Hearts and Minds

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Movie
German title Hearts and Minds
Original title Hearts and Minds
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1974
length 112 minutes
Rod
Director Peter Davis
production Bert Schneider ,
Peter Davis
camera Richard Pearce,
Lennart Malmer
cut Lynzee Klingman ,
Susan Martin

Hearts and Minds is an American documentary about the Vietnam War directed by Peter Davis . The title is based on a quote by US President Lyndon B. Johnson , "the ultimate victory ultimately depends on the hearts and minds (engl. Hearts and Minds .) Of people aged who live out there," the film had its premiere at the International Cannes Film Festival in 1975 and was awarded an Oscar for best documentary in 1975 .

Commercial exploitation in the USA was delayed by a legal process in which one of the interviewees, Walt Rostov , was temporarily banned from contact because his lawyers had stated that the film was "in some ways misleading" and "unrepresentative “And that he would not have had the opportunity to agree with the results of the interview. Columbia Pictures then declined to release the film, forcing the producers to take back the rights and re-publish the film. The film ended up being released just in time to be considered for Oscar nominations. In 2018 he was inducted into the National Film Registry .

people

General William Westmoreland , United States Army Chief of Staff

One of the most shocking and controversial scenes shows the funeral of an ARVN soldier and his grieving family, with a sobbing woman having to be prevented from climbing into the grave. The funeral scene is juxtaposed with an interview with General William Westmoreland - Commander of US military operations in the Vietnam War from 1964 to 1968 and United States Army Chief of Staff from 1968 to 1972 - who said that “the people of the Far East are not in Appreciate life in the same way as western people. Life is expensive; it's cheap in the Orient ”. After recording, Westmoreland had it repeated because, in his opinion, he was wrong. After the second shot, it was recorded a third time. The third shot was eventually used in the film. Davis later admitted how appalled he was when General Westmoreland said, 'Far East people do not have the same appreciation for life'; instead of arguing with him, I wanted to take the breath off his sails ... I wanted the matter to be in the foreground, not me as a director. "

The film also contains video sequences of George Thomas Coker , a United States Navy pilot who was held as a prisoner of war by the North Vietnamese for 6½ years , including more than two years in solitary confinement. One of the first scenes in the film shows a welcome parade for Coker in his hometown of Linden, New Jersey , during which he explains to the crowd that if the need arises, they must be ready to send him back to war. In one school he replied to a student's question that the people there lived very backwards and were primitive and that they would screw everything up ("make mess out of everything"). In a 2004 Washington Post article , Desson Thomson commented on Coker's appearance: "When he puts war advocates on camera, Davis is making a careful decision." Stefan Kanfer, on the other hand, found an unequal focus on Coker's portrait in Time magazine : “An ex-prisoner of war is returning to New Jersey and is paralleled with red-white-blue-bloody patriots and wide-eyed schoolchildren. The camera, which generously recorded the suffering of political prisoners, does not seem interested in the experiences of humiliation and torture of the US lieutenant. "

The film also features Vietnam War veteran and antiwar activist Bobby Muller , who later founded the Vietnam Veterans of America Association .

Daniel Ellsberg , who published the Pentagon Papers in 1971, also discusses his initially overzealous attitudes towards the war.

In another interview, war veteran Randy Floyd says: “We tried by all means to forget what we had learned in Vietnam. I think Americans worked extremely hard to overlook the crime of officials and politics. "

The film also shows pictures of Phan Thị Kim Phúc , who, at the age of nine, runs naked on the street with severe back burns after a napalm attack.

List of interviewees

The following list only contains people who are mentioned in the credits, this does not include, for example, the various US presidents (Nixon, Kennedy, Johnson etc.) and Bob Hope :

  • Clark M. Clifford , Truman's Legal Counsel 1946–50, Secretary of Defense 1968–69
  • John Foster Dulles , Secretary of State to USA 1953–59
  • Georges Bidault , French Foreign Minister 1954
  • Lt. George Coker, Vietnam PoW 1966-73
  • Walt Rostov , advisor to Johnson and Kennedy
  • Senator JW Fulbright, Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee
  • Former Cpt. Randy Floyd
  • Jerry Holter and Charles Hoey, USAF pilots
  • J. Edgar Hoover
  • Senator Joseph McCarthy
  • Former Cpl. Stan Holder
  • Former 1st Lt. Bobby Muller
  • Daniel Ellsberg , former advisor Defense Dept. RAND Corporation
  • General William Westmoreland, Comm. General Vietnam 1964-68
  • Nguyen Van Toi, Vietnamese
  • Vo Thi Hue and Vo Thi Tu, Vietnamese sisters
  • Father Chan Tin from Saigon
  • Diem Chau, editor of Trinh Bay magazine
  • David Emerson of Concord, Massachusetts, father of a pilot killed
  • Mui Duc Giang, Vietnamese undertaker
  • Former Special 5 Edward Sowders, conscientious objector
  • Mrs. Lora Sowders, his mother
  • Barton Osbern, former Army Intelligence Officer CIA
  • Sgt.George Trendell from Fort Dix , New Jersey
  • Thich Lieu Minh from An Quang Pagoda, Saigon
  • Former Sgt. William Marshall from Detroit
  • Colonel George Patton IV
  • Duong Van Khai, refugee
  • Nguyen Ngoc-Linh, Chairman of the Mekong Conglomerate, former Cabinet Minister
  • Mike Sulsana, amputee
  • Voice of IF Stone, journalist
  • Senator Eugene McCarthy
  • Senator Robert Kennedy
  • Ngô Đình Diệm , President of South Vietnam in 1957, killed in 1963
  • General Nguyễn Khánh , President of South Vietnam 1964–65
  • General Maxwell Taylor, Ambassador to South Vietnam 1964–65
  • Nguyen Thi Sau, former political refugee (F)
  • Ngo Ba Thanh, political refugee
  • Mary Cochran Emerson, mother of a pilot killed
  • Vu Duc Vinh North, Vietnamese bombing victim

reception

Hearts and Minds has had extensive reception, mostly either glowingly positive or judgmentally negative, with critics tending to see the film as either a political documentary masterpiece or a biting anti-Vietnam War film. After the films about the Vietnam War in the 1960s and 1970s, which were equally polarizing, Hearts and Minds is the first film to be released in 1975 after the war ended. The compilation of mostly contemporary reviews at Rotten Tomatoes resulted in a total of 93% positive ratings from 30 reviews: the average score is 8.2 out of 10.

Vincent Canby of The New York Times called Hearts and Minds an epic documentary film "[...] [which] shows this nation their agonizing interventions in Vietnam, something you think you know everything about, including the ending, but that's not true" . Canby ranked the film in his 1975 Top Ten, calling it "a delicate, complex, regrettably biased meditation on American power" and a film "that reveals itself to be one of the most comprehensive cinematic testimonies of American civilization." The Washington Post's Desson Thomson described the film as "one of the greatest documentaries of all time, an outstanding film about the thoughts and feelings of an era and the smack and animosity that brought with it." Rex Reed called Hearts and Minds "the best film at the Cannes Film Festival" and noted that it was the "only film" "that lifts the veil on the Vietnam War and tells the truth." World Movies, an Australian subscription channel, named Hearts and Minds on its 2007 list as one of 25 documentaries to watch before you die.

Other critics have criticized the film for its unbalanced presentation. Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times wrote, "Here's a documentary about Vietnam that isn't really being honest with us [...] If we know anything about how footage can be brought to bear and how an edit can make a point, the film is partly like propaganda [...] And ultimately, scene by scene, the raw material is so devastating that it renders the tricks ineffective. ” Walter Goodman of The New York Times wrote in his article False Art of the Propaganda Film that Davis' interview technique was only one side, arguing that Walt Rostov's response could have been a reaction to "a possible provocation, a gesture, a wrong facial expression or a certain phrase". Actress Shirley MacLaine said: “[Goodman] uses the falsification and distortion that is common in propaganda. For example, he begins by claiming that in most countries propaganda is a state monopoly, whereas in the USA it is the state's opponent. That's ridiculous, America invests millions of dollars in propaganda every year. "David Dugas of United Press International commented in a 1975 review in Pacific Stars and Stripes ," Davis's approach is clearly one-sided and certainly not intended to impress Vietnam hardliners , but the film is brilliantly edited, snappy and informative. "

Colin Jacobson wrote in a review for the DVD Movie Guide: “Probably the biggest criticism of Hearts and Minds comes from the editorial approach; he does not hesitate to adopt an anti-war stance, and some argue that he also shows pro-Vietnamese traits. Ultimately, Hearts and Minds leaves the impression of a flawed film that is simply too one-sided. ”In his online review for Images: A Journal of Film and Popular Culture , David Ng wrote:“ The documentary is clearly against the war, both in tone and tone also content. ”M. Joseph Sobran, Jr. of the conservative National Review magazine wrote that the film was“ blatant propaganda ”and“ insincere one-sided, ”referring to the cinematic means used to achieve that effect. Stefan Kanfer from Time magazine remarked that the film had "consistently more than enough heart". It is the "mind" that is missing. And further: "The biggest mistake lies in the methodology: The Vietnam War is too confused, too insincere to be dealt with in a compilation without comment."

Michael Moore called Hearts and Minds as one of the films that he had inspired to become a filmmaker and called him "not only the best documentary I've ever seen, but perhaps the best movie ever." Many of the cinematic techniques used he in his film Fahrenheit 9/11 .

Academy Award

After Columbia Pictures refused to distribute the film, producers Bert Schneider and Henry Jaglom bought back the rights and released the film through Warner Bros. in March 1975. The original release on December 18, 1974 in Los Angeles , California was canceled, after Warner Bros. could not raise the necessary sum of one million US dollars to acquire the rights from Columbia Pictures. The film was finally released in the last possible week to be considered for the upcoming Oscars.

Speaking at the reception of his Oscars on April 8, 1975, co-producer Bert Schneider said: “It is ironic that we are here now, at a time shortly before Vietnam regained its independence, and then read a telegram with the inscription 'Kind regards to all American people' from Ambassador Dinh Ba Thi of the Provisional Revolutionary Government (Viet Cong) in a delegation to the Paris Peace Accord. The telegram thanks the anti-war movement 'for everything they have done in the interests of peace' ”. Frank Sinatra later responded by reading a letter from Bob Hope , another host on the Oscar show: “The Academy says we are not responsible for any political reference made during the show and we are saddened that any such thing happened that night played. "

literature

  • Peter Biskind : Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex-Drugs-and Rock 'N Roll Generation Saved Hollywood. Simon and Schuster, New York 1998. pp. 178 ff., Plate x.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Schwartz, Larry. "Inside the body of a war zone" , The Age , Sept. 13, 2007 accessed on 11 August, 2008.
  2. ^ NY Times: Hearts and Minds . In: NY Times . Retrieved November 15, 2008. 
  3. ↑ a b Dugas, David via United Press International . "Viet War film Late, Or Maybe Just in Time" , Pacific Stars and Stripes , February 25, 1975 accessed on 15 August, 2008.
  4. ↑ Dittmar, Linda; and Michaud, Gene. From Hanoi to Hollywood: The Vietnam War in American Film , Rutgers University Press, 1990 via Google Books , p. 273. ISBN 0-8135-1587-4 .
  5. ^ Derrick Z. Jackson: Derrick Z. Jackson: The Westmoreland mind-set. In: The International Herald Tribune. July 22, 2005, accessed January 26, 2008 .
  6. ↑ a b c d e f Desson Thomson: 'Hearts And Minds' Recaptured , The Washington Post . October 22, 2004. Retrieved December 17, 2018. 
  7. ^ Sarah Katz: An Interview With Peter Davis. Center for Social Media, January 2008, archived from the original on March 2, 2008 ; Retrieved April 3, 2010 .
  8. ^ Return With Honor Transcript , PBS , accessed August 11, 2008.
  9. ^ Michael A. Anderegg: Inventing Vietnam: The War in Film and Television. Temple University Press 1991, ISBN 0-87722-862-0 , p. 284, ( books.google.com ).
  10. ↑ Anthony Lane: Aftermaths: Enduring Love, Hearts and Minds. The New Yorker, November 1, 2004, accessed July 29, 2008 .
  11. ↑ Terror and trauma. , The Guardian . November 18, 2005. Retrieved January 27, 2008. 
  12. ↑ a b Stefan Kanfer: War-Torn In: Time , March 17, 1975, accessed on August 11, 2008.
  13. ↑ "Scores of Reasons to See These Silent Films" , The Washington Post , October 15, 2004, accessed on 17 December 2018th
  14. ↑ a b Canby, Vincent . " 'Hearts and Minds,' a film Study of Power" , The New York Times March 24, 1975, accessed on August 6 of 2008.
  15. ↑ James Monaco: Hearts & Minds. Cineaste , 2003, accessed November 15, 2008 .
  16. ^ A b Carol Wilder: Separated at Birth: Argument by Irony in Hearts and Minds and Fahrenheit 9/11 . In: The New School (Ed.): Atlantic Journal of Communication . No. Summer 2005, 2005. doi : 10.1207 / s15456889ajc1302_1 . "What can the striking similarities and differences of these pictures tell us about the media environments of their respective times? What do they reveal about the architecture of cinematic argument? About the eternal verities of war rhetoric? "
  17. ↑ a b Robert D. Schulz Inger: A Time for Peace: The Legacy of the Vietnam War. P. 155, Oxford University Press, Oxford & New York, 2006
  18. ↑ rottentomatoes.com
  19. ↑ Canby, Vincent. "FILM VIEW; The Ten Best Films of 1975" , The New York Times , December 28, 1975, accessed on 14 August, 2008.
  20. ^ Rex Reed: "A film Americans nay not see" , Independent Press-Telegram August 18, 1974, accessed August 15, 2008.
  21. ↑ 25 Docs You Must See Before You Die. (No longer available online.) World Movies, archived from the original on January 11, 2008 ; Retrieved January 27, 2008 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.worldmovies.net
  22. ^ Hearts and Minds . In: Chicago Sun-Times , January 1, 1974. Retrieved August 11, 2008. 
  23. ↑ Goodman, Walter. The False Art of the Propaganda Film In: The New York Times March 23, 1975, accessed August 14, 2008.
  24. ^ MacLaine, Shirley: 'Propaganda' is What You Don't Agree With , The New York Times . April 6, 1975. Retrieved November 15, 2008. 
  25. ^ Colin Jacobson: Hearts and Minds: Criterion (1974). DVD Movie Guide, 1974, accessed June 24, 2008 .
  26. ^ Ng, David .: Images: A Journal of Film and Popular Culture . 2002, accessed December 22, 2007 .
  27. ↑ MJ Sobran Jr .: Heartless and mindless . In: via EBSCO (Ed.): National Review . 27, No. 21, June 6, 1975, ISSN  0028-0038 , p. 621. Retrieved June 24, 2008.
  28. ↑ Kennedy, Lisa. "Hearts and Minds" run has new appeal. In: Denver Post. November 9, 2004, accessed August 11, 2008.
  29. ↑ "Documentary on Vietnam Fails to Open; 'Somewhat Misleading" , The New York Times , December 19, 1974, accessed on 11 August, 2008.
  30. ^ Biskind, Easy Riders, Raging Bulls. P. 275.
  31. ↑ Robinson, George. Sometimes A Thank You Is not Enough " , The New York Times March 4, 2001, accessed on 29 May, 2008.
  32. ↑ Efron, Eric. The World: Acting Out; At the Oscars, a Cause and Effect In: The New York Times March 30, 2003, accessed May 29, 2008.