There Will Be Blood

On February 25, 1996, Haing Somang Ngor was murdered in Chinatown in Los Angeles. Three members of a street gang, who were charged with homicide, have prior arrest for snatching purses and jewelry. But Ngor's case was rather strange. According to testimony, he willingly gave his gold Rolex watch. He carried $2,900 in his wallet, which the defendants didn't take. As for his other belongings in his pockets, they remained there. The trio could've took his key (to the house), but they didn't. Some suspected a politically motivated murder.

During the 57th Academy Awards, Haing Ngor won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in "The Killing Fields". He played Dith Pran, a photojournalist who was a survivor of the Cambodian Genocide. Ngor, on the other hand, was a practicing gynecologist in Phnom Penh before he came to America. Both men shared the same experience.

Welcome to Democratic Kampuchea

Travelers who have been to Cambodia would attest that there wasn't much to see between Phnom Penh, the nation's capital, and Siem Reap, where the famed Angkor ruins would be found. It was one long road, the palm tree a ubiquitous sight for seven hours. They would encounter locals, who were gentle and shy. Unless they have an idea about the country's history, then they wouldn't know that this was once a part of a mighty kingdom. Then blood flowed through the arid fields.

During the eleventh century, the Khmer Empire was at its height. The realm stretched from the northern parts of Thailand to the coastlines facing the Gulf of Thailand. Siem Reap was once the seat of this kingdom, where Angkor Wat was located. It was the largest Hindu temple in the world, its architectural design the reason to study the structures for hours. After the last blooming, the empire went on a decline. What was Cambodia back then experienced an uneventful phase. Until Pol Pot came to power.

Dith Pran, who was an interpreter for the New York Times, didn't foresee what was coming when the Khmer Rouge took over. Sydney Schanberg, who covered the war (for the Times), tried to help Pran to escape, but the plan didn't work out. Pran pretended to be a taxi driver, enduring four years in labor camps. In Ngor's case, he concealed his knowledge in medicine. (His wife died while giving birth while they were in a concentration camp.) Freedom came when Vietnam overthrew the Khmer Rouge. Pran could've stayed and helped in rebuilding the country, but he feared that his ties with the US would be discovered.

Ngor didn't have prior acting experience before filming began. The movie prompted him to write about his own account during those dark years. It would bind Ngor and Pran, as they told their sides of the story to let the world know about the atrocities in that part of the Orient. Their effort didn't go in vain, as a stupa was built in honor of the victims.