Hearts and Minds

A controversial Oscar winner for Best Documentary, Peter Davis' 1974 Hearts and Minds took plenty of flack during its initial release for its perceived anti-American and pro-Vietnamese take on the most divisive and longest running American "conflict" of the 20th century. Seen today, however, through the clarifying lens of hindsight, Hearts & Minds strikes the viewer as relatively restrained (though graphic in content and definitely not evenhanded), especially considering the elevated emotions of the period. Presented in cinema vérité fashion, the non-narrated film combines newsreel excerpts, on location footage, and interviews with a wide variety of subjects--war protestors, commanders, activists, etc.--including General Westmoreland, Daniel Ellsberg (who claims that the American public was lied to by five successive presidential administrations--a charge that might still have seemed a little shocking in 1974), and Clark Clifford. While the film still has flaws--an American football/war analogy of winning at all costs seems strained, even as Vietcong atrocities are pretty much ignored--it is a remarkable time capsule record filled with now-iconic images (the naked little napalmed Vietnamese girl running down the street, the point-blank to the head execution of a Vietnamese man) and unsettling commentary (listening to the young Native American man who recalls that "he wanted to go kill some gooks," I heard some echoes of the hawkish language concerning recent Taliban hunting raids in Afghanistan). As usual, the Criterion Collection transfer is excellent (the cinematographer on the film, incidentally, was Richard Pearce, later director of Heartland, among other films), and the monaural sound clear and crisp. Notable extras include an insightful quarter-century-later commentary track by director Davis, and a handsome 32-page booklet with essays on both the film and the Vietnam War. Highly recommended. (R. Pitman)[Blu-ray/DVD Combo Review—July 1, 2014—Criterion, 112 min., R, $39.95—Making its first appearance on Blu-ray and latest on DVD, 1974's Hearts and Minds features a fine transfer and an uncompressed monaural soundtrack on Blu-ray. Extras include audio commentary by director Peter Davis, a text introduction, a collection of unused footage featuring political activist Tony Russo (35 min.), General William Westmoreland (26 min.), presidential advisor Walt Rostow (25 min.), broadcast journalist David Brinkley (24 min.), presidential adviser George Ball (20 min.), and historian Philippe Devillers (11 min.), archival footage from a funeral in Quang Nam (6 min.) and Cong Hoa military hospital (3 min.), and a booklet featuring essays by Davis, film critic Judith Crist, and historians Robert K. Brigham, George C. Herring, and Ngo Vinh Long. Bottom line: a landmark documentary makes a welcome debut on Blu-ray.]