Vietnam War Documentaries

This past Sunday, the Everett Public Library screened two documentary films produced during the time of the Vietnam war. The creation and distribution of these films are a part, perhaps less well known, of the story of United States involvement in Vietnam.

Night of the Dragon, released in 1966, and Vietnam! Vietnam!, completed in 1968 but not released until 1971, were produced and distributed by the United States Information Agency (USIA) – the independent agency within the executive branch of our government that existed from 1953 to 1999. Part of the mission of USIA was to explain and support American foreign policy and promote US national interests through overseas information programs. These two films, narrated by Charlton Heston, were part of a USIA attempt to explain and justify US involvement in Vietnam to the world.

Neither of these films could be shown in the US at the time they were released. Until 1990, federal law prohibited films produced by the USIA to be shown within the US unless a special exemption was made by Congress for a particular film. Congress was reluctant to have USIA information efforts directed at American citizens.

USIA practice was to distribute its films to foreign cinemas and world leaders, and to show them in USIA libraries around the world. While Night of the Dragon was shown widely abroad, Vietnam! Vietnam! was given very little exposure. By the time it was ready for distribution in 1971, our foreign policy and the military and political situation had changed and the film was not considered helpful.

Both of these films are included in the dvd, Vietnam: A Retrospective that can be found in the Everett Public Library collection. (Nicholas Cull’s The Cold War and the United States Information Agency: American Propaganda and Public Diplomacy, 1945-1989 will be available soon for check out – for those who would like to read about the USIA.)

Marge Bodre
Everett Public Library

"We were soldiers once" : The Vietnam War in Film

I am certainly no expert on Vietnam War films, in fact I remember being less than impressed by most of the early choices. But then came Platoon and the perspective was so fresh and alive, that I was captured. As Mark Deming notes in the All Movie Guide "Platoon is a grunts-eye-view of the war.” Oliver Stone showed the individual soldiers’ perspective and gave a crash course in survival during the Vietnam War.

Unique perspective is the unifying team in the movies I love about the Vietnam War and Stone gives us another in Born on the Fourth of July, just three years after Platoon. Centered on an amazing performance by Tom Cruise, the movie is about the political journey of Ron Kovic who goes from Marine, to paraplegic Vet, and ends up an anti-war activist.

Another unique perspective on the Vietnam War comes from Good Morning Vietnam and brings humor into the mix. Robin Williams plays Adrian Cronauer as a young airman sent to Vietnam to work as a DJ for the Armed Forces Radio Network and he blasts the airwaves with rock and roll and a constant barrage of humor. This sets him at odds with the station and the officers in charge, but makes him a huge hit with the actual soldiers.

The movie version of We Were Soldiers Once and Young is based on actual events, like many of these films. Randall Wallace directs and gives the story unique perspective by cutting between the American troops, the Viet Cong, and the homefront, where Madeleine Stowe gives an excellent performance as the leader of the wives. This gives a great deal of depth to the film.

Werner Herzog brought his unique style to the Vietnam War in Rescue Dawn, another story coming out of actual events. It is the story of Dieter Dengler who is born to fly and credits the United States with giving him wings. He crashes in Laos and is imprisoned, not only by the Viet Cong, but more importantly by the jungle. Christian Bale gives a determined performance as Dengler who becomes obsessed with escaping, bringing himself to the brink of madness. When he does escape, the perilous journey brings him again to the edge as he makes his way to Thailand. This gives the movie a very personal perspective unique in the annals of Vietnam War films and is enhanced by the music used which is classical and introspective rather than rousing adventure stuff.

Matt Laxton
Sno-Isle Libraries