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War perseveres
 John Behling -- Film Critic
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The other day at work I was describing a scene from Peter Davis' 1974 documentary "Hearts and Minds," a sprawling manifesto investigating the Vietnam conflict, when a customer made a correction to my statement. In a scene that troubled me where a veteran addressing an assembly of elementary school kids answers the question "Why did we go to war in Vietnam?" with "We went there to win. And win we did." My question was "What kind of answer is that? (and does he honestly think we won in Vietnam?)" Then from behind me I heard the remark: "We went there to kick a** and take names."-gee thanks, that's a much better answer.
The second quote I pull from the film that provides a constant distraction at work is "America is trying hard to forget about Vietnam." And from the look of our current situation, one could argue that we have.
Davies' Academy Award winning feature condenses 200 hours of footage in an ambitious effort to isolate and understand the decade-long conflict, penetrating into the "Hearts and Minds" of those who were there (with a title quote lifted from one of the film's military talking heads.) The result is highly subjective, but considering that Michael Moore's "Bowling for Columbine" packed Atwood Little Theater well beyond its fire-code specifications, it's evident (at least here on campus) that opinion is now tolerated in documentaries.
"Hearts and Minds" takes on Vietnam in a multi-directional assault quite similar to the above mentioned filmmaker's opus into and beyond issues such as gun control, fear in the media and appropriately: American aggression in foreign affairs.
Davies' film takes the viewer into decimated villages narrated by residents describing the craters that now occupy the space their houses used to be. It follows GI's in the streets of Saigon, looking for prostitutes. It ventures into the mind of former Secretary of Defense under Lyndon Johnson Clark Clifford who emphatically regrets the war. The camera places the audience across from paraplegic veterans, grieving parents and the pilots who destroyed the villages featured earlier.
But the most interesting route this film undertakes is a rather crafty attempt to explain the American mindset that enabled Vietnam. Here there are images of football violence, fanatic coaches shouting, pacing and physically assaulting players during pre-game speeches, and in its most poignant juxtaposition: the chorus of a high school football crowd chanting "We're number one" blends into a military parade where the chorus is the same, spelling out Davis' message in an artful yet obvious way.
That message is: Americans are culturally trained to be competitive and to obey. High school sports are a subconscious form of boot camp, emphasizing combat-like skills and an unquestioned chain of command. Nationalism empowers uninformed support of our elected officials and war brings death. To forget Vietnam is a dangerous choice to make, and if this documentary is a success at all it will make that feat very difficult if not impossible for you to undertake.
"Hearts and Minds" is available for three day loan at the Miller Center Library.
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