THREE DOCUMENTARY FILMS ABOUT THE VIETNAM WAR - HEARTS AND MINDS, WINTER SOLDIER, IN THE YEAR OF THE PIG

Recently saw the documentary HEARTS AND MINDS which got me thinking about two other Vietnam War documentaries WINTER SOLDIER and IN THE YEAR OF THE PIG and how they compare and contrast with each other.

HEARTS AND MINDS, while perhaps the more well known film, is the least successful of the three.  It wants to be all things to all people starting off about how the US population was conditioned to be unquestioningly pro military no matter the nature of the struggle then going off on a number of tangents on history, on fighting, on life before returning to soldiers' suffering PTSD and crying as they relive their experiences in Vietnam.

When it is showing how Americans have been brainwashed for decades, the residual effect of the “good” war WWII, and how this brainwashing is connected to racism and xenophobia, the film works but in the end it tries to tackle too many themes and ends up with a wimpier, confused approach to a period of American history that demands directness and honesty.

 

WINTER SOLDIER is a much better film because it focuses on one specific facet of Vietnam – the atrocities committed by US troops.  Hearing and seeing the returned soldiers testify in shaky voices in front of the US Senate and in interviews about the kind of things they’ve done – shooting children, disembowelment, rape, is much more disturbing than seeing the actual acts recreated on film.

WINTER SOLDIER makes no effort to undercut soldiers’ statements with phony even-handedness.  The camera is relentless as it lingers on the naked horror of their statements.

IN THE YEAR OF THE PIG is the best of the three films and one of the best documentaries I've ever seen.  Shot from the viewpoint of The Vietnam War as a war of national liberation against colonialism from first The French then The Americans and Ho Chi Minh as comparable to George Washington, PIG does good job showing us the history of Vietnam.

It also shows us the racist attitudes that US servicemen had towards the Vietnamese….Not just the servicemen but even the high ranking officers.

Of particular interest is the segment where the Gulf of Tonkin incident is shown to be phony as to force the US into further war.  The comments of the two senators who voted against the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, Wayne Morse and Ernest B Gruening, are eye opening.

I admit my own opinions are much like this movie.  I applaud the brave Vietnamese for standing up to imperialism and I believe American troops committed atrocities in Vietnam and should have faced a war crimes tribunal.

And as far as documentaries go those that try to be all things to all people are less successful than those that focus on one or two particular areas exploring them in greater detail.