With
Appearances By: George Ball, Diem Chau, George Coker, Clark Clifford, Daniel
Ellsberg, Randy Floyd, Nguyen Ngoc Linh, Robert Muller, General Nguyen Khanh,
Walt Rostow, Nguyen Thi Sau, Edward Sowders, Father Chan Tin, and General
William Westmoreland
Producers:
Bert Schneider and Peter Davis
Director:
Peter Davis
Feature
length: 112 minutes
Extras:
Audio Commentary By Peter Davis
Languages:
English Monaural Sound
Subtitles:
English Captions
Packaging:
Amaray Keep Case
Chapter
Stops: 13
Sound:
Monaural Sound
Year
of Theatrical Release: 1974/DVD Release: 2002
Home
Video Distributor: Home Vision Entertainment
MPAA
Rating: Not Rated
Reviewer:
Mark A. Rivera
I
cannot think of a better way to follow up the DVD reviews I published yesterday,
which were essentially inspired by “Cold War” fears from the 1950s, than
with a review of Home Vision Entertainment’s “Hearts & Minds: The
Criterion Collection ##156.” Co-Producer and Director Peter Davis is the son
of Hollywood Screenwriters who were disillusioned by the McCarthy era and worked
as a correspondent from network news before setting forth to make “Hearts
& Minds.”
Through
the use of clips from Hollywood films, which I found to be best part of the
documentary as well as various political figures and veterans from both sides of
the issue along with various Vietnamese citizens while the war was going on, the
film attempts to explore the roots of the war in an attempt to bring to the
forefront what and why a nation resorts to violence. While the film covers the
Vietnam War in particular, I think the documentary is every bit as timely in
these uncertain times. There are clips from Hollywood films that are so
disturbing one almost will cease to believe this was true. One scene right at
the beginning showed a dance number performed to a song by Irving Berlin with
guys dressed up like combat ready army men dancing before one of the most
fascist looking images of the American Bald Eagle I have ever seen. I mean the
clip looks like a cross between something out of “Triumph Of The Will” and
Mel Brooks’ “The Producers.” Another scene shows Bob Hope from one of his
comedy films where he is treating three Asian women pampering him like objects
and not at all like human beings. They
might as well have been robots.
The
dichotomy of images of war footage along with various interviews says more than
anything you could possibly read. The images of the napalm igniting looks like
mini nukes going off in the fields and jungles and I found these images more
compelling than anything I have seen in any dramatization. There are some
eye-popping admissions in this film that I had never knew of and I have a
Masters Degree! Does anyone know that in the 1950s America offered the French
Government Nuclear weapons to aid in their war in Indochina?
“Hearts
& Minds” is presented in its original theatrical aspect ratio of (1.
85:1). This new high-definition digital transfer was created on a Spirit
Datacine from the Academy Film Archive’s restored 35mm interpositive under the
supervision of Director Peter Davis and Cinematographer Richard Pearce. The
soundtrack was mastered from the restored magnetic tracks. To further enhance
the image, the MTI Digital Restoration System was used to remove thousands of
instances of dirt, debris, and scratches. The soundtrack was mastered at 24-bit;
audio restoration tools were used to reduce clicks, pops, hiss, and crackle.
The
image looks fantastic considering all of the various film stocks and footage
sources ranging from both color and black and white resources of varying ages.
The English Monaural Soundtrack is full and clear true monaural flowing forth
from the center channel. English Captions for the hearing impaired are encoded
on to the DVD along with an excellent feature length and articulate audio
commentary track by Co-Producer and Director Peter Davis, which is worth the
price of buying or renting this DVD alone. A 32-page booklet featuring essays on
the Vietnam War and the historical context for “Hearts & Minds” is
enclosed within the DVD keep case.
“Hearts
& Minds: The Criterion Collection #156” is available on DVD-Video now from
Home Vision Entertainment and is recommended viewing.
©
Copyright 2002 By Mark A. Rivera
All Rights Reserved.