Film

Movie theaters, reviews and showtimes in New York, plus articles, trailers and more

 

Far from Vietnam (1967)

Director: Alain Resnais, William Klein, Joris Ivens, Agnès Varda, Claude Lelouch, Jean-Luc Godard

Average user rating
No reviews

Movie review

From Time Out Film Guide

Necessarily dated but still a fascinatingdocument, this collective protest against the Vietnam war begins with a graceful ballet of bomb-loading and take-off preparations aboard an American carrier, contrasted with shots of civilians in Hanoi hurrying to patheticallyinadequate improvised shelters. Suspected Vietcong sympathisers are beaten up; peace marchers in America are confronted by counter-demonstrators shouting 'Bomb Hanoi!'; General Westmoreland appears reassuringly on TV to state that 'Civilian casualties do not resultfrom our firepower; they result from mechanical errors'. All good, stirring stuff, edited into a remarkably coherent whole by Chris Marker. But the film goes on to probe the ambiguity behind the protest. Inherent throughout (but explicitly explored in fictional interludes directed by Renais and Godard) is the dilemma that, although this was 'the first war everyone can watch' and all of us were involved, the very remoteness (in every sense) of the conflict carried inevitable obfuscations. There is a certain amount of navel-gazing here, but at least the film acknowledges the sense of impotent frustration shared by many in trying to decide what to do.

Author: TM

Time Out Film Guide


  • Print this page
  • Send to a friend

What do you think?
Post your review now

clear rating
Min 1 star. Zero stars will be treated as unrated.

*mandatory fields





Features

God save the queen

God save the queen

Terence Davies recalls pleasure and pain in Of Time and the City.

War is cel

Ari Folman uses an unconventional format to unearth repressed memories in Waltz with Bashir.

The best (and worst) of 2008

Our critics' picks.

That '70s show

Michael Sheen re-creates one half of a cunning TV conversation.

From here to maternity

Catherine Deneuve, belle maman, reigns in A Christmas Tale.