This is a documentary made at the height of the war in Vietnam that attempts to make sense of what was, and to some extent still is, a highly controversial conflict. Background is presented to indicate that the United States of America had had a strong presence in the region for some time, even when the French were fighting their war there, when over three quarters of their funding was from the U.S.A. and come the sixties the gung ho attitude to beating Communism in East had prompted them to invade Vietnam and so the war began with a vengeance.
The best publicity that Hearts and Minds had was when it won an Oscar for best documentary and was denounced by the likes of Frank Sinatra and John Wayne for being un-American. The film makers would argue their film was simply balanced, showing both sides of the arguments, but is it really? In truth, it's as manipulative as the propaganda films it uses to illustrate populist patriotism from World War II onwards, but with the crucial difference that this comes from a view that sees anti-Communism as a sham and the idea that the U.S.A. were doing any good at all by being there to be a false one propogated by the powers that be.
And their presentation is undeniably convincing, taking in archive footage, but mostly new footage filmed by director Peter Davis and his crew, from interviews to shots of the war itself. Judging by what they captured, it would be difficult to remain impartial. The pro-war brigade can't say that they're not represented, as we hear the views of military top brass and government aides, and most memorably a returning prisoner of war who gets his own parade, tours schools and women's groups to tell them that the battles are worth fighting and the Vietnamese are "backward" and "make a mess of things".
The inherent racism in the patriotism is exposed by such comments, and becomes a running theme. One Native American ex-soldier points out that although he was subjected to all manner of racist terms in the army, he still wanted to go out there and kill some "gooks", completely unaware of the irony. This prejudice reaches its nadir when after we have witnessed Vietnamese burying their dead, complete with hysterically bereaved mourners, General William Westmoreland appears on screen to announce that the Vietnamese don't place the same high price on life as the West does, and "life is cheap" there.
Such jingoism is shown to be ingrained in American society, and Davis edits in scenes of football games where the teams and crowd are worked up into a frenzy and parades are held to celebrate a country that is not being put in its best light by this film. The veterans who have returned disillusioned, or worse have lost limbs or are paralysed, are conspicuously not celebrated by this society - in fact, they seem to be ignored. As are the disturbing sights of the effects of the American violence towards the Vietnamese; yes, the Asian country's government torturing of political prisoners is not glossed over, but then neither is the death and mutilation of children and the elderly by napalm and bombs of the U.S. If there's a flaw in this, it's that Davis cannot settle with one train of thought for long, and too often appears distracted by the sheer volume of horror and guilt he wants to pack in. Nevertheless, Hearts and Minds remains a powerful work.
