Hearts and Minds is a powerful documentary directed by Peter Davis, that exemplifies what a documentary can and should be. Rightfully so Hearts and Minds won the Oscar for Best Documentary, and remains a powerful, yet unsettling viewing experience. Hearts and Minds exemplifies a great documentary, because it tells an important and relevant real story, it remains as objective in it's presentation as possible, and it never holds back. All of this being said the film really features so much disturbing imagery, only so many people can willingly watch it, and more than likely many more will avoid it.The scope of the film is quite large, in terms of time, as it really covers about a ten to fifteen year period. The scope combined with the impact of the Vietnam War, make the story the documentary is telling all the more relevant, and important. When looking at real events in United States history that show an evolution, and are "film" worthy the Vietnam War is on the top of that list. Even more impressive is Davis method of telling his story, as there was probably a story to be told about the war exclusively, but Davis chose to show how the war affected the country. This made the scope larger, and the story even more relevant.Davis did a great job of showing the Country's borderline unflinching faith in its government, and that by the end of the war, the attitudes of almost everybody had changed, in some way. With so many different views, and such a complex issue, it would have been easy for Davis to focus on one side, but he went out of his way to show almost all viewpoints, and even portray them in a way where the audience can empathize with most of them. This makes his presentation all the more powerful, as the audience is almost forced to feel conflicted. Davis used this tactic to show the polarizing aspects of war, as well as "thinking revolution" that the country underwent with Vietnam.To fully understand the "Thinking Revolution" Davis had to show the atrocities of war, so that the audience, whenever they may watch it would fully understand why there was a thinking revolution. The film never really holds back, it shows every different viewpoint, as well as what happened in the war, however disturbing it may be. Throughout the film the audience is subjected to terrible imagery, that is even scarier because it's real, and uncensored. Watching this an audience member could finally realize how glorified films are, as none of them capture the nauseating imagery this film is full of. In the end the message seems anti-war, as it never presents that message, but it also bombards the audience with mostly negative imagery.In the end Hearts and Minds is a powerful, albeit disturbing experience, not meant for the weak-stomached or weak-willed. The film brilliantly shows an evolution of multiple societies, as well as the polarizing and negative aspects of the Vietnam War. The film should be commended for showing various different viewpoints and rarely treating any viewpoint with irreverence. Hearts and Minds, truly is a disturbing yet necessary experience.

The United States right wing still resonates with a blind sickening nationalism that denies honesty and decency.They are still lying as their President George Bush did to bomb innocent people in Iraq and use Mexican migrant workers to provide their food.The United States is rife with drug addiction , right wing nationalism which blinds people to the truth.The United States and the western world are presently destroying the entire planet by burning fossil fuels and don\t care about anyone other than their own selfish needs.The American mentality I allows presently the cold blood murder of its own citizenry . It has the highest rate of killing its own people with its love for guns and murder.

I first knew about this Oscar-winning documentary when Rex Reed and Bill Harris mentioned it on their "At the Movies" program in the late '80s when they discussed Vietnam War films in the wake of the success of Platoon. I also later read about the controversial comments producer Bert Schneider read from the Viet Cong when he accepted the Academy Award that got Bob Hope and Frank Sinatra to disavow those remarks as Oscar approved. Having watched it now, director Peter Davis does a remarkable job of trying to find a balance with the various viewpoints of Americans-conservative and liberal-and that of the Asian country-persons whose loss of homes and family are the most heartbreaking scenes on film. But he also exposes how the propaganda of World War II movies may have contributed to such ignorant comments like those of former prisoner-of-war Lt. George Coker-"If it wasn't for the people, it would be very pretty. The people over there are very backward and very primitive and they just make a mess out of everything." Or this from Gen. William Westmoreland-"The Oriental doesn't put the same high price on life as does the Westerner. Life is cheap in the Orient." One wonders if they ever regretted those remarks. Many other painfully touching moments occur that I won't mention here. With all that said, I highly recommend Hearts and Minds.

Many have considered this film to be biased, and rightly so. It is no accident that the Vietnamese are sympathized considerably more than are the American soldiers and their leaders. In a time when many pro-war Americans felt that our position as a world power granted us the right to intervene and make decisions for other groups of people, Peter Davis' documentary was an eye opener for those willing to embrace its strong and poignant criticisms. Part of what Davis attempts to do is to show us the Vietnamese, not as a baser and apathetic people, but as real human beings with intelligence, history, and culture that were being trampled upon and overlooked in the face of a debilitating fear of spreading Communism. To carefully watch this film is to experience a side of war that has all too often been disregarded in American history: the view from the other side. If you would like to read more about my interpretation of this film and see a variety of other sources and helpful materials to better understand Hearts and documentary film in general, click on this link to my viewing guide for the film: http://www.trinity.edu/adelwich/ documentary/comm3325.viewing.guide.charles.tallent.pdf