Hearts and Minds (1974)

A Masterpiece!

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

HEARTS AND MINDS is an interesting little documentary exploring the controversial side of the Vietnam War. Made in 1974 when everybody knew just what a bad idea the whole enterprise had been, this features some documentary footage of the war itself combined with plenty of interviews from both the Vietnamese and the American troops involved. Some of the views expressed are, shall we say, quite shocking in this day and age, while the violence meted out is equally so. It's all rather grim and depressing, if truth be told, but this documentary's timeliness makes it well worth a look for anyone with an interest in the ill-fated war.

Hearts and Minds is known as one of the most devastating and controversial documentaries there are, but that still didn't prepare me for such a powerful experience. The most striking thing about the film is the pace. You can hardly keep up. It's a torrent of emotionally charged insights from wounded soldiers and images from the battleground, covering some of the most iconic images of the Vietnam war that sear onto your brain. That's what the film is about - image. While it projects an image of its supposed reality of war, it also discusses America's projection of war. America has this grand idea of what war should be - defensive, victorious, glorious. Even though the Vietnam war doesn't fit, they try and cram it into that ideal anyway. Hearts and Minds does an enlightening job of showing what it was like at the time, rather than the movies that later showed a hindsight perspective. Its end parade sums it up. Trying to paint a picture of what returning home should be like, but it's not that simple. It's chaotic and complex. Peter Davis presents a rare conviction and directorial prowess here, overshadowed only by his compassion. It's relentless, draining, but utterly astonishing cinema.9/10

It can be argued (probably successfully) that this is the ultimate bleeding heart's take on the US government's policies in southeast Asia from 1950 to 1973. Peter Davis has nevertheless made a riveting and very unsettling documentary. Relying on first hand accounts from vets, politicians, and a few grotesque "man on the street" interviews, Davis makes it clear that he's not interested in making anything approaching a balanced film. How could he when a scene of a young Vietnamese girl wailing over her fathers coffin is juxtaposed with General William Westmoreland explaining that people in the Orient do not value life? Among the more insightful interviewees are Daniel Ellsberg (who laments how five US Presidents managed to lie to the US over 25 years) as well as former Defense Secretary Clark Clifford, who admits he was wrong to go along with LBJ's policies many years before Robert McNamara (whom he succeeded) did. Ultimately this is a very sad movie about a really horrible time in US history.

This was one of the most bias documentary films I have ever seen.It was so one sided it couldn't truly be considered good on any level.Shame on anyone who sees this film as a "truth" of the times.The only reason to watch a film like this is for the technical aspects of it.There is nothing redeeming about this film.The director makes the entire Vietnam War seem as though no Americans were even hurt. That all the blood shed happened on one side and not to both sides.It was filmed too close to the epicenter of the action and it is therefore not a true sense of what the war was like.I hope someday people will be able to look at this and be able to take away the awards it received.