(USA. 1972, B&W, 16mm, 93min)
Directed by the Winterfilm Collective
The film is a document of the Winter Soldier Investigation (WSI) of 1970-72 which was created with the support of Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW). Yes, Jane Fonda *was* involved with VVAW, but no, she's not in the film. At the end of January, 1971, VVAW had over 7000 members (from an original 6 founders in 1967), of whom about 100 gave testimonials on U.S. war atrocities they'd seen or performed. Their testimony in Detroit ran from January 31st, 1970 to February 2nd 1971, and -- prompted by the request of Senator Hatfield of Oregon -- was read into the Congressional Record that April.
Seeing documentary footage of actual soldiers unburdening themselves to crowd, camera and microphones is more powerful than any movie's fictionalized depiction of the war's brutality. For this alone, the film would be remain an important historical document, but the film goes farther than that. Rather than merely showing what was said, the film first looks at the sign-in office where veterans talked with organizers, looks at side conversations during the testimony (particularly with a photographer who brings up the Racism both in America by and towards Vietnamese), and ends with bits from the veterans' protest march on D.C. of April, '72 and one vet's reflection on his part in the war, how he's changed since he'd returned, and his testimony. All this works to give the viewer greater intimacy with the men who seek pardon for their actions.
Rather than listing details, see this fairly complete transcript of testimony and related material. Note that the film does not cover most the transcript, nor does the transcript cover things that were in the film.
One of the veterans the film exposes, Scott Camil is also central to a student documentary, Seasoned Veteran. The site also has a section on the Winter Soldier investigation.
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