k*lling Fields, The (1984)

[bunniefuu]

Cambodia.

To many Westerners,

it seemed a paradise.

Another world, a secret world.

But the w*r in neighboring

Vietnam burst its borders...

...and the fighting soon spread

to neutral Cambodia.

In 1973, I went to cover

this sideshow struggle...

...as foreign correspondent

of The New York Times.

It was there, amidst the fighting...

...between government troops

and the Khmer Rouge guerrillas...

...that I met my guide

and interpreter, Dith Pran...

...a man who was to change my life...

...in a country that I grew to love

and pity.

So here we go

with Voice of America...

...news for Southeast Asia.

It's 6:45 and a partly cloudy

morning here.

Clouds too in Washington.

President Nixon announced he'll

address the nation on Watergate...

...within the next few days.

The speech will be Nixon's

first since May.

The scandal has caused resignations

and paralyzed the White House staff.

It has also led to intense

confrontation and perhaps...

...a constitutional crisis

with Senate investigators...

...and a special

Watergate prosecutor.

The speech was announced

after the Gallup Poll disclosed...

...that Mr. Nixon's popularity

had fallen to the lowest point...

...for an American President

in 20 years.

A Supreme Court judge,

William O. Douglas...

...has ruled against an appeal

by the Administration...

...for a stay of the injunction...

...on further U.S. Bombing

missions in Cambodia.

Congress has already ruled

these bombings illegal...

...and they should cease in one

week's time on August the 15th.

Let's go, Sarun!

To the hospital!

Information. Information.

Air Cambodia regret delays of arrival

of flight number 125...

...from Bangkok because

of bad weather.

Mister, you want taxi?

Mister, you want taxi?

Good taxi.

Shut the f*cking blinds, will you?

What's all this sh*t?

I'm sorry.

I thought you were the houseboy.

I was developing some film.

If you're gonna yell, I'll come back.

I'm not feeling good.

Don't want to yell.

I want to be in a good mood.

The plane was late, no car.

I had to take a taxi here.

All I want to do is work.

I got you.

What the f*ck is that on your head?

It's a sanitary napkin.

I had it soaked in ice.

Syd Schanberg.

Is Pran there?

No, I just came from the airport.

Well, if he comes in,

would you tell him I'm here?

I'll be at the Caf Central, tell him.

Thanks a lot.

What do you want to eat?

Want some eggs?

I can't. Somebody told me they faint

with fright when you cook them.

- What do you want to eat?

- What are you having?

I'm having a caf complet.

I'll have that. And some aspirin.

Anything I eat has got to be

absolutely dead.

That's why I can never eat an oyster.

I read somewhere that they put...

...that lemon juice on them

just to stun them. You know?

What's the difference?

An unconscious oyster's just as

horrible as the fucker wide awake...

- My God! Look at this.

- Did you see that?

What was it? A rocket?

I don't know.

I saw a guy on a motorbike.

I've been looking for you.

I left a message for you.

I didn't get it. I took a cab.

- There is a big accident right now.

- What?

I think U.S. Drop many big bombs

on little city.

- U.S. Bombs? You're sure?

- I think many dead.

- Does anybody else know about it?

- Nothing at all.

We're going.

Not possible right now, Sydney.

Too dangerous.

Where you going, Schanberg?

Neak Luong.

Neak Luong's closed.

Don't give me that, Reeves.

You got nothing to say about this.

I got a right to go wherever I like

in this sad little country.

That's the law. You impede me, you're

breaking the Cooper/Church Amendment!

Well, up the Cooper/Church

Amendment's ass!

Let's go!

So how can I help you, Mr. Schanberg?

I'm looking for information on why

my airplane was delayed this morning.

- Your plane was delayed?

- That's right.

I don't know. Maybe it's

bad weather. Your flight's...

You don't know anything about it?

No, I don't.

All right.

Then I'd like you

to listen to something...

...and then I'd like a comment.

This morning, for reasons beyond

anybody's control...

...I spend two hours in Bangkok

staring at a seat belt sign.

Meanwhile, my sources tell me...

...two Army helicopters are landing

here, just across the airfield.

Half the ambulances in Phnom Penh

are waiting there to meet them.

And now there's a rumor that

the U.S. Air Force dropped a b*mb...

...or several bombs, on Neak Luong.

That's a rumor, and I'm not gonna

comment on a rumor.

I just want to know if that's the

reason why my airplane was delayed!

No comment.

How many k*lled?

How many wounded?

Thank you for your cooperation,

Major Reeves.

When I scrape this story out, I will

no doubt be quoting you in full!

I'm sorry.

This is just not good enough.

This is a big story...

...a major story, you understand that?

We've got to get down there!

- I know, but...

- I don't want to hear "no"!

I want to get down that river!

We should be down there now!

I'll be here.

Good night, Sydney.

- Messages?

- No, sir.

No, sir.

I'd talk, but it's been

a heavy day and I've got to go.

Let's get together again soon, okay?

- Bob?

- See you.

Bob?

Hello, Sydney. Good night, Sydney.

- Listen, I can't talk with you.

- You can talk to me.

The embassy is jittery.

Get information from a press officer.

Let's not start insulting each other.

Good night, Sydney.

All right, good night.

You've heard of pilot error?

Computer malfunction?

They screwed up on the coordinates.

A single B-52 dropped

its entire load on Neak Luong.

There's a homing beacon

in the middle of the town.

- Casualties?

- You'll be briefed tomorrow.

We estimate 55 m*llitary,

something like 35 civilians.

How many?

I hear it's in the hundreds.

Don't quote me on that.

Will there be a dreadful bloodbath

When the Khmer Rouge hit the town?

Will there be a dreadful bloodbath...?

Beer! We haven't had this

for four weeks.

New York Times probably

had it flown in.

- They keep it in their suite.

- We got a cellar. Don't you know?

Americans take themselves so seriously.

Don't be hard on the man. He's just

trying to get to the top of the heap.

We'll just have to pay more to get

our telexes to the top of the heap.

The man has just bought you a beer.

Now drink up.

- Cheers.

- Cheers, Syd.

- Enjoy it.

- Off to see the telex operator?

- New York Times goes to bed early.

- Sure!

Khmer Rouge in the sunset

The Yanks all at sea...

- All right?

- Very possible.

Let's go then!

This is good work.

- How much?

- Hundred fifty.

One hundred!

- All right?

- All right.

Nice going, Pran.

- What is he saying?

- He wants you to look at his family.

To take a photograph and help him

because his child was wounded.

Tell me what she's saying.

She needs help.

Her shop was destroyed last night.

Her husband k*lled.

How many bombs?

She doesn't know.

Does she know where the hospital is?

"Just over there."

She wants to know,

"Did someone arrest the pilot?"

Mister, you wanna buy?

Mister, you wanna buy?

- One dollar? You wanna buy?

- I'm out of film. I'm sorry.

Ask her how many kids she's got

in her family.

"Five."

Her husband was k*lled already.

What's this?

What are these guys over here?

In the jeep, prisoners.

Khmer Rouge prisoners.

They k*ll a lot of villagers.

She says Khmer Rouge soak rags

in gasoline...

...and push them down

villagers' throat...

...then set the rags alight.

Film! No film!

I know there's no film.

No camera!

No camera!

It's all right.

Just take it easy.

Tell them we're jour...

Come on! Get in!

I'm worried.

I'm the guy who bring you over here.

They accuse me and they arrest me.

How can they arrest you?

You're already arrested.

They phone Phnom Penh about me.

I want some cigarettes.

And I need to take a leak.

Would you tell them I need to piss?

He said, "No piss."

What does that mean?

That's no piss.

I've had enough of this bullshit.

I got a story to get to New York!

Don't leave me!

I won't leave you.

They brought in the whole press corps!

They want to sanitize the story!

Bastards!

I am going to tell you something.

I'm walking out of here.

What are you gonna do?

Blow my head off?

You got a general out there,

this is an American passport...

...and I am walking out of here!

- He wants to get higher officer.

- Then get him! Get him!

I'm sorry we couldn't show you the

minor b*mb damage in the city itself.

It's still a restricted area.

Now, if you look across the river...

...you'll see positions held by

Khmer Rouge...

...who moved in over

the past few days.

But the Cambodian Republican Army

is moving in on them.

They'll have the K.R. Out

before you can say "Jack Robinson."

Get in the chopper now!

No, Schanberg! You came on a boat,

you go back on a boat!

That won't stop my story!

What is this?

If you weren't down here,

I wouldn't be down here.

And I don't want to be down here!

What good is it doing?

If anybody ever reads about this...

...you won't be able to look them

in the face!

Good morning.

What time is it?

Six o'clock.

sh*t.

Telex for you.

You been to the telex?

We made the front page.

Sure.

We must be doing something right.

My wife is very worried.

She thinks all foreign journalists

are going to leave Cambodia.

Well, Pran...

...l'd feel kind of stupid trying to

cover this w*r from a desk in Bangkok.

And she said if the w*r

keeps going like this...

...the future could be very bad.

What do you think?

I don't know.

I don't know either.

- Is Sarun downstairs?

- Sure.

Let's get going.

All right.

Don't go back to sleep.

I won't.

K.R.'s making a push

for the airport road.

If they cut it,

the city could be lost.

We hype these people up. "You'll be

all right with us," we say.

Now look at all this f*cking mess!

In America, everybody got a good car.

He ask you what car you drive

in United States.

I don't have a car in America,

only the Mercedes here.

Mercedes, number one!

Ask him where he learned

to speak his English.

American advisor with his unit

teach him.

Mercedes, number one, okay?

What did he say?

He said he thought all

American people left already.

Made in the USA.

Are we winning?

No, you're not winning.

What should we do?

Well, you make sure they don't

cut off the airport road.

The first section came

by Route number 36.

And the second one

came down by Route number 26.

Khmer Rouge will come down Route 3.

He doesn't know how many.

They expect an att*ck today.

- Where's your commander?

- Phnom Penh.

- Why there?

- Don't know.

How many mortar rounds you have...?

Rockoff, get your ass out here!

Get out here!

Come on, let's get him out of here!

- f*ck this!

- They pulling out?

I'm not happy here, Syd.

Jon, I'm leaving.

Syd, come on!

Come on!

Sydney, this way!

Sydney, look! Khmer Rouge!

In Washington, the

Cambodian ambassador...

...in a speech to

the Washington Press Club said:

"Let's face it, you took

advantage of us."

I can't eat.

"You are cleverer than we are, and

you induced us into this fighting."

Indeed, the Khmer Rouge

insurgents in Cambodia...

...have tightened their ring

around the capital, Phnom Penh...

...now swollen with some two million

refugees from the fighting.

Reports from government troops talk

of the field situation being so bad...

...that soldiers are having

to siphon gas from jeep to jeep...

...in order to be able to get

the wounded back to the capital.

No more electricity.

And now I get a message

to try for negotiations.

Well, it's just too g*dd*mn late!

Alan, this country's split apart.

We put this ship to sea, and it breaks

my heart not to help it back to port.

Any port.

What pisses me off is, this country

has faults and strengths...

...and we have done nothing

but play to the faults.

I tell you, I will be damn

glad to get out of here.

This thing has dragged on too long for

it to end in all sweetness and light.

After what the Khmer Rouge

have been through...

...they won't be exactly

affectionate toward Westerners.

- Where do you want this?

- On the floor. Anywhere.

- Mr. Schanberg...

- Oh, Christ, my dependents! Six.

Dith Pran and family.

Right.

"Dear sir, my family and I are planning

a touring vacation of Southeast Asia...

...and anticipate two weeks

in Cambodia touring the country.

Would you please send tour

information and brochures?

Thanking you in advance,

Wendell Payne."

Wendell lives in Wisacky,

South Carolina.

What about the airlift?

We're taking it with us.

- People will starve to death.

- I know, but what can we do?

Look, there could be a bloodbath here.

Excuse the pun, but we're

either staying or we're living.

Hello, leaving a sinking ship then,

are we, Carver?

President Ford, in his foreign policy

speech, hardly referred to Cambodia...

...except to say that, as of now,

it may be too late.

I'm sorry. I'm late.

Where you been?

- They stop me because of the curfew.

- The curfew, huh?

Yes. I'm sorry.

Get started on this.

Tell them to start sending this out...

...but hold the last two paragraphs.

I'll have corrections in an hour.

They don't transmit today.

The transmitter at Kambol got hit.

They say 6 p.m. We can file.

6 p.m.

What do you think this is?

A monthly magazine?

This is a newspaper.

How about update tomorrow?

Yeah, sure. We can file

an update tomorrow.

I was over at the

American Embassy yesterday.

Good news?

No, not good news.

They say that when

this place goes up...

...they think a lot of people

will be k*lled. A lot of people.

I've arranged for the evacuation

of you and your family.

So now it's up to you.

What do you want to do?

Do you want to stay

or leave?

And how about you?

That's none of your business.

Do you want to stay,

or do you want to leave?

I know.

You love my family.

But me, I'm reporter too.

You know what I mean?

All right, we don't have

to decide this right now.

Take it easy.

But we'll have to make up our

minds pretty soon, right?

All right, this is it!

Is the floor clear?

This is the last check.

Last check. This is the last check!

Mr. Kincaid is not here.

Mr. Kincaid is gone.

You keep Mr. Kincaid's money.

Now, I want you to go right now!

I want you to leave now!

You won't see Mr. Kincaid again!

Okay, sergeant, let him in!

Have you got Pran here?

Have you got Pran on there?

- And his wife?

- Yes, sir, they are.

- Did they come in yet?

- No, sir, they haven't arrived yet.

Have you seen Pran?

No, I haven't.

Where is he?

Well, it's been real.

They're gonna miss it.

Why don't you check around

the other side?

If he comes here, I'm looking

for him in the back.

Beth! Have you seen Pran?

No, have you looked at the hotel?

He's at the post office!

The post office!

Get the f*ck out!

Get out of here now!

Move your asses out of here!

Hold those doors!

- Where do you think you're going?

- To embassy.

Yes, sir, what's your name?

Dith Pran family, sir.

Dith Pran family?

- Sydney Schanberg.

- They've been through.

- They've been through.

- Check one more time, please.

- You made a mistake, sir.

- No mistake.

Rockoff, help me!

Run!

There's no time!

Wait a minute.

Smile.

Jon.

Hello, Sydney.

If the going gets rough, I heard

our best bet's the French Embassy.

Who told you that?

The British Embassy.

Khmer Rouge coming.

Look like government soldiers

give them big welcome.

No more fighting!

I be right back!

No more fighting! No more w*r!

What do you think?

I don't like the look of this.

I was in Keng Kang this morning.

Practically got my ass sh*t off.

I just don't think these guys

are for real.

I'm going to the hospital.

You want to come with me?

Tetracaine, 50 milligrams, please.

Jesus, what am I supposed to do?

Sing her a lullaby?

Pentothal, 150 milligrams, quick.

Jesus, another shrapnel

in the spine here.

Okay, let's have her over.

This is blood group A. We've had one

unit of blood in the last two days.

Plasma substitute, please, quick.

We've plenty of blood, gentlemen.

Plenty of blood.

The problem is, it's all in

the wrong f*cking place.

Why do corpses have to pile up before

people decide it's time to go home?

For God's sake, back up the car!

Sarun, back it up!

For God's sake, back it up now!

- Why doesn't he get his ass in here?

- He's trying to get in!

They won't let him in.

All right?

Okay?

Looks all right.

I'm coming!

Just a minute! He's with me!

He's with The New York Times!

Wait just a minute!

He's a journalist and he's with me!

Where is the consul? I want to talk

to the consul. Let me see him!

You tell me where he is.

I want to speak to him!

The picture in Cambodia

is increasingly unclear.

Journalists who have flown

from Thailand over Phnom Penh...

...report that the Khmer Rouge

have attempted...

...a mass evacuation

of the entire population.

Radio contact with the French Embassy

reveals that some 200 Europeans...

...and an undisclosed number

of Cambodians have taken refuge.

As yet, no statement has been made

by the new rulers of Cambodia.

The whereabouts of Prince Sihanouk

and the Khmer Rouge leadership...

...are not clear.

- Okay?

- Yes. He's sleeping.

That's the consul.

- Did you see that, Dennis?

- The Russians are coming.

Look, piss off! Please!

Get out! You won't get

anything here! Out!

First, the main points of the news.

BBC, Dougal.

- Daily reports of fighting

around the airport...

...14 kilometers outside Phnom Penh,

the capital of Cambodia.

And now, an on-the-spot report

from our correspondent in Thailand...

...Hugh Elder.

Where do they get this crap?

Do you see that guy across the gate?

The little guy?

Could we not all look at once, please?

I have it on reliable sources

that that's Hugh Elder.

You're kidding.

He's disguised, but I got suspicious

about him. You know what I mean?

- How does he get copy out?

- How does he get his copy out?

With specially trained hens.

The BBC has, like, commissioned

them to walk past the Khmer Rouge...

...like their regular fowl.

They've been crossing the border into

Thailand every day and every night.

I told you.

Unconfirmed reports say

the Khmer Rouge are demanding...

...that any officials of

the defeated Lon Nol government...

...especially the so-called

Six Traitors of the Cabinet...

...be handed over to them.

It is not known whether

any of the ex-ministers...

...may have taken refuge

in the embassy...

...where, in the words of a UNICEF

representative in Bangkok...

...the situation is said to be

"increasingly precarious."

And when I tried to go

just a kilometer further, no.

The only sense I can make of it

is that there's...

...some sort of internal

power struggle going on.

Different groups seem to be

holding different parts of the city...

...and they all appear to be equally

nervous over losing power and control.

Half of them are under 15.

Some Red Cross instruction

sheets want translating.

Can you help?

Use Pran. He speaks French

better than I do.

I'd prefer it if it was you.

What did you do that for?

The guy's insecure enough already.

The Cambodians have

to leave the embassy.

They want all our passports

and everybody downstairs...

...and the Cambodians out.

If you have papers,

you have a name.

If we have a name,

we can find the mother.

Look, I fight for five years.

Useless w*r.

f*ck!

Pran is not gonna last

five minutes out there.

The Khmer Rouge have k*lled every

journalist they've ever caught.

Does Syd know how serious this is?

- Of course he bloody knows!

- We can't let him walk out of here.

Look, two passports. This one's

out-of-date, but the visa's valid.

Jon Ankertill Brewer Swain.

Knock out the Jon, knock out the Swain,

and you're left with Ankertill Brewer.

Change my photograph for one of Pran,

and he's a British subject.

It's worth a try.

I hope he's got a photo because

I don't have any f*cking film.

I try to escape to Thailand right now.

Give me two or three weeks.

If you get there first, let me know.

And leave message for me

at Reuters. Okay?

Just give me an hour.

I need some time to think.

I got no time to give you.

Swain's got an idea.

Ankertill Brewer.

That's the new name.

- Ankertill Brewer.

- Right. Now, my photograph.

- Change my photograph for yours.

- Do you have an old photo?

I don't think so.

Give him your passport.

Your old passport,

a family snapshot, anything.

Khmer Rouge took everything.

- What about your press card?

- Everything!

f*ck!

- Didn't give it back.

- We'll go and find some film.

There's film here. We'll get it.

Polaroid, any kind, any speed.

We're gonna get it,

and I'll sh**t it, okay?

We'll find the film.

Do you have a Polaroid camera?

Do you have film?

No, I haven't got any film!

I've also got no metronidazole, and

this child has got amebic dysentery!

We've gotta get sulfide

and a developer.

If we can get that,

I can make the photo.

sh*t!

Listen, I know where we can get

some water. We can drain...

...the air conditioning vent.

I've seen it done. Come on.

Excuse me, you're Mr. Schanberg?

I've been told that you're

in charge of bed covers.

What?

Blankets. We've just arrived.

We want some blankets.

Come on down here.

Go to the end of the hall there.

Turn to the right,

go up the stairs.

If there are any, they'll be

at the top of the stairs.

Syd, I have got the camera...

...I have got the film...

...and I have got

the f*cking darkroom!

All right. Don't smile.

- You're smiling.

- Very serious. You are smiling.

Stop, please.

- Very serious.

- Very serious, very American.

Okay, cover it.

This f*cking paper, I don't know.

That was the stuff you found

in the coatroom.

Ankertill Brewer.

Ankertill Brewer.

Getting an image.

Look at it.

Look, the bugger's face.

It sure is. Come on.

Come on.

Come on.

Now fix it.

That's good.

Oh, no. f*ck, it's fogging.

g*dd*mn it.

g*dd*mn this paper!

g*dd*mn it!

We're gonna have to start again.

Okay, now we gotta fix it.

I did it.

Let me have that.

It's fading.

Take it out.

No, it's already gone. The solution's

too strong. It's fading.

Take it out now.

I mean, if it's...

f*ck!

g*dd*mn it!

Man, this f*cking room is k*lling me.

Could I just...?

I'll just do it myself, okay?

Let me just have a few feet

in here by myself.

f*ck.

Sorry.

That's it.

It's perfect.

Perfect.

Welcome to New York. We got it.

Perfect. Rockoff, perfect!

Ankertill Brewer. Ankertill Brewer.

All right, you jokers, would you like

to bring your passports over to me?

This is the last call for passports.

Can I have your passports, please?

Can I have your passports, please?

Thank you.

Passports, ladies and gents.

All right, you jokers, this is your

last chance to get your passports in.

Your passports, please.

On this passport depend my life.

Thank you.

Passports, ladies. This is for

the big tour, the big package.

From Thursday Island right down

to Mount Macedon...

...to see the famous Hanging Rock.

Come on, passports, please.

Ladies and gentlemen, last call.

Going...

...going...

...gone.

Is this lunch?

What?

It seems certain

that the majority...

...of Phnom Penh's population has

been evacuated to the countryside.

The population is swollen

with thousands of refugees.

Hello again.

It'll be argued by some that this is

a way of coping with postwar chaos.

Dennis, can you turn

that down, please?

Now, listen, everybody.

The trucks which we've seen arriving

are for our evacuation.

Probably in the next 24 hours.

Now, listen. That's to be confirmed.

It's almost certainly for Thailand.

These so-called journalists

have no right...

You're not biased? You haven't

seen any atrocities in Cambodia?

- It's just an emotional spasm!

- Yes, it is, yes. So just shut up!

You have to break eggs

to make an omelet!

Sydney, Ankertill Brewer.

- Thank you. Goodbye.

- Good luck.

- Give me these back in Paris.

- Goodbye.

Don't forget. All right?

Why didn't you get him out

when you had the chance?

You had no right to keep him here!

You've got a funny

sense of priorities.

I'm a reporter too, Morgan.

I know his heart.

- I love him like my brother.

- Sure.

And I do anything for him.

Anything.

Goodbye, Rockoff.

Tell my wife I love her...

...and look after all my children.

She doesn't speak any English.

Please...

...I don't want anyone

to be bad to my wife.

Dith Pran.

P-R-A-N.

He disappeared in Phnom Penh in 1975.

Pran is his first name.

Any information you can give.

Well, we're hoping

for any information at all.

He was last seen in '75.

Can you get me that number again?

In April 1975.

4144-5364...

Pran is a resourceful man.

He will wait until he knows

that it's safe...

...and then he'll make his move.

Thank you for coming...

...and taking care of her

and her family.

But she knows that

her husband is dead.

That's not true.

That's absolutely not true.

It's not true. It's not.

She doesn't believe you...

...because she knows

her husband is dead.

You're a good man.

If your mother needs anything,

make sure she gets in touch with me.

You better go.

For the past 5 years...

...as indicated on this map

that you see here...

...North Vietnam has occupied

m*llitary sanctuaries...

...all along the Cambodian frontier

with South Vietnam.

As the President spoke...

...American troops were preparing

to move into Cambodia.

The decision to inv*de, like

the earlier secret decision to b*mb...

...was withheld from

the Cambodian people.

We will yell at the top of our lungs.

We will move.

It's the fear that makes a man

so scared, you know?

There are no American

combat advisors in Cambodia.

There will be no American

combat troops or advisors in Cambodia.

We will aid Cambodia.

Cambodia is the Nixon doctrine

in its purest form.

Sydney...

...I think of you often

and often my family.

They tell us that God is dead.

And now the party they call

the Angka...

...will provide everything for us.

He says Angka has identified...

...and proclaims the existence...

...of a bad new disease...

...a memory sickness diagnosed

as thinking too much about life...

...in prerevolutionary Cambodia.

He says we are surrounded by enemies.

The enemy is inside us.

No one can be trusted.

We must be like the ox...

...and have no thought

except for the Party.

No love but for the Angka.

People starve...

...but we must not grow food.

We must honor the comrade children...

...whose minds are not corrupted

by the past.

Is anybody of us...

...a doctor...

...professor...

...and student?

Angka needs you.

Angka has forgiven all the past.

Sydney...

...Angka says that those

who were guilty of soft living...

...in the years

of the great struggle...

...and did not care for the sufferings

of the peasant must confess...

...because now is the year zero...

...and everything is to start anew.

I'm full of fear, Sydney.

I must show no understanding.

Not of French or English.

I must have no past, Sydney.

This is the year zero...

...and nothing has gone before.

The wind whispers of fear and hate.

The w*r has k*lled love, Sydney.

And those who confess

to the Angka vanish.

And no one dare ask where they go.

Here, only the silent survive.

Mercedes, number one!

Anyone who knows my work will know

that half of this belongs to Dith Pran.

Without Pran, I wouldn't have been able

to file half the stories I did.

It's nice to congratulate ourselves

on occasions like this.

But I can't stand here tonight...

...without thinking

of those innocent people...

...Pran dedicated himself to helping

me bring to the notice of the public.

As they pondered their options

in the White House...

...the men who decided to b*mb

and then to inv*de Cambodia...

...concerned themselves

with many things:

Great power conflicts

and collapsing dominoes...

...looking tough and dangerous

to the North Vietnamese...

...relieving pressure on the American

troop withdrawal from the South.

They had domestic concerns as well...

...which helps explain why they kept

the bombing of Cambodia a secret.

And they may be assumed not to have

ignored self-interest...

...in their own careers.

What they specifically were not

concerned with...

...were the Cambodians themselves.

Not the people...

...not the society...

...not the country.

Except in the abstract

as instruments of policy.

Dith Pran and I...

...tried to record and bring home...

...the concrete consequences

of these decisions to real people.

To human beings...

...the people left out

of the Administration's plans...

...but who paid the price...

...and took the b*ating for them.

I'm very pleased to accept this

on behalf of Dith Pran and myself.

I'm very honored...

...and I know that Pran would be

very proud.

Do you plan to continue

with that theme in the future?

Congratulations, Ernie.

Do it again next year!

I'm sorry.

- That was great, really good.

- Better than last year.

Abe, meet my sister.

I'm very happy to meet you.

That's my dad.

Would you hold this for me?

One second.

I hoped you could recommend

a good school for journalism.

I told my daughter I'd be

seeing you today.

Just one minute, okay?

I'll be right back.

Could I have your autograph?

I'm a great admirer of yours.

Congratulations on your award,

it was well-deserved.

Very impressive.

I was hoping you'd burst into song.

- What are you doing here?

- You know what bothers me?

What?

It bothers me that you let Pran

stay in Cambodia...

...because you wanted to win,

and you knew you needed him...

- I didn't have any idea what...

- The f*ck you didn't!

The f*ck you didn't.

I did everything I could,

and I'm doing everything I can.

Nice to see you.

I'm on my way to Florida.

I'm doing everything I can.

I'm sure. I didn't realize

you'd been out there to see him.

Don't play games with me, Al.

Don't play stupid games.

Nobody gets to go in there.

If I thought I could, I would.

I've sent out hundreds of photographs.

Every relief organization

on the Thai-Kampuchean border...

...has got his picture. If I saw

one glimmer of hope, I'd go today.

Life isn't a '40s movie.

You can't just get on a plane and

make the whole world come out right!

And I can't believe

I'm hearing this from you!

Congrats.

Do you keep in touch

with Dith Pran's family?

Yes. They're living in San Francisco.

How do you respond to accusations

that journalists...

...underestimated the brutality

of the Khmer Rouge...

...and so share responsibility for

what happened in Cambodia afterwards?

We made a mistake.

Maybe we underestimated

the kind of insanity...

...that $ 7 billion worth

of bombing could produce.

That is provocative...

There have been a lot of refugee

stories in Reader's Digest...

...about Cambodia.

Do you believe them?

Don't you believe them?

Maybe in this instance the

Reader's Digest happens to be correct.

Do you apply the same disbelief

to stories...

...that come out of Iran

or Palestine or Chile?

Are refugees your next area

of interest?

Will you be covering the boat people?

No, I will not.

Do you want a cup of tea?

Are you looking around for some kind

of more salable suffering?

I must have sent 500 letters.

I wrote the International Red Cross,

the World Health Organization.

I know you did, Syd.

You told me.

I don't know who I didn't write to.

I never really gave him any choice.

One time we tried to discuss leaving.

I talked to him about it,

but we never really discussed it.

I discussed it with Swain and Rockoff.

But I never discussed it with him.

He stayed because

I wanted him to stay.

And I stayed because...

I'm trapped, Sydney.

I know he suspects me,

and yet he treats me well.

There are many different groups

over here, Sydney.

I must take much care.

Now Angka says we have new enemies.

They say we must regain

our old lands from the Vietnamese.

And now they say we must fight them.

I miss you, my wife, my children.

And my heart hungers for news of you.

New China Radio reports...

...that fighting between Vietnam

and Democratic Kampuchea...

...has broken out

on a number of fronts.

This is in retaliation,

according to the Vietnamese...

...for a number of att*cks

on border villages...

Taxi driver, huh?

I think you speak English.

Sit down.

You know, I love this country.

I sacrificed everything for it.

My wife d*ed for the revolution.

But the leaders of Angka

no longer trust the people.

Therefore, I can no longer trust them.

And they don't trust me.

I fear...

...really fear for the future.

I think you love my son.

For his sake...

...look after him.

The fighting is close by, Sydney.

If the Vietnamese get here...

...Angka will destroy everything...

...and the Vietnamese,

they will find only ashes.

I must try to stop the k*lling.

Good luck.

Yeah, I'll be right there, Brian.

Ann, get me 415-555-6421.

Abe, I've got some great news!

Twenty minutes ago, I get

a phone call from Paris.

I get Andreas Freund.

He talked to Henry.

He told him how to get in touch

with me.

Freund says, "I have got

some great news for you."

- San Francisco's on the line.

- "It's about Pran!"

Is your mother there?

When?

All right,

I want you to get this down.

No, write it down. Write it down.

I've got a message from your dad!

How you been?

Do you forgive me?

Nothing to forgive, Sydney.

Nothing.