Peter Davis' Own Heart and Mind

While watching Hearts and Minds by Peter Davis, I chose to focus my attention on the argument that the director intended to make and the way in which he tried to achieve this purpose. The filmmaker has to have made a number of deliberate decisions during the filming and editing process to plainly point to one clear statement, and I find it useful to note the techniques that he used to do just that.

Peter Davis portrays the conflicting attitudes regarding the War in Vietnam in this heart-wrenching documentary. Throughout this piece, the director contrasts the statements and opinions of the people that were personally involved in the war, both the con and the pro. I believe it was important for the director to show the full spectrum of opinions about the war in order to enable each viewer to make the decision on his/her own terms.

I especially admired the director's mastery of playing up the viewer's emotions, such as in the opening scenes of the movie. The documentary begins by showing the villagers going about their daily business with no disturbance or conflict, until the american soldiers start cutting across the screen. This scene was very powerful, in my opinion, because it juxtaposes what the citizens of Vietnam wanted their country to be, and how the United State's involvement is making that dream virtually unattainable. 

Davis also effectively uses sounds to better convey his message. The music choice greatly amplifies the meaning of the scene during which the song is played. For example, Bobby Bare's 500 Miles which is played during the landscape shot of the street of Saigon. It helps the viewer better identify with the soldiers that were forced to leave their hometowns and were flown across the ocean to an unfamiliar country. Davis also uses a number of uncomfortably long pauses during the interviews, and I believe the reason for that is to let whatever was just said to really sink in and to give the viewer a chance to form his own opinion.

I also found it interesting that there is no background narration for this documentary. I have always thought that documentaries HAD to have narration because that is the only way the viewer can understand what is being presented to him/her. Although, this did throw me a bit off guard, I was grateful to be able to simply watch and have the ability to think through the images on the screen without being told what they are and what to take away from them.

Overall, this is an excellently made documentary made by a talented filmmaker. Although, I believe the main intent of Davis' Hearts and Minds was to show basic facts and opinions of both sides of the conflict, it was easy to see where exactly the directors own heart and mind were while making this excellent documentary.