Film Reviews by None

Between 1955 and 1975 - from the beginning of American direct involvement in Vietnam to their withdrawal from Saigon – not many films were made by Hollywood relating to the Vietnam War. The only big-budget film during this period was The Green Berets (John Wayne, 1968), which took a hawkish view of the war and included elements of propaganda. This shows the continued support for the battle against communism and the military promises of victory in 1968.

A case study of the ‘surfing scene’ out of Apocalypse Now (1979), directed by the political liberal and dove Francis Ford Coppola, illustrates the ways in which the Vietnam War can be depicted through stylised ‘message films’. Captain Kilgore (Robert Duvall) of the Air Cavalry attacks a Vietcong held village while playing Wagner’s “Ride of the Valkyries” on the loud speakers of his helicopter. Once on the ground, Kilgore strips of his shirt and scarf and prepares to go surfing with explosions and gunshots all around. As fighter jets bomb the forest behind the Vietcong village, Kilgore says happily “I love the smell of napalm in the morning….smells like victory.” Applying exaggeration and artistic fantasy, Coppola creates an insane nightmare of brutality and horror – his metaphor for the phenomenon of warfare and individual understanding of the Vietnam War.

Oliver Stone’s 1993 Heaven & Earth is the only major American film to depict the Vietnam conflict from ‘the other side,’ marking a shift in interpretation. Capturing a different culture, audiences look at the U.S. troops as foreigners. Moreover, every side is given a degree of responsibility for the tragedy – the Americans, the Viet Cong, South Vietnamese, and the French. Shot with strong colours and grand music, this film matches the quality of Stone's "Platoon" (1986) and "Born on the Fourth of July" (1989).