Hearts and Minds Documentary by Peter Davis

Table of Contents

Introduction
Hearts and Minds
Conclusion
Reference

Introduction

Created in 1974 and directed by Peter Davis, the documentary movie Hearts and Minds tells its audience the terrible truth about the U.S. involvement in the Vietnam war. It is hard to disagree that the purpose of this movie is very significant, and it is vital for the filmmakers to make the viewers emotional and shocked. While the information provided by the movie is valuable, there might be too many heartbreaking scenes and too quick a pace, which interferes with the thought process.

Hearts and Minds

Overall, the primary aim of Hearts and Minds is to recall Americas agonizing and terrifying involvement in Vietnam and inform its audience that their perceptions of this event are mostly wrong. According to Canby (1975), just as televisions presentation of the war made it seem small, orderly and comprehensible, the movie deals in disorderliness, contradictions and historical perspectives that are often shadowy (para. 1). However, in order to inform the viewers better and convey as many facts and comparisons as possible, the movie-makers might have overestimated the ability of the audience to comprehend so much information at once. In this movie, Peter Davis included many scenes with juxtaposition, and together with emotionally charged ideas and quick pace, Hearts and Minds probably loses a part of its effectiveness and perspective to impact the viewers. In other words, while this film is still quite impactful (additionally, due to the presented evidence and interesting facts), it could have possibly been more efficient and valuable if it contained less information and tools to influence the feelings of the audience.

Conclusion

To conclude, one may agree that the main message of the movie is still successfully conveyed. The U.S. participation in the Vietnam war was a fatal, deadly, and terrible mistake that brought suffering and many negative consequences. However, the quick pace and the vast number of facts do not allow the viewers to think and process the information properly. Thus, some may feel that they are manipulated to believe the films ideas and evidence.