Hearts and Minds (1974, documentary) - Davis' invaluable documentation of the US Vietnam War

♥♥♥♥♥♥

 

Two still images make up the majority of this poster for Peter Davis' Hearts and Minds

The American assumption of the French colonial war in Indochina with the domino theory and containment strategy as explanatory pillars becomes a new American war against Vietnam and its people, a war that, as it turns out, cannot be won.

 

Hearts and Minds is directed by debuting Californian master filmmaker Peter Davis (Rise and Fall of the Borscht Belt (1986, documentary)).

It is a thorough and critical treatment of the Vietnam War that incorporates many viewpoints and perspectives, of which General Westmoreland's statement that life is without import for the 'Oriental' is especially horrifying. Hearts and Minds is strong also because Davis feels no need to stigmatize, exhibit nor rob the American soldiers of their own authority and stories. The film has terrible sequences of the monstrous war of terror that was pursued onto the poor Vietnamese.

Hearts and Minds is an invaluable film of an amoral and callous war.

 

This video features 9 minutes of outtakes from the film

 

Cost: Uncertain

Box office: Unknown

= Uncertain

[Hearts and Minds premiered 16 May (Cannes International Critics' Week) and runs 112 minutes. Shooting took place in New Jersey, Washington DC and in Vietnam. The film was embroiled in trouble prior to its release, with a temporary restraining order being issued against it, and then the issue of its rights holder Columbia Pictures refusing to distribute it, until the rights were purchased by Warner Bros. for 1 mil. $. It was eventually screened in Los Angeles, but details of its further theatrical releases - outside of festival screenings - are regrettably scarce. The film won the Best Documentary Oscar and was nominated for a Golden Globe, among other honors. Roger Ebert gave it a 3/4 star review, translating to 2 notches under this one. Davis returned with South Africa: The White Laager (1977, documentary). Hearts and Minds is certified fresh at 91 % with an 8.30/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Hearts and Minds?