U.S. soldiers burn Vietnamese homes. Then their top general says Vietnamese people don’t value life like Westerners do.
I found this one through Jack Nachwalter’s “10 Underrated Documentaries You Need To Watch.”
Trailer for “Hearts and Minds”
You Can’t Make This Sh!t Up
- General William Westmoreland says Vietnamese people value life less than Westerners. The doc immediately cuts to a grieving family trying to stop a woman from climbing into a loved one’s grave.
- The doc also shows a Viet Cong prisoner shot in the head and the famous footage of a burned Vietnamese girl running naked after a napalm attack.
- After “Hearts and Minds” won an Oscar, producer Bert Schneider read a pro-Vietnamese telegram onstage. The backlash was so strong Frank Sinatra read an Academy disclaimer.
Watch “Hearts and Minds”
You can find the latest streaming options for “Hearts and Minds” on Apple TV and Prime Video.
Ratings:
- My Rating: 90/100
- IMDB Rating: 8.2/10
- Rotten Tomatoes Ratings: 90/100 (Users); 90/100 (Critics)
Director’s Note: Peter Davis directed this 112-minute documentary. He mixes interviews with American officials, soldiers, veterans and Vietnamese civilians with news footage and scenes shot in Vietnam and the U.S.
Release Date: “Hearts and Minds” premiered at Cannes on May 16, 1974. It later screened at the San Francisco Film Festival on October 17, 1974, before its wider U.S. release.
Other Unique Stuff
- Former bomber pilot Randy Floyd talks about flying bombing missions. He admits there could be excitement in the danger. But after the war, he looks at his own children and thinks differently about what American bombs did to families below.
- Former POW George Coker represents a very different view. After returning home, he talks to American schoolchildren and remains proud of his service and supportive of the war. Davis gives him enough screen time that we see how deeply those beliefs were tied to patriotism.
- Davis shows wounded American veterans learning to live with artificial limbs. Some now question why they were sent to Vietnam in the first place.
Wrap Up:
“Hearts and Minds” is hard to watch because Davis keeps bringing the Vietnam War down from politics and military strategy to individual people. The Westmoreland/funeral sequence is one of those documentary moments that is hard to forget.
Thanks for reading!
Heather Fenty, Guest Writer, Daily Doc