in the hands of the Khmer Rouge as they beat him and tie him to a tree. Another example of citizen helplessness is the fact that many are executed in the movie for no particular reason. In one scene, Pran is captured and walking with fellow Cambodian citizens pulling hay wagons and cattle, and a man sitting in the hay wagon is called out and is executed. Many Cambodians like Pran were helpless because of the Year Zero. The Year Zero made sure each individual had no rights, forcing the citizens to adapt to survive. The framing the film wants you to see is the Cambodian citizen’s perspective; not the Khmer Rouge’s perspective.
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