Hearts and Minds (1974)

[The Narrator]

Originally Posted by thismightbezach

The film also says nothing about the millions of civilians killed by the communists [in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos] after we left in 1975.

Yeah, and while we're at it, why did the movie Three Kings remain silent on the second Iraq War? That's just weak filmmaking there.

[thismightbezach]

Originally Posted by The Narrator

Yeah, and while we're at it, why did the movie Three Kings remain silent on the second Iraq War? That's just weak filmmaking there.

Sorry, I thought this was made in '84, not '74. Makes no difference though. If you made a piece of propaganda promoting a guy who later turned out to be a mass murderer, wouldn't you disown the film or at least go back and say, "oops, sorry." Peter Davis remains unapologetic, as do people like Jane Fonda.

It was also well known before the film came out that the North Vietnamese routinely tortured American POWs and kept them locked in cages. These were the people Davis called "liberators" in his Oscars acceptance speech. These were the people Davis wanted audiences in 1974 to believe were the good guys fighting the big bad Americans.

[AUS1969]

H&M is propaganda, of course and beautifully done. The sequence involving the National Cemetery and Westmoreland's stupid statement about how the Orientals value human life is just...perfect. Apocalypse Now is magnificent in the complete strangeness of a war without front lines. Platoon is another well-done piece of propaganda that is at its best in portraying the soldiers who fought it, at platoon level at least.

It's a pity that we didn't learn anything from the Viet Nam experience, and to a large degree repeated it in Iraq.

[bookcase]

This documentary sounds fascinating. Vietnam has always been controversial (as evidenced in this thread), and one I've always been drawn to. I'll definitely have to check it out.