hearts and minds ( film )
with the headline: ‘hearts and minds, ’ a film study of power .
hearts & minds screens tuesday at 8. 30pm on the world movies channel .
hearts and minds: lbj widens the vietnam war by appealing to the entire population: “victory will depend on the hearts and minds of the people who actually live out there. ”
hearts and minds works to re - contextualize and critique hollywood’s contribution to the good fight of wwii .
1973 hearts and minds. u. s. a. colour and b & w, 110 minutes .
bert schneider and peter davis accepting the oscar for
hearts and minds .
( courtesy, criterion )
hearts and minds takes its title from a comment made by president lyndon b. johnson that
the ultimate victory will depend on the hearts and minds of the people who actually live out there
.
i aim to make documentaries where the insights, strengths and talents of the individuals in the film dwell in the hearts and minds of my audience .
hearts and minds: u. s. anti - communist propaganda contributes to the pervasive culture of fear in the 1950s .
hearts and minds: on the home front, capturing a celebration of u. s. chauvanism during the vietnam war .
industry masters teach college students, and college students mentor youth from wilmington’s underserved neighborhoods in this intensive two - week film - production workshop. participants direct, produce and edit short films focusing on issues that are most critical to their community. these films are featured at hearts and minds community screening room events and the annual hearts and minds film festival .
explosive, persuasive, and shocking, hearts and minds is an overwhelming emotional experience and the controversial winner of the 1974 academy award for best documentary .
hearts and minds: a benediction before the big game: “there are going to be men made tonight and that’s religious and god cares about that. ”
“ hearts and minds ” takes on the utter failure of five consecutive presidential administrations to win over either vietnamese or american hearts and minds. unabashedly a film that the left was waiting for, it probes war’s psychological consequences by asking, “what have we done to vietnam and what has vietnam done to us? “
when peter davis set out to make the documentary “hearts and minds” in 1972 vietnam had officially become the longest war in united states history .
another provocative film maker, michael moore, has said hearts and minds is
not only the best documentary i have ever seen, it may be the best movie ever
.
my problem in writing about
hearts and minds
is how to go about separating the film' s images - - which are sometimes heartbreakingly tragic, sometimes cruelly revealing - - from the craft of the film itself .
hearts and minds, a sentimental and intellectual film as its title suggests, brings back some of the unresolved issues of vietnam to a forgetful film public. not the best made film in art, technique, or concept, hearts and minds nevertheless deals with an emotion that has become lost in commercial united states: shame. and when the film falls below the poetic level required to sustain that emotion, it dips into the pool of guilt in which many of us have swum .
ps: hearts and minds is possibly the finest and most revealing american film about the vietnam war. anyone who wishes to have a realistic understanding of that war should see this film. it should be required viewing in high school history classes .
“hearts and minds” is a tough film but it is no mere rehash of sad events. it is always aware of the primacy of man when man' s given even half a chance .
hearts and minds: cheering on the home team: the u. s. compulsion to win at all costs and to insist that, “we’re number one! ”
michael moore has cited hearts and minds as the one film that inspired him to become a filmmaker, calling it
not only the best documentary i have ever seen... it may be the best movie ever
. many of the cinematic techniques used in hearts and minds are similar to moore' s 2004 documentary fahrenheit 9 / 11 .
power is virtually the first word heard in peter davis' s epic documentary, “hearts and minds, ” and power, real and mythical, is what the film contemplates in as many tones and moods as you might expect in superior fiction .
hearts and minds is a 1974 american documentary film about the vietnam war directed by peter davis. the film' s title is based on a quote from president lyndon b. johnson :
the ultimate victory will depend on the hearts and minds of the people who actually live out there
. the movie was chosen as academy award for best documentary feature at the 47th academy awards presented in 1975 .
it' s graceful and eloquent, and it has as its subject a lierotten culture - not merely in the official cant, but in the hearts and minds of even the poorest people .
one of the most important contributions peter davis’s hearts and minds makes to our national dialogue on the vietnam war is its portrayal of ordinary vietnamese. for years, the vietnamese had been conspicuous by their absence in american film and t…
hearts and minds is the classic antiwar documentary film of the vietnam era. it was released in 1974, one year after the united states withdrew its military forces from vietnam and a year before north vietnamese and national liberation front (nlf) fo…
its a testament to hearts and minds artistry that the film remains compelling long after theres any need for it to make a case ...
- - grade: b + - 07 / 02 / 2015
davis' film showed, with devastating clarity, how the war for the hearts and minds of the vietnamese had been lost beyond recall - - and how something similar was taking place in america .
- 01 / 01 / 2006
a startling and courageous film, peter davis’s landmark 1974 documentary hearts and minds unflinchingly confronted the united states’ involvement in vietnam at the height of the controversy that surrounded it. using a wealth of sources—from interviews to newsreels to footage of the conflict and the upheaval it occasioned on the home front—davis constructs a powerfully affecting picture of the disastrous effects of war. explosive, persuasive, and wrenching, hearts and minds is an overwhelming emotional experience and the most important nonfiction film ever made about this devastating period in history .
reviewers were enthusiastic when hearts and minds came out in 1975. judith crist wrote in new york magazine that davis had
held up a mirror to our national conscience
.
elizabeth is pleased to put her various professional and personal experiences to work, playing an instrumental role in bringing outreach projects such as with all deliberate speed: the legacy of brown v. board and the hearts & minds film programs to fruition .
the film is prophetic. the vietnamese people will haunt the consciousness of the united states for generations to come. lyndon johnson could not win their hearts and minds, nor could he bomb them into submission. they had right and justice on their side. the film shows this. they are stronger. with all our superiority in technology, we could not stop these people. perhaps a better title could be borrowed from a film made by jane fonda and tom hayden about the vietnamese people, introduction to the enemy. hearts and minds shows the enemy at home, in our institutions and values, our empire, and the strategy required to maintain that empire. the fonda - hayden film might be titled “hearts and minds, ” for with those two organs the vietnamese struggled and defeated the monster who showed neither .
awards were presented by the sarah white and rob capron, riiff youth film jury program managers, and the 2017 youth film jury members .
procrustes was a mythic giant with a notorious bed. if his guests were too short, he stretched them to fit. if they were too tall, he chopped off the excess. in hearts and minds, the giant is impersonated by the film makers. the bed is the film itself .
today the film has not lost any of its punch. now the punch is packed with new meaning.'' quagmire,'''' hearts and minds'' and'' liberating the people'' are all back. a little more than a year ago, ari fleischer, president bush' s press secretary, said,'' slowly but surely, the hearts and minds of the iraqi people are being won.''
focused on several hardened offenders doing time at dominguez state jail, inside peace offers a rare look, not only inside the correctional facility, but inside the hearts and minds of the men featured .
the hearts and minds film initiative is the flagship program of serviam media. its mission is to foster civic engagement, using the media arts as tools for youth leadership development, community education and outreach. it is a multi - faceted initiative that includes the following programs .
how many times has the phrase'' hearts and minds'' been used in the past year about the war in iraq? and how many people know that the phrase goes back to 1974, when'' hearts and minds,'' a documentary about the united states' involvement in vietnam, was released? and who remembers that the movie title reaches back a decade further, to a speech by president lyndon b. johnson?'' the ultimate victory,'' he said of the war,'' will depend on the hearts and the minds of the people who live there.'' sound familiar ?
focused on several hardened offenders doing time at dominguez state jail, inside peace offers a rare look, not only inside the correctional facility, but inside the hearts and minds of the men featured. the film is the winner of several film festival awards, including three for best documentary, two humanitarian awards and two audience choice awards .
peter davis’s provocative, oscar - winning hearts and minds, released to the american public in 1974, is that rare documentary whose truths and relevance have been underlined and amplified by the passage of time. the title is derived from president l…
the parallels between iraq and vietnam are obvious, and some of your interviews in hearts and minds feel so eerily contemporary, one might forget for a moment that the film is four decades old and about a different war. has something fundamentally changed since then in our acceptance of a certain amount of constant—largely outsourced—overseas involvement ?
only a small fraction of the footage peter davis shot for hearts and minds made it into his 112 - minute academy award­–winning documentary on the vietnam war. davis and his crew filmed hundreds of hours in the united states, vietnam, and france—s…
an academic and artistic forum focused on the power of emerging digital media as a tool for education and civic engagement, targeting students, families, educators and community leaders. the 2009 youth media summit will be held in conjunction with the 2009 hearts and minds film festival, april 3 - 4 at the schwartz center for the arts in dover .
davis was no worse for the wear. “hearts and minds” picked up the 1974 academy award for best documentary and producer bert schneider’s politicized acceptance speech caused more hullabaloo than michael moore would almost three decades later when accepting for “bowling for columbine. ”
the oriental doesn' t put the same high price on life as does the westerner. life is cheap in the orient. hearts and minds is an academy award winning documentary about the vietnam war directed by peter davis. the film' s title is based on a quote from president lyndon b. johnson :
the ultimate victory will depend on the hearts and minds of the people who actually live out there
. the movie was chosen as best feature documentary at the 47th academy awards presented in 1975 .
she' s a reporter and writer also and we immediately left for iraq ,
says davis, who is best known for an academy award - winning 1974 film on the vietnam war, hearts and minds, which has been hailed as one of the best documentaries ever made .
i would not recommend honeymooning in baghdad .
parts of some of these interviews appear in the final film, some of the interviews do not appear in the film at all .
“hearts and minds, ” which opened yesterday at the cinema 2, recalls this nation' s agoninzing involvement in vietnam, something you may think you know all about, including the ending. but you don' t. just as television' s presentation of the war made it seem small, orderly and comprehensible, to fit the physical dimensions of the television set and the programing schedules of the television industry, “hearts and minds” deals in disorderliness, contradictions and historical perspectives that are often shadowy, subject to any number of interpretations .
“hearts and minds” is not about general westmoreland, nor the succession of united states presidents and their advisers who sought desperately and probably sincerely to understand vietnam. rather it' s about the generations of attitudes, wishes and beliefs that these men represented. it' s about the power the country inherited .
future learning and skills – giving everyone the opportunity to build a lifelong relationship with film .
“hearts and minds” offered some of the first footage americans would see of north and south vietnamese people mourning lost loved ones, homes, and their livelihoods, embracing the economic potential of war, and what they suffered for speaking out. the film also provided more complete scenes for some of the war’s most iconic still photos, such as a young burn victim fleeing a napalm attack .
hearts and minds has attracted widely polarized opinions from film critics since its release. reviewers commonly consider it either a masterpiece of political / documentary filmmaking or a propagandistic hatchet job on the vietnam war, with some viewing it as both. a mixture of mostly contemporary film critic reviews on the review tallying website rotten tomatoes reports that 93% of the 30 film critics reviews they tallied were positive with an average critics score of 8. 2 out of 10 .
a shocking and terrifying film that sets out to investigate the twisted minds and souls of death squad leaders in indonesia, growing to become a disturbing panorama of a society and offering a unique sort of moral confrontation which could only be possible through cinema .
davis understood, earlier than most, that the documentary form likewise must court viewers’ hearts and minds. after writing several nonfiction books and serving as a correspondent for the nation from iraq, davis has a novel in the works. “girl of my dreams” comes out this fall .
hearts and minds, a documentary directed by peter davis; produced by bert schneider and mr. davis; editors, lynzee klingman and susan martin; director of photography, richard pearce; a rainbow pictures presentation, distributed by warner brothers. running time: 112 minutes. at the cinema 2 theater, third avenue near 60th street. this film has been rated r .
this week a newly restored print of'' hearts and minds'' was screened at the academy theater at lighthouse international in manhattan, as part of the monday nights with oscar film series put on by the academy of motion picture arts and sciences. peter davis, the film' s director and co - producer (with bert schneider), was there to talk about it. the house was packed and, from the sound of it, pretty upset .
such historically specific criticisms notwithstanding, revisiting hearts and minds during another time of war is indeed instructive, given the somewhat uneven and so far relatively ahistorical media representations of the current crisis. [ 8 ] while not as rigorously historical as in the year of the pig, hearts and minds still provides a quite thorough social context for understanding the vietnam war, primarily by incorporating a range of perspectives, including combat veterans (both pro - war and disenchanted), a slew of political and military figures (from architects of the war to dissidents), and, most significantly, a number of vietnamese voices .
and yet placing these two pieces of film together - - and the editing in
hearts and minds
consistently makes similar matches - - finally only undermines the film' s effectiveness. it' s too heavy - handed. we' re bludgeoned by the point of view, we don' t like the feeling of manipulation we get. yet there are scenes here of incredible power, even for a nation which watched this war on television every evening .
the visual highs and emotional payoffs contained within the film are well worth slogging through its slow patches .
hearts and minds is a powerful film that deals with the vietnam conflict and is also one of the very few films of this genre that looks at it from the viewpoint of its victims, the vietnamese people. another film that should be required viewing from this era is the powerful documentary sir! no sir! which came out about 2006 and which told the story of the gi movement that took place at or near military bases both at home and abroad during the time of the vietnam war .
in less measurable terms, it had also become the most televised, protested, bomb - reliant, and culture - splitting american conflict to date. it was called many things, from the living room war for its presence on television news to the war to win hearts and minds, from a phrase used by lyndon b. johnson (as he does in this film) .
vietnam war films from the 1960s to the 1970s reflected deep divisions at home over the war. some reflected pro - war sentiments and vilified anti - war protesters, while others stood at the opposite end and criticized government officials and policies .
hearts and minds
was one of the first of the latter to have been produced and released before the war' s end in 1975 .
hockings, p. and y. omori, eds. (1988), cinematographic theory and new dimensions in ethnographic film, osaka .
americans running a war in a country they don’t understand: the film, which won an academy award in 1974, feels uncannily timely, and reminds us, in a year that has seen * * phil klay’ * * s national book award–nominated redeployment, * * kirk w. johnson’ * * s to be a friend is fatal, and * * laura poitras’ * * s citizenfour, of the crucial role of writers and filmmakers in the national conscience. tonight, a screening and panel discussion at the harvard film archive honors _ hearts and minds’ _ s 40th anniversary. we spoke with the director, peter davis, on the film’s enduring resonance .
coker, like a grown - up skippy homeier in watch on the rhine, has a nazi youth mentality. but he remains so unaware of his racism and authoritarianism as to remain an innocent american, defending his great country. hearts and minds presents this uniformed creep, welcomed and loved by his townsfolk, as the product of u. s. values and culture. the film accuses us: as an audience we feel not only indicted, tried and found guilty, but also impotent to change the monster we have all created. in the theater, film has strength. when we emerge on the street we begin to reflect, compare film reality to what we know. so the film forces us to struggle with some ugly but real forces .
ruby, j. (1977),' the image mirrored: reflexivity and the documentary film', the journal of the university film association, 29, 4, pp. 3 - 13 .
krueger, e. (1973),' an american family: an american film', film comment, november / december, 9, pp. 16 - 19 .
the film’s good guys—floyd, ellsberg, some crippled veterans and vietnamese, old french empire statesmen, and vietnamese mandarins stand as a firm answer to the overwhelming weight of evil and destruction the film portrays. after seeing the lieutenant coker sequences, if we follow the film’s logic, we must ask, “who needs the united states if this man represents lt. ”
mr. davis, who made the award‐winning television documentary, “the selling of the pentagon, ” makes no attempt to justify the american involvement in vietnam, which, it' s obvious, he believes to have been a disaster. “hearts and minds, ” however, is so various, so full of associations that go beyond the war, that the film does a lot more than preach to the committed .
this is what “hearts and minds” so vividly recognizes in a collage of scenes that, though blunt and often harrowing, eventually demonstrate something that i. f. stone once said about the survival of the vietnamese people through years of bombing. their incredible survival, said mr. stone, has re‐established “the primacy of man in the age of technology. ”
crawford, p. i. and d. turton, eds. (1992a), film as ethnography, manchester .
my more specific purpose here is to offer a close analysis of gunner palace and occupation: dreamland in order both to track the work of history, as well as to gauge the evolution of formal techniques and practices endemic to the documentation of war and atrocity. a brief comparison at the level of film form suggests that while a 1970s work like hearts and minds seems lodged in the familiar tradition of the realist documentary, one some 30 years later like gunner palace — with its highly stylized logic of fragmentation and disorientation evidently indebted to the music video—appears to fall within the generic domain of the “postmodern. ” yet this strict dichotomy in a “politics” of documentary form breaks down when we recall that hearts and minds made liberal (and ironic) use of hollywood movies, while gunner palace ’s digital video feel of immediacy could be aligned with at least the u. s. variant of direct cinema .
hearts and minds, if one can verbalize a film message, seems to shake its visual finger at the united states and americans, without distinguishing between classes of people or degrees of responsibility. “shame on you, america, ” says the film, rather than presenting the objective conditions of shame: possibilities for greatness, generosity, virtue and the banal and vulgar murder of those possibilities. that, of course, would require a different film. in this one peter davis uses amateur actors, whose testimony edited together does build to an emotional level that few films attain. shame does not, however, indicate the existence of struggle or ongoing process. rather than seeing mass movements struggling with empires, the filmmakers imply that notions of human nature provide the ultimate explanation for human foibles like war. this allows hand wringing as a legitimate political exercise. in hearts and minds reasons for u. s. entry and participation in the war become obscured. we are led are led to believe from the evidence presented that our basic national character is at fault .
for close - watchers of this film or students of the vietnam era, outtakes with general westmoreland and walt rostow will be of particular interest. in broad strokes, they are the villains of “hearts and minds” with westmoreland’s callous gaffe and rostow’s extreme pompousness, asking the interviewer does he really want to go down this path again and discuss what should be obvious? in the outtakes, both men are more even - keeled, thoughtful, and while not repentant, show more humanity than donald rumsfield in errol morris’s recent “the unknown known. ”
after columbia pictures refused to distribute the picture, bert schneider and henry jaglom purchased back the rights and released the film in march 1975 through warner bros .
crawford, p. i. and j. k. simonsen, eds. (1992), ethnographic film, aesthetics and narrative traditions, aarhus .
that documentary presaged the emotionally arresting editing tactics of “hearts and minds, ” which jumps from a graphic scene of american soldiers in bed with vietnamese prostitutes to a metal lighter setting fire to a thatched roof. it also intercuts a sorrowful south vietnamese burial scene with general william westmoreland’s shocking statement that “life is cheap in the orient. ”
film “inside peace”, by cynthia fitzpatrick, united states, 2014. duration: 57 minutes .
alice lovejoy. (2005) dueling docs: film society of lincoln center. vol. 41
a copy of the film was added to the collection for added reference in september of 2005 .
peter davis created one of the most moving accounts of the vietnam war and the attitudes at home when he produced
hearts and minds
. the film looks unflinchingly at the nature of power and horrible consequences of war. it is very much a pro - peace film, but uses the people who were there to speak for themselves. it also seeks to probe deeper underneath the american psyche of the times and evolves into a historical document about the violent social rupture that happened between the fifties and the sixties. in many ways, it feels like a punch in the gut to watch the film. so many ideologies are laid bear... . so many were false or misleading. in the end, the film leaves you thinking about the price of war - and who is given the task to bear that price. truly deserving of the oscar it received - and worthy of repeated viewing .
in his big - screen breakthrough, sam shepard delivers tenderness, ferocity, and the quiet expressiveness of a silent film star .
the film also features vietnam war veteran and anti - war activist bobby muller, who later founded the vietnam veterans of america .
plus: a booklet featuring essays by davis, film critic judith crist, and historians robert k. brigham, george c. herring, and ngo vinh long
but davis is wary of comment on the likely impact of his vietnam war documentary .
that' s a question that i don' t even like to speculate on because it makes me sound so self - promoting ,
he says .
i' ve heard claims made for hearts and minds such as that it stopped the war .
the interview, used so effectively by marcel ophuls in the sorrow and the pity, is a difficult cinematic stunt. ophuls directs and then edits his interviews to make his a political statement. but any film director working with amateur actors must loosen the environment sufficiently to allow the actor to relax, yet create enough tension to make the subject dramatically interesting. in both ophuls’ film and in hearts and minds, the interview is used to make the directors’ points about characters and historical phenomena. davis works on the thin wire between informing and enriching us as moviegoers and citizens, and using the screen to put the united states on trial. when his characters perform for posterity, we feel enriched, reflective. when davis slips into his prosecutor role, accusing the united states, the film loses cinematic focus and provokes the audience to ask: who the hell are these people to put their country on trial ?
rollins, peter. (winter 1996) ‘frank capra’s why we fight film series and our american dream’. vol. 19. 4
bennett, todd. (2001 - 09) culture, power, and mission to moscow: film and soviet - american relations during world war ii. vol. 88
davis used archival newsreel clips with interviews as well as footage of the conflict shot by his film crew in vietnam, america and paris .
'' hearts and minds'' won an academy award for best documentary feature of 1974. instead of an acceptance speech, mr. schneider, whom mr. davis called the michael moore of his day, read a statement from the provisional vietnamese government. after mr. schneider spoke, frank sinatra (reading a statement written by bob hope) apologized for it .
errol morris’s insightful portrait of former us defence secretary robert s mcnamara offers the perfect counterpoint to the view of the war presented in hearts and minds. while davis’s film does a fine job of documenting its heart - breaking human cost, it makes no serious attempt to interrogate why american authorities persisted in keeping troops in vietnam. here, mcnamara is given ample space to calmly reflect on his role as one of the war’s chief architects, with the benefit of decades of hindsight .
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 .
and is quickly capturing these hearts and minds world - wide. her ability to sense the truth of any person or situation, her sense of humor, charisma, grounded wisdom, and positive energy has allowed panney to become one of the most sought - after motivational speaker - spiritual counselors in the country. panney' s work can best be described as a synergy of powerful advice, inspiring life experience, fun and energy, and enlightening transformation that when blended together creates a unique experience for the individual .
“hearts and minds” has a lot to say about an average american' s education and, indeed, about his ability to reeducate himself as conditions change. at one point daniel ellsberg remembers having looked at vietnam in gung‐ho world war ii terms, when it was possible easily to distinguish the good guys from the bad, to see a war clearly in terms of territory won and lost. vietnam was something terrifyingly new to the world war ii people. the origins and the issues were not neat and tidy .
peter davis' hearts and minds does it' s best to try and get both sides of the issue on america' s military involvement in vietnam, and like bowling for columbine the film can be accessible to an audience on each side of the coin (though with this film davis isn' t in front of the camera at all). this is perfectly filmed in the end credits sequence in which a march is being held for vietnam veterans while the protesters line the adjacent streets. what makes the film all the powerful is that there isn' t a bias going on to either side - while one scene will show a vietnamese civilian being interviewed about how the devastation from the bombs have ruined his family and home, another will show prisoner of war george coker explaining things to american children. in the end what gets hearts and minds to the level of great documentary film - making is that all of the footage of old speeches and old military movies, and all the interviews with various political figures and vietnamese personnel, all add up to delivering an objective stance for the viewer. the facts of which are presented as such: america went into vietnam, left their mark, and while america had two sides to the issue so did the vietnamese, and that' s what made the whole deal one of the most controversial topics of the 20th century. overall, this is an intelligent and compassionate look at the effects of war in general. a +
vincent canby of the new york times called it an
epic documentary... [ that ] recalls this nation' s agonizing involvement in vietnam, something you may think you know all about, including the ending. but you don' t .
canby included the film among his ten best of 1975, calling it a
fine, complex, admittedly biased meditation upon american power
and a movie
that will reveal itself as one of the most all - emcompassing records of the american civilization ever put into one film .
desson thomson of the washington post described it as
one of the best documentaries ever made, a superb film about the thoughts and feelings of the era, the whole festering, spirited animus of it .
rex reed called it that year' s
best film at the cannes film festival
and stated that
[ t ] his is the only film i have ever seen that sweeps away the gauze surrounding vietnam and tells the truth .
world movies, the australian subscription tv channel, included hearts and minds in its 2007 series of 25 docs you must see before you die .
bordwell, d. , j. staiger and k. thompson (1985), the classical hollywood cinema: film style and mode of production to 1960, new york .
rarely does a movie provide so much material to talk about, argue over, reflect upon. audiences bring to movies their current ideas and they usually leave feeling little influence, having learned little from what appeared on the screen. hearts and minds offers images of ourselves through davis’ eyes, but his liberal despair need not rub off on all of us. he is a sensitive man and his sensibility as a filmmaker fails only when he does not trust the audience’s intellect and becomes blunt with obvious and heavy illustrations .
this documentary is astonishing and eye - opening. born and raised as a vietnamese, i didnt have many opportunities to watch films about the war, rather than just memorizing by hearts what were in the history book. this film came to me when i was looking for an answer of why the u. s. interfered... read more
the tomatometer score — based on the opinions of hundreds of film and television critics — is a trusted measurement of critical recommendation for millions of fans. it represents the percentage of professional critic reviews that are positive for a given film or television show .
the other outtake interviewees not in the film include french author philippe devillers, state department adviser george ball, and anthony russo, who helped daniel ellsberg photocopy files for the pentagon papers. ellsberg, with his liberal star on the rise, is relatable and sympathetic in “hearts and minds” whereas russo, sitting cross - legged in an unbuttoned shirt, exudes a tinge of ego satisfaction with his recent act of heroism. “secret is a fact held prisoner, ” he says, wisely enough, yet his breakdown while reading a prisoner of war’s poem feels off .
davis and his crew shot more than 200 hours in the united states, france, and vietnam, and one of the film’s only snags is that it’s not always clear what footage is original to the crew and what is sourced from various archives .
editing makes the subtle differences between good and great films. beautiful pictures selected from the mediocre and bad, when put together with clear sound, create a powerful emotion - and intellect - shaping art, which can teach lessons by imprinting images and sounds onto the brains of captive audiences. when an editing failure occurs, when heavy handedness weakens the subtle and careful interviews, filmic structure is betrayed. the artist loses faith in his art and his audience. polemicism replaces montage. art, as the perfection of cinematic craft and the agile use of imagination, shows itself through hearts and minds. so the flaws stand out even more .
initially, “hearts and minds” was one of a six - part, million - dollar - a - picture deal with an independent company under columbia pictures. the others—“easy rider, ” “five easy pieces, ” “the last picture show”—went on to set the tone for american fictional cinema of that generation. but the one nonfiction title made columbia uncomfortable, enough so that they refused to distribute it .
flickers is a 501 (c) (3) non - profit arts organization that supports and promotes the film arts in rhode island and throughout new england. over the past two - plus decades, its production, the rhode island international film festival, has screened 4, 504 independent films and videos out of 55, 235 entries, presented 1, 035 world / north american premieres, featured over 900 entries that were locally produced, and hosted 3, 908 filmmakers and crew. since its inception, over 400, 000 film lovers have enjoyed the rhode island international film festival and its programming, not including those in new england watching its weekly broadcast and cable programming series, doublefeature .
the film includes images of phan thị kim phúc in sections of a film shot of the aftermath of a napalm attack which shows phúc at about age nine running naked on the street after being severely burned on her back .
the film premiered at the 1974 cannes film festival. commercial distribution was delayed in the united states due to legal issues, including a temporary restraining order obtained by one of the interviewees, former national security advisor walt rostow who had claimed through his attorney that the film was
somewhat misleading
and
not representative
and that he had not been given the opportunity to approve the results of his interview .
erin trahan edits the independent and is teaching an adult education course for montserrat college of art that will travel to montreal’s ridm film festival this november .
of the extras here, the audio commentary with director peter davis has been carried over from the original criterion release of this movie back in 2001. the company has also upgraded the thick booklet featuring background information and essays regarding the film and the vietnam war, including writings from davis, film critic judith crist, and several historians .
while in the year of the pig and hearts and minds utilized the formal model of the “document - dossier” — compilation documentaries weaving archival footage and still images with counterpoint testimony through rhetorical editing — the in - country vietnam documentaries the anderson platoon (1966 - 67) and a face of war (1967) were comprised entirely of “raw” footage shot among the troops, in the field and, sometimes shockingly, in the midst of battle. and unlike in the year of the pig and hearts and minds, which offer a fairly extensive political and historical context for apprehending the vietnam war, the anderson platoon and a face of war present the war exclusively from the point of view of the “foot soldier, ” a formal positioning that extends back at least to john huston’s wwii documentary the battle of san pietro (1945). as precedents then to the truth claims and experiential perspective on war underwriting the recent documentaries on iraq, these vietnam films fall on the putatively “apolitical” side of this artificially bifurcated approach to the representation of war, in which attempts to historicize events are set in opposition to accounts taken from the trenches .
the flickers’ rhode island international film festival has secured its place in the global community as the portal for the best in international independent cinema, earning the respect of domestic and foreign filmmakers, filmgoers and trend watchers. ranked as one of the top 10 festivals in the united states, riiff is a qualifying festival for the narrative, documentary and animation short film academy awards through its affiliation with the academy of motion picture arts & sciences, the british academy of film and television arts (bafta) and the canadian screen awards. there are only 6 film festivals worldwide that share this distinction and riiff is the only festival in new england. the festival takes place every august .
on screen the loners repent or try to atone; some feel genuine shame; at least that has been captured. the united states does not have a national ash wednesday or yom kippur for individuals to atone for war crimes and tell god about their shame over what they did. the message of hearts and minds is that the united states, as a culture, is heartless. its mind is consumed with winning and remaining number one, rather than with right or justice .
i do feel that the questions i wanted hearts and minds to address—why are we at war? what are we doing? and what does the doing in turn do to us? —are worth asking ourselves in all wars. only by examining our motives as citizens, the causes and effects of our role as the cop on every beat in the world, do we have even a small chance of shedding the imperial arrogance of the country we became after world war ii and reclaiming our original identity as a republic .
original interviews, then, with an aim to feature men who at one time supported the war, form the film’s backbone and also compose the majority of what’s new about the criterion collection’s release: unused interview footage with subjects both featured and left out of the original film. ten years ago, the edition included a director’s commentary and companion essays and those have also been updated .
the ballad of narayama
is a japanese film of great beauty and elegant artifice, telling a story of startling cruelty. what a space it opens…
in a new episode of observations on film art, scholar jeff smith examines how the devil and daniel webster plays with the conventions of traditional hollywood editing .
from melodic theme music to boundary - pushing soundscapes, the wide - ranging art of film scoring takes the spotlight in this selection of articles and videos .
do you feel the rating is personal? i do take it personally. they’ve given almost all my films except one an r rating. i think it’s because of the politics of the film. i think it’s because they feel the danger of the film. the film is dangerous because there’s an invisible fuse that’s being lit in the hearts and minds of the audience. there’s a probable anger that builds. people have written, “oh, look at mike, he’s so happy, he’s so optimistic, ” all of that. that’s the subversion of the film. yeah, i am those things. but i know what i’m doing. i know i’m lighting a fuse in the audience. i know these issues are already boiling just beneath the surface. the fact that we’re only one of two countries that doesn’t have paid maternity leave. the standardized testing. the stupid drug war. this is boiling right now. it’s going to boil over. that’s why i want the film out now .
though many in society, law enforcement and the criminal justice system may have given up on them, this film poses the larger question of whether the men have given up on themselves and whether they can change – inside. at the core of the film is the peace class the men attend, initially as an excuse to get free pencils, paper and an hour of air conditioning in the sweltering heat of san antonio, texas. eventually, though, it is their minds and spirits that become refreshed, through exposure to concepts such as reflection, inner strength and the possibility of real change – from the inside out .
one of the longest discussions on monday was about a scene from'' hearts and minds'' in which two g. i.' s visit a vietnamese brothel. one of them twists a woman' s nipples like knobs on a radio and jokes about giving her hickeys'' where she can' t hide' em.'' he reaches across her naked body and says to his buddy,'' if my chick at home could see this, she would flip.''
due to the small size of recent productions, i enjoy the challenge of being the researcher, the director, the editor and the producer. i hope to sharpen my entrepreneurial and marketing skills and learn more about the film industry, and the various methods of reaching my audience .
perhaps the film belongs in the category of intellectual horrors: a parade of officials, ex - officials, presidents and veterans testify—with illustrated footage—about what they did in and to vietnam and why. the film does not delve deep into psyches or history to reveal the answer—a questionable cinematic task. audience members interpret the words and body motions of a series of witnesses whose crimes, illustrated with newsreel film, they must judge. this formula documentary transcends the cliché and becomes art because of the way it handles eight main witnesses, in close ups and medium shots, who dominate the film trial of the united states. the silent prosecutor, director peter davis, remains a grey figure, never seen and only occasionally heard off camera. but his hand guides the presentation of witnesses .
because of the film’s relationship to television news, and also because he does not appear in the original, the outtake interview with david brinkley stands apart as the most potent. whereas “hearts and minds” wanted to plunge americans directly into a saigon brothel, the bombed out bach mai hospital, or over the shoulder of an american kicking the ribs of a down vietnamese soldier, brinkley argues that this time around, a glossy - toothed correspondent could not sanitize the “bloody, muddy, brutal, wasteful, extravagant, expensive, disorganized, confused” realities of war that the government had censored throughout world war ii .
this film shares tools and techniques that you can use to strengthen your relationships with those that you love, friends, co - workers and most importantly yourself. be excited about how you will change your life and allow your dreams to come true !
the new restoration of olivier assayas’s long - unavailable breakthrough film, cold water, continues its tour across the country this week .
this film does not merely feature the factual opinions of important political figures of the time: it is an important cultural examination of the formation and internalization of political beliefs .
the scene almost did not make the cut. mr. davis said the editors, lyn zee klingman, who later married mr. pearce, and susan martin wanted to take it out because they were disgusted by it. they changed their minds .
as i often have no imposed time restriction or production deadline, i spend at least half a year with the characters of my film immersing myself in their culture, focusing on their personalities, life story, and socio - political environment. alone or with a film producer, i film the characters as closely as i can, highlighting the subtleties of their views, diminishing the focus on “horrors” - as often depicted in the news - to the background, and bringing to the foreground the dignity and complexities of the characters.
hearts and minds is a 1974 american documentary film about the vietnam war directed by peter davis . the film 's title is based on a quote from president lyndon b. johnson : " the ultimate victory will depend on the hearts and minds of the people who actually live out there " . the movie was chosen as academy award for best documentary feature at the 47th academy awards presented in 1975 . the film premiered at the 1974 cannes film festival . commercial distribution was delayed in the united states due to legal issues , including a temporary restraining order obtained by one of the interviewees , former national security advisor walt rostow who had claimed through his attorney that the film was " somewhat misleading " and " not representative " and that he had not been given the opportunity to approve the results of his interview . columbia pictures refused to distribute the picture , which forced the producers to purchase back the rights and release it by other means . the film was shown in los angeles for the one week it needed to be eligible for consideration in the 1974 academy awards . 
hearts and minds is a 1974 american documentary film about the vietnam war directed by peter davis. the film's title is based on a quote from president lyndon b. johnson: " the ultimate victory will depend on the hearts and minds of the people who actually live out there ". the movie was chosen as academy award for best documentary feature at the 47th academy awards presented in 1975. the film premiered at the 1974 cannes film festival. commercial distribution was delayed in the united states due to legal issues, including a temporary restraining order obtained by one of the interviewees, former national security advisor walt rostow who had claimed through his attorney that the film was " somewhat misleading " and " not representative " and that he had not been given the opportunity to approve the results of his interview. columbia pictures refused to distribute the picture, which forced the producers to purchase back the rights and release it by other means. the film was shown in los angeles for the one week it needed to be eligible for consideration in the 1974 academy awards.
hearts and minds is a 1974 american documentary film about the vietnam war directed by peter davis. the film's title is based on a quote from president lyndon b. johnson: " the ultimate victory will depend on the hearts and minds of the people who actually live out there ". the movie was chosen as academy award for best documentary feature at the 47th academy awards presented in 1975. the film premiered at the 1974 cannes film festival. commercial distribution was delayed in the united states due to legal issues, including a temporary restraining order obtained by one of the interviewees, former national security advisor walt rostow who had claimed through his attorney that the film was " somewhat misleading " and " not representative " and that he had not been given the opportunity to approve the results of his interview. columbia pictures refused to distribute the picture, which forced the producers to purchase back the rights and release it by other means. the film was shown in los angeles for the one week it needed to be eligible for consideration in the 1974 academy awards.