Hearts and Minds (1974)

An examination of the conflicting attitudes of the opponents of the Vietnam War.

Director:

Peter Davis

Stars:

Tin Chan, Chau Diem, Ngo Dinh Diem

Won 1 Oscar. Another 4 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Credited cast:
Tin Chan	...	Himself (as Faither Chan Tin - Saigon)
Chau Diem	...	Himself - Editor of Trinh Bay Magazine
Ngo Dinh Diem	...	Himself (President of South Vietnam) (archive footage)
John Foster Dulles	...	Himself (Secretary of State 1953-1959) (archive footage)
Kay Dvorshock	...	Herself
Dwight D. Eisenhower	...	Himself (President of the United States) (archive footage)
David Emerson	...	Himself - Concord, Massachusetts
Mui Duc Giang	...	Himself - Coffin Maker
Chi Minh Ho	...	Himself (archive footage)
Charles Hoey	...	Himself - Air Force, Saigon
Stan Holder	...	Himself - Corporal, Placitas, New Mexico
Jerry Holter	...	Himself - Air Force, Saigon
Vo Thi Hue	...	Herself - Hung Dinh Village
Lyndon B. Johnson	...	Himself (archive footage) (as Lyndon Johnson)
John F. Kennedy	...	Himself (President of the United States) (archive footage)

Storyline

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.

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Plot Keywords:

national film registry | vietnam | interview | vietnam war | militarism | 

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Genres:

Documentary | History | War

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Certificate:

R

Details

Official Sites:

Official DVD site [UK] Rialto Pictures

Country:

USA

Language:

English French Vietnamese

Release Date:

17 November 1975 (Sweden)

Also Known As:

Hearts and Minds

Filming Locations:

Linden, New Jersey, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$8,556, 22 October 2004, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$28,754, 31 December 2004

Company Credits

Production Co:

BBS Productions, Major Studio Partners, Rainbow Releasing

Technical Specs

Runtime:

112 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This film is part of the Criterion Collection, spine #156.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Clark Clifford, Aide to President Truman: When the second World War was over, we were the one great power in the world. The Soviets had a substantial military machine; but, they could not touch us in power. We had this enormous force that had been built up. We had the greatest fleet in the world. We come through the War economically sound. And, I think that in addition to feeling a sense of responsibility, we also began to feel the sense of a world power - that possibly we could control the future of the world.

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Crazy Credits

The listed translators credited in the movie (Le Thai To, Trung Trac, Le Thanh Tong and Trung Hung Dao) were all Vietnamese generals who had defeated the Chinese in various times from the first century C.E., to the fifteenth century C.E. The translator listed as Nguyen Ai Quoc was an early alias of Ho Chi Minh, founder of the Vietnamese Communist Party. I have no knowledge of the last listed translator, Barbara Gore. Apparently, someone played a good joke on the producers of this film, if it wasn't the translators themselves.

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Connections

Features My Son John (1952)

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Soundtracks

Over There
(uncredited)
Written by George M. Cohan
Performed by Arthur Fields

User Reviews

From what I know today I was totally wrong about Viet Nam back then: Clark Clifford US Secretary of Defense 1968-69

Hard hitting documentary directed by Peter Davis in how the US got itself involved in the War in Vietnam that ended up tearing the country apart. Made in 1974 before the Vetcong guerrillas and North Vietnamese Army overran the country the film shows the pitfalls that the US chose to overlook in getting itself stuck in the mud swamps and jungles that was the Vietnam War.

There's really no one US President to blame for getting the country into that bloody mess of a war in that we see it was a team effort from Pres. Truman to Pres. Nixon and every other US Chief Executive, Eisenhower Kennedy & Johnson, in between. The French who were involved in the first Vietnam or Indochina War was soundly defeated by Ho Chi Minh's, known as "The Enlighten One", Viet Minh forces in the bloody and drawn out battle of Dien Bien Phu in May 1954. That jungle battle ended the conflict that resulted in the loss, French and Vietnames military and civilians, of over 700,000 lives. During the almost 8 years of of fighting in Indochina War the US was far from neutral in supporting the French with almost 80% of the arms and money for the French to keep the war going.

With the free and UN sponsored elections to unify both north and South Vietnam set to be held in 1956 and Ho Chi Minh being a sure shot of winning them the US under Pres. Eisenhower set up the puppet Diem to be South Vietnam's fist unelected president. This set the stage for the second Vietnam War that was to involved as much as 550,000 US troops and lasting 16 years from 1959 to 1975, the longest war in US history, ending up costing almost 60,000 American lives; Not to mention the some 3 million Vietnamese,from both North & South Vietnam, who perished in it.

Among the many persons who were personally involved in the Vietnam war the one who made the biggest impact on me in the movie was former Secretary of Defense Clark Clifford. Clifford in an interview admitted that those Generals and politicians conducting the war had no idea in not only how to win it but who they were fighting against. Everything that they did failed miserably and they ended up stuck in an unwindable war because in their mind by ending it, or withdrawing from the country, would lead to a "Domino Effect" where all of South-East Asia would end up falling into Communists hands. Which to them was worth the enormous loss of life, American & Vietnamese, that this bottomless quagmire of a war was was costing! As it turned out the "Domino Effect" turned out to be pure fiction with no other country in that part of the world turning Communist and Vietnam now a united country being one of the US', next to Communist China, biggest trading partners in Asia!

What the film brings out best is how most of the American public finally realized that they've been had in going along with the bankrupt policies of their leaders who conned them, like in the faked and infamous Tonkin Gulf incident, into supporting the war. Taking to the street in massive anti-war demonstrations with hundreds of returning Vietnam war vet participating in them was what really brought the war to an end. But it took almost 6 years from 1966 to 1973 for it to happen! And it was during that time the majority of the almost 60,000 American and 3 million Vietnamese lives lost in the war were snuffed out.

In the end the Vietnam War turned out to be a war that many from the Truman Eishenhower Kenndey Johnson & Nixon Administrations who whole hearted supported it at first would now, after all the facts are in about it, like to forget!