Plot Summary for
Hearts and Minds (1974) More at IMDbPro »

This film recounts the history and attitudes of the opposing sides of the Vietnam War using archival news footage as well as its own film and interviews. A key theme is how attitudes of American racism and self-righteous militarism helped create and prolong this bloody conflict. The film also endeavors to give voice to the Vietnamese people themselves as to how the war has affected them and their reasons why they fight the United States and other western powers while showing the basic humanity of the people that US propaganda tried to dismiss. Written by Kenneth Chisholm <kchishol@execulink.com>

This documentary presents both sides of the argument on America's involvement in Vietnam. Included are interviews with several well-known personalities including Gen. William Westmorland, Clark Clifford (who was President Johnson's Secretary of Defense at the end of his Presidency), Daniel Ellsberg, and Walt Rostow among others on their views of the war. The documentary came out in 1974 before the fall of Saigon and the North's victory over the South a year later. For some, the US 'victory' is all that matters while for those who were opposed to the war, there is no justification. A third group provide an equally important view: the Vietnamese themselves, who have a less than sympathetic view of America's role in the conflict. Written by garykmcd

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