Hamburger Hill

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Movie
German title Hamburger Hill
Original title Hamburger Hill
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1987
length 112 minutes
Age rating FSK 16
Rod
Director John Irvin
script James Carabatsos
production James Carabatsos,
Marcia Nasatir
music Philip Glass
camera Peter MacDonald
cut Peter Tanner
occupation

Hamburger Hill is an American anti-war film directed by John Irvin from 1987 . It tells the story of a military operation by the US Army in the Vietnam War - Operation Apache Snow in May 1969, the so-called Battle of Hamburger Hill  - with the order to storm Hill 937 ( Dong Ap Bia ) in the A-Shau Valley .

action

The Bravo Company (3rd Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division ) is tasked with taking altitude 937 in the A-Shau Valley. The “Screaming Eagles” also include 14 newcomers, so-called Fucking New Guys . Sergeant Frantz tries, with the help of his medical officer Doc Johnson, to instruct the newcomers on the peculiarities of jungle fighting.

The soldiers are flown into the combat zone, while student peace movements back home condemn the war in Vietnam - and with it the soldiers too.

Storming the hill becomes a personal hell for the soldiers on the front line, where they get the impression that they are being thrown into battle without regard to their lives and processed into hamburger mince by the opponents. Not only the violent resistance of the North Vietnamese is troubling the GIs, also the nocturnal loudspeaker propaganda, the extremely bad weather, accidental fire by their own units ( friendly fire ) and ruthless superiors make the battle a struggle for bare survival. After ten bloody days the hill was stormed.

The operation left 70 dead and 371 wounded. Almost all of the named protagonists have fallen or are badly wounded. Shortly after reaching the summit, the strategically insignificant hill is given up again.

Locations

The film was shot in the Philippines .

Historical background

See: Battle of Hamburger Hill

The battle began on May 10, 1969. As part of Operation Apache Snow, the forces of the North Vietnamese Army in the region were to be destroyed. The valley itself was called the "valley of death" by American soldiers because of the various heavy fighting in the 1960s.

The name "Hamburger Hill" is supposed to mean something like minced meat hill. This name came about after the North Vietnamese army had deployed artillery from the valley on the hill. The American command only expected mortar fire , machine gun nests and ordinary infantry . The idea that artillery could be shot at from above seemed completely absurd in view of the lack of trucks, bulldozers or even helicopters on the Viet Cong side. However, the North Vietnamese army had managed to bring its artillery through the jungle to the hill with pure muscle power.

Reviews

“The film shows the relentlessness of the war in the current case and its futility in general. The intended effect is somewhat diminished by some staging uncertainties in details (including the musical background, which is excessive into pathos), but overall a serious anti-war film has succeeded. "

- Lexicon of international film

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Certificate of release for Hamburger Hill . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry , March 2012 (PDF; test number: 59 303-a V).
  2. ↑ At this point the film leads to the assumption that the hill would have been abandoned again immediately after the storm and thus emphasizes the pointlessness of the gain in terrain. In fact, the site was evacuated on June 5, 1969, sixteen days later.
  3. ^ Hamburger Hill. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used