Posted on 12/10/2005 4:21:52 AM PST by Jimmy Valentine's brother
Vietnam Veterans Bare Their Souls In a Searing '72 Documentary
See "Winter Soldier."
This extraordinary documentary, made in 1972 and having its first theatrical release, not only revisits events during the Vietnam War that have uncanny resonance today but also stands as a riveting example of pure filmic storytelling. An unadorned, black-and-white record of a three-day gathering held in Detroit in 1971, "Winter Soldier" turns the camera on the testimony of former soldiers invited by Vietnam Veterans Against the War to share accounts of atrocities they committed or witnessed. The result is a spellbinding film that achieves impressive power through little more than the spoken word. ..... Recreational killing of civilians, rape, arson, torture: They did it, or saw it, all. Having been trained to see their enemies as less than human -- they were always called gooks or commies -- and having been taught to dissociate from the violence they were committing lest they be killed themselves, they simply learned not to care.
......."Winter Soldier" is an important historical document, an eerily prescient antiwar plea and a dazzling example of filmmaking at its most iconographically potent. But at its best, it is the eloquent, unforgettable tale of profound moral reckoning. Winter Soldier (95 minutes, at Landmark's E Street Cinema) is not rated.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Fonda's 'Winter' of Redemption
Friday, December 9, 2005; Page WE34
More than 30 years after it was made, the documentary "Winter Soldier" is finally getting its big-screen release in the United States. The movie, made by a team of filmmakers, is a stark recording of Vietnam War veterans' accounts of atrocities committed by American soldiers during the war. (See review on Page 28.)
In a hotel conference room in Detroit in early 1971, former soldiers and antiwar activists gathered for what was called the Winter Soldier Investigation, named after a line in a Thomas Paine poem. One of the original financial backers of the WSI and the subsequent film based on it was Jane Fonda, who in 1971 was already known for her role as "Barbarella" but was not yet being called "Hanoi Jane." In an e-mail interview, Fonda talked about what she hopes audiences will take from the film. "In my book [her memoir, 'My Life So Far'], I call the 'Winter Soldier' chapter 'Redemption,' because I feel that is what the WSI represented for those brave men. They were asking Americans to hear them in their collective truth-telling." Among the soldiers who testified were Scott Camil, Rusty Sachs and future senator John Kerry, all of whom were members of Vietnam Veterans Against the War.
Fonda said "Winter Soldier" shows the psychological impact of the war on service personnel: "Starting with the Vietnam War we began training soldiers differently. In my book I talk about secret meetings I had with military psychologists who were really worried about what was happening to our combat personnel. 'We're turning them into killing machines,' one of them said to me. This began because the military discovered that in World War II and Korea, soldiers weren't killing enough (in their opinion), so they changed training procedures."
However, Fonda insists, "it's critical that we understand that the soldiers are not to blame. How they were trained, how their officers either gave the green light or turned a blind eye to what was happening on the ground is what matters. When you put young people into an atrocity-producing situation where enemy and civilian are commingled, where the 'other side' is dehumanized, we cannot be surprised by what these men report in the film."
Fonda insists, "We have not learned the lessons of Vietnam. The returned veterans tried valiantly to tell us what the lessons were, [but] most of us turned our backs. . . . Today the returning antiwar Iraq vets are being called 'unpatriotic.' We must listen to what they have to say."
"Winter Soldier" is at Landmark's E Street Cinema, 555 11th St. NW. Tickets are $6.75 and $9.50. Call 202-452-7672.
Sorry, Hanoi Janey...not this time.
You had your time in the spotlight, and it seriously damaged this country. Go back into your cave.
When all else fails, regurgitate Vietnam and Whiner Soldier.
It's a full court press by the anti-WOT; anti-American, leftist crowd. Fortunately, they're stuck in a sixties quagmire due to their over indulgence in themselves and the brown acid that was not specifically too good. Indeed, they are on their own trip.
That said I'm am so mad that I could spit just as they continue to spit on the men and women who tried to preserve freedom in SEA.
For those that think that being in the streets is a waste of time, this bs which is being billed as fact is why you must be there.
See you in the streets.
This slander was discredited years ago. Many of the "Vietnam vets" were REMFs who made up their stories, soldiers who never set foot in Vietnam, or people who never served at all. It is sad that this ancient lie is resurrected.
Not in this reviewer's mind. I call your attention to the opening line.This extraordinary documentary, made in 1972 and having its first theatrical release, not only revisits events during the Vietnam War that have uncanny resonance today..There will be no one in the theater saying that these people were REMFS making up lies; that congress could find no substantiation for the fabrications that are in this film.
See comments #4 and #8
You have an unbelieveable ability to mine your vast archives. I am in awe.
The only way these people could become bigger liars is if they gained some weight.
"Documentary" and factual?? D***** propoganda is more like it...
Yeah... like Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11.
What a crock.
Hence, Michael Moore!
Unbelievable. These wacko's are going to use those same bloody lies of pot heads and kooks who never served yet again.
Maybe this will bring a renewed effort to have John Kerry exposed and kicked out of the Senate for having these liars testify at a senate hearing.
JVb, I thank you, and I'm sure there's a gawd-awful pun lurking in there somewhere around "awe," but I'm too dang cold to think one up ( first really cold day down here, house hasn't warmed up yet ) at the moment.
I spyed that link looking for something else, but I also noticed that the "keyword database" has an entry that yields tons of more links:
It just astounds me what this awful man continues to get away with.
Re-releasing this right when the Demowits are trying to cut and run--nice timing. I see Hanoi Jane is back with her same treason.
Clapped out skunk that she is.
Yes, and let us all remember that she regretted her activities and apologized to the Vietnam Veterans. But she is reverting to form.
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