The Vietnam War

Heartbreaking. Deeply moving and beautiful film about a great tragedy. Many of the 18 hours made me want to cry.

I've watched every minute of every film Ken Burns ever made. I couldn't be a bigger fan. I know not everyone is, but I don't understand how. (Too emotional? Emotions are the greatest truths. And that's never more the case than in this film "The Vietnam War".) (Too liberal? No, objective, moderate.)

It's common for Burns's works to contain important tangential sub-themes. (A primary sub-theme of "Baseball" was race in America.)

"The Vietnam War" only had minor tangential sub-themes. It's story is so important that it didn't need major ones. Burns's "The Civil War" (about the only more-divisive war in American history) told the story of a nation growing up, coming together. "The Vietnam War" tells the story of America becoming it's modern, highly polarized, ungovernable/chaotic present. As such this film could not be more current, relevant, and important.

Burns, Novick, and their team committed years of research to this worthwhile project, expressed in 10 episodes. If I had to sum up my experience in watching 5 episodes thus far, I would say that this program is casting a glaring light at how little I knew about this war.

Just as bracing as the war imagery is the multiplicity of interviews... Burns and Novick wisely feature all sides to speak forth. The recall of combat experience is expressed by soldiers (both sides), families, POWs, journalists, and activists. As might be expected, some of what the soldiers express is horrific.

The tape recordings of several US Presidents and their war advisors are an essential part "The Vietnam War".

Can a film like this be presented in a genuinely objective manner?" For many years now, the wide majority of people would agree that this war should not have happened, and it's a difficult task for any director to not infuse a film with their personal viewpoints. As another reviewer noted, it's obvious that the sentiment of this film is most assuredly against the war.

Finally, I'll leave you with a quote:

"It is only those who have neither fired a shot nor heard the shrieks and groans of the wounded who cry aloud for blood, more vengeance, more desolation. War is hell." - General William Tecumseh Sherman (1820-91)

This isn't an easy watch, but it's one that I would highly recommend nonetheless. I watch many documentaries, but I have only rarely seen such an insightful and comprehensive portrait of a chapter in history.

Over the course of 16.5 hours this docu series takes the viewer from the earliest roots of the conflict in Vietnam and the country's sad colonial history to its modern-day reality after the war. Along the way, it tells a mesmerizing, shocking, appalling, tragic - but most of all: incredibly immersive and informative - story from the perspective of the people who were affected by this man-made tragedy.

Unlike most other documentaries on the subject, we also get to hear first hand accounts from North- and South Vietnamese officers, ARVN and Vietcong fighters, civilians from both the South and the North, in addition to learning more about the American experience and about the profound effect the conflict had on US society.

What Ken Burns and Lynn Novick have accomplished here can hardly be overstated; this is more than "just" an in-depth look at the Vietnam War: this is nothing less than the portrait of an era. A masterful work. 10 stars out of 10

Favorite TV-Shows reviewed: imdb.com/list/ls075552387/

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Lesser-Known Masterpieces: imdb.com/list/ls070242495/

Favorite Low-Budget and B-Movies: imdb.com/list/ls054808375/

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Well, I thought that was an amazing documentary. I think Ken Burns does an epic and moving job covering the events from a big picture political perspective. You really get a sense of the weight of history, and the scale of tragedy, particularly how decisions made by presidents and governments set in motion forces that led to catastrophic suffering. Millions of deaths and unhealed emotional wounds. I also thought the documentary was very good at the military level, describing battles and engagements that I had never heard of, in a reasonable detail. And the music and photography was epic. Seeing those pictures of old-time American life juxtaposed with the chaos of Vietnam was so moving. I also thought the reconciliation part at the end was really beautiful.

There were three things about the documentary that I did think were weaknesses.

1. There was such a focus on the protests, and starting so early on in the series, it kind of overwhelmed the narrative in some ways. I have read that the vast majority of veterans were proud of their service in Vietnam, and did not have this tortured sense of regret and shame that you see with those interviewed in the series. Some did but not most.

(for evidence see this article - https://www.wsj.com/amp/articles/ken- burnss-vietnam-is-fair-to-the-troops-but-not-the-cause-1507324058)

2. I wonder about the conspiratorial angle of things. This documentary portrays the North Vietnamese as almost magically destined to win, as if it was inevitable, as if nothing the Americans could have done would have made any ultimate difference. I just wonder if part of the reason the Americans lost is because they weren't allowed to win. I mean, had the Americans occupied Hanoi and Haiphong Harbour, would not the North Vietnamese have been unable to prosecute the war? Surely if the Ho Chi Minh trail was permanently occupied in several places there wouldn't be the communist resupply into South Vietnam? But perhaps none of this would have been possible without China directly entering the conflict. Who knows.

3.Because the documentary is so long, and also attempts to cover the bigger historical events, I don't think it captures the day to day experience of the Vietnamese villagers that well. I mean, what made someone turn to the VietCong? What was daily life like? There is another, Vietnamese documentary "the face of the enemy" which I think does a better job of this.

Overall, a fascinating time spent watching this, and I recommend it to all with caveats.

Every episode is an extraordinary lesson and the teachers are not trying to convert us but enlighten us. One side, both sides, all sides.To me, personally, the most shocking aspect of it all is its absurdity. As more troops are sent back to Afghanistan by the Trump administration, one wonders. Haven't we learned anything? Watching and listening to American vets, listening to Vietcong veterans saying, "We saw the American crying for their deaths and I though, they are just like us" The fact that something like that can be a revelation is part of the mystery of it all. Don't we know from day one that we're all the same? Humans. To Ken Burns and all of his partners and collaborators, thank you, thank you very much.