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IMAGES INCONNUES: LA GUERRE DU VIETNAM: LE SECRET DE LA GUERRE {UNKNOWN IMAGES: THE VIETNAM WAR: THE SECRET OF THE WAR} {PART 1 OF 3} {FRENCH} (TV)

Summary

The first part in this three-part documentary, narrated by television producer Daniel Costelle, which chronicles American involvement in the Vietnam War. The documentary uses footage from U.S. military archives -- much of it previously unreleased -- taken by cameramen inside the combat zone. Costelle's narration, continuous and often pointed, gives a recitation of the history and context for these images which alternate between the banal and the shockingly graphic in their depictions of everyday life in Vietnam for the soldiers. The first part, entitled "The Secret of the War," covers activities dating from 1964 to 1968. The program begins with footage of U.S. soldiers exiting a plane in Vietnam. Billy Brown, a typical American soldier who is used as a thread throughout the documentary, is one of them; in a voice-over of a letter back home, he describes how he feels about the war. A montage of images characteristic of the documentary opens the film: Brown and his fellow soldiers learning the army way to brush your teeth; a Vietnamese hostage having his hands tied up by American soldiers; refugees walking through the jungle; an American soldier covering the dead; a medic caring for a wounded soldier; a headless dead body; and soldiers in action. The narrator next briefly discusses France's colonial history in Vietnam, including the battle of Dien Bien Phu, as well as Viet Cong leaders Vo Nguyen Giap and Ho Chi Minh. Costelle discusses the creation of North Vietnam, Ngo Dinh Diem being put into power in South Vietnam, and the Viet Cong's success in convincing many of the South Vietnamese to fight. This portion includes an excerpt from a black-and-white instructional film called "Get to Know Charlie" that explained to soldiers how to tell the North Vietnamese apart from the South Vietnamese. The documentary next illustrates the disorganized nature of the South Vietnamese army and how the U.S. military lent strategic and military support. Images show U.S. army personnel showing the South Vietnamese how to shoot as well as U.S. soldiers attending several events with the Vietnamese, including an apparent ritual animal sacrifice. Costelle next discusses the South Vietnamese struggle against the North, and how public opinion turned against Ngo. He also covers President Kennedy's assassination, Robert McNamara's assessment of the situation in Vietnam, and the Gulf of Tonkin incident of 1964. Costelle then describes a North Vietnamese attack on a U.S. military base in 1965 that left 30 Americans dead and precipitated a U.S. attack on Da Nang (includes footage of the base in ruins and U.S. Marines landing on North Vietnamese shores). He also discusses Operation Rolling Thunder, three years of heavy bombing on the North, starting in March 1965, and the leadership of General William Westmoreland in increasing ground troops (includes footage of planes bombing; General William Westmoreland with troops; and soldier Billy Brown and other troops). The program then lists the key military posts in Vietnam: Vong Tau, Nha Trang, Pleiku, Da Nang, and Chu Lai (which is considered the center of the Viet Cong), showing brief footage of them, including shots of Billy Brown in Chu Lai and footage of a boot camp in California. The U.S. military dictum to "win the hearts and minds" of the Vietnamese is covered with footage of U.S. troops in South Vietnam helping villagers -- most notably with images of South Vietnamese and Americans shooting tranquilizers into elephants, then airlifting them to other towns to help in farming. Footage of soliders interrogating villagers and setting huts ablaze follows as Costelle discusses "Zippo raids" (referring to the lighters used to burn Vietnamese villages) and the larger military initiative named "Search and Destroy." Amid footage of dead bodies, the program next describes the notion of the ten-to-one (Viet Cong to American) "kill ratio," how a reliance on body count to factor victory gives the U.S. a false sense of success, and how the U.S. soldiers interrogated the Viet Cong. A text of a letter sent by Billy Brown is read describing bringing Vietnamese prisoners up into helicopters, coercing them to give up secrets, and threatening to "cut the cord" and drop them out of the helicopter if they did not (shots of Brown, Vietnamese hostages, and helicopters, separately, are shown). Costelle next describes the erroneous U.S. belief that such heavy bombing and a high death count would push the North Vietnamese to give up the fight, as well as Operation Cedar Falls and the razing of the villages that took place. A montage of images that follows includes a series of wounded soldiers; soldiers looking at a dead villager; Christmas in Vietnam on a base; the countryside being bombed; and bulldozers razing empty villages. Operation Junction City is the last military initiative discussed with images of U.S. soldiers getting ready for action, black-and-white footage of the North Vietnamese preparing weapons, and extensive combat footage in both color and black-and-white accompanying the account. The documentary's last images are of U.S. soldiers tending to the wounded, resting in camp, and sifting through dead soldiers' belongings. The documentary concludes with an introduction to "The Year of the Big Battle," part 2 of the series. (This program is in French.)

Cataloging of this program was made possible by France TŽlŽvisions, 2004.

Details

  • NETWORK: France 3 (France)
  • DATE: April 19, 1997 10:20 PM
  • RUNNING TIME: 2:38:07
  • COLOR/B&W: Color
  • CATALOG ID: T:71235
  • GENRE: Public affairs/Documentaries
  • SUBJECT HEADING: International Collection - France; Vietnam War
  • SERIES RUN: France 3 (France) - TV, 1997
  • COMMERCIALS: N/A

CREDITS

  • Thierry Ippolito … Executive Producer
  • Daniel Costelle … Producer, Writer
  • Christiane Graziani … Producer
  • Sylvie Dameme … Production (Misc.), Production Collaborator
  • Jean Varra … Production (Misc.), Post-Production Technician, For INA Entreprise
  • Jean-Pierre Mollet … Production (Misc.), Post-Production Technician, For INA Entreprise
  • Andre Colin … Production (Misc.), Post-Production Technician, For France 3 Ouest
  • Isabelle Clarke … Director
  • Sarah Mondale … Researcher
  • Sarah Patton … Researcher, S&S Productions LLC
  • Chris Collins … Production (Misc.), Research Collaborator
  • Polly Petit … Production (Misc.), Research Collaborator
  • Joan Yoshiwara … Production (Misc.), Research Collaborator
  • Ken Johnson … Production (Misc.), Consultant
  • Sophie Bachman … Production (Misc.), Historical Consultant
  • Richard Sanderson … Music by
  • Dominique Guinard … Music (Misc. Credits), Synthesizer Operator
  • Philippe Lavy … Music (Misc. Credits), Commentary Recording
  • Daniel Costelle … Narrator
  • Billy Brown
  • Alexander Haig
  • Ho Chi Minh
  • Lyndon B. Johnson
  • John F. Kennedy
  • Robert McNamara
  • Ngo Dinh Diem
  • Vo Nguyen Giap
  • William Westmoreland