Ken Burns’ Vietnam War shows both sides of combat
What is it? The Vietnam War, approximately 18 hours on 10 discs from PBS
How much? $99.99
When? Now
Sounds pretty straight-forward. Yes and no. When it comes to Vietnam, nothing is really straight-forward. Or black-and-white.
After shining his documentarian’s spotlight on The Civil War and World War II, plus broad-scope subjects like baseball and jazz, Ken Burns and filmmaking partner Lynn Novick tackle the extremely complicated conflict in Vietnam, a war that nearly ripped America apart and whose aftershocks are still being felt.
The purpose of the documentary is to find out “What happened?”
It’s a deceptively simple question with no simple answer.
Starting with an overview of Vietnamese history to set the stage,
Burns plunges into the worlds of rice paddies and backroom politics, where complex historical and cultural issues lead whole countries deeper into a quagmire with dire consequences.
As with his other series, Burns uses video footage and photos as well as extensive interviews. There are also audio recordings of American presidents and other leaders that are very enlightening.
But it’s the interviews that pack the most punch. There are Americans: POW Hal Kushner, Marine Karl Marlantes, antiwar protester Carol Crocker and CIA operative Frank Snepp. Those are intercut with interviews with Vietnamese fighters from both sides, like Viet Cong soldier Le Quan Cong and South Vietnamese soldier Tran Ngoc Toan, and civilians like Duong Van Mai Elliott, whose family fled North Vietnam and eventually escaped the country during the fall of Saigon.
In some segments, the viewer hears from men who were at the exact same place at the same time but fighting on different sides.
The series takes viewers through the war as a whole, addressing it not just in terms of battles but its impact on civilians in Vietnam and in the United States, where protests and unrest divided public opinion and led to tragedies like the shootings at Kent State University in Ohio that left four students dead and several others injured.
It wraps up with the fall of Saigon, the violent aftermath, and the eventual steps toward healing and reconciliation as U.S. veterans go back to Vietnam and meet their former enemies.
The result is, as with Burns’ other documentaries, educational and engrossing.
It doesn’t necessarily clear everything up, but considering the morass that was Vietnam, that’s probably not possible.
What the viewer gets instead is a relatively clear, mostly even-handed telling of a mammoth, complex era of history. It’s an emotional, fascinating story and something of a cautionary tale.
What are the bonus features? “Making of The Vietnam War” is a 40-minute documentary interviewing the filmmakers on their goals, filming techniques, research and other aspects of the creative process.
Beyond that, there is a collection of interview segments (including a soldier recounting how he and his companions destroyed a Buddhist temple and interviews with an American interrogator and a Vietnamese POW) that were not included in the documentary.
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