This is an American documentary from 1968 and it is looking into the cause of the Vietnam War. The director of this film is Emile de Antonio. The documentary received a number of critics and it was nominated for the best documentary Academy award.
The film itself is in black and white and it combines several historical footage and a number of interviews. Among the interviewed parties were Roger Hilsman, Harry Ashmore, Philippe Devillers, David Halberstam, John White, Jean Lacouture, Daniel Berrigan, Kenneth P. Landon, Thruston B. Morton, Charlton Osburn, , Ilya Todd, John Toller, David K. Tuck, David Werfel, Paul Mus and Harrison Salisbury.
The features of this documentary are the use of patriotic music in an ironic manner and Ho Chi Minh was presented as a patriot to the people from Vietnam. Also, Vietnam was portrayed as a unified state. It is because of these features, mentioned above, that the documentary itself was not accepted well with the audience and there were threats of violent retaliation against the theaters which screened this documentary.
Despite that, the director of this film, De Antonio, claims that this is his favorite project. The promotional poster of this documentary, showing Marine Corporal Michael Wynn, was used by The Smiths as the album cover. The musicians replaced the original sign from the helmet of the soldier with the slogan ‘meat is murder’.
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