Unfinished Symphony: Democracy and Dissent (2001)

User Rating:

8.5/10   

Directors:

Bestor Cram
Mike Majoros

Genre:

Documentary

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Runtime:

60 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White | Color

Filming Locations:

Concord, Massachusetts, USA

Company:

Lexington Oral History Projects

Informative but heartbreaking

Caught this on Sundance last night. A documentary about the march of Vietnam Vets on Lexington, Massachusettes in 1971. Many give testimony about what they did during the war and how they felt about it after. In order to give voice to their protest, they first marched to the White House and then the Washington Memorial. These are reportedly the events where Sen. John Kerry, who we get to see in protest-mode, threw "away" his medals. Then in Lexington, they staged a "mock" of some of their atrocities in 'nam. There's also footage of former Sec. of Defense Robert MacNamara and others.

Backed by music by classical composer Henry Goreki, almost all of the footage comes from war crimes and protests. One gets the feeling that a lot of this is being seen now for the first time, given the sensitivity of the subject matter and the fact that Nixon was in office (a film like "Farenheit 9-11" could never have been made before the end of the Cold War, during an offending president's reign.). The footage of Vietnamese being mistreated is especially upsetting and really hammers home the vets' message. To hear the remorse of many of the soldiers is strong redemption from reluctant participants.

The anti-government message may turn off some, even though this is a film of the times that was obviously made to coincide with the War on Iraq and eerily precedes John Kerry's bid for the presidency.