Film
What's on at the cinema plus reviews of the latest movie and DVD releases
Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam (1987)
Director: Bill Couturie
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
This beautifully crafted documentary brings home the tragedy of the Vietnam war in ways well out of the reach of feature films. Nothing is re-enacted, and the interweaving of newsreel and amateur footage puts you right there next to the bloody stumps and the booby-traps in the elephant grass. The letters home - read by Robert De Niro, Martin Sheen, Sean Penn, Tom Berenger, Robin Williams among others - range from family ordinary to the staring horror of Joseph Conrad's Kurtz. Tears and fear are a constant refrain. An intensely moving and disturbing experience.Author: BC
User reviews of this film
-
- johnny said...
- Posted on Aug 11 2008 23:19 One of the absolute best, films on Vietnam. I encourage everyone to see this well crafted documentery. I only wish i had created it.
- Report as inappropriate
Cast & crew
Director: Bill Couturie
Producer: Bill Couterie, Thomas Bird
Cast: Tom Berenger, Ellen Burstyn, Willem Defore, Robert De Niro, Brian Dennehy, Matt Dillon, Robert Downey Jr, Michael J Fox, John Heard, Harvey Keitel, Sean Penn, Randy Quaid, Martin Sheen, Kathleen Turner, Robin Williams full cast
Genre(s): Documentaries
Duration: 87 mins
Most popular on this site
Top Stories
Time Out's 101 Films of the Decade
Ten years, thousands of movies and millions of dollars in international box office, and it all boils down to this
Martin Provost discusses 'Séraphine'
Trevor Johnston talks to the director of 'Séraphine' about bringing a little known French painter back to life
Our verdict on Peter Jackson's The Lovely Bones
Peter Jackson ends a triumphant decade with a sentimental misfire with this lush Alice Sebold adaptation
On the set of Ken Loach's 'Route Irish'
Dave Calhoun meets Ken Loach on the set of his forthcoming Iraq war movie
Stephen Poliakoff discusses 'Glorious 39'
Stephen Poliakoff’s ‘Glorious 39’ is his first film for cinema since ‘Food of Love’ in 1997. Dave Calhoun met him
Is 'Paranormal Activity' the new 'Blair Witch'?
How does a film go from DIY experiment to box-office smash? 'Paranormal Activity' director Oren Peli explains
Steven Soderbergh on 'The Informant!' and 'The Girlfriend Experience'
We talk to Steven Soderbergh about his two forthcoming films: one featuring a porn star, the other a chubby Matt Damon
A gateway to all things 'New Moon'
In anticipation of 'The Twilight Saga: New Moon', Time Out is offering the chance to pick up a limited edition pack with three exclusive magazines and a free poster.
The films that deserve a TV spin-off
With Roland Emmerich suggesting he'd like to make a '2012' TV spin-off, we propose some more movie-to-TV serialisations
Time Out's 50 greatest animated films with commentary by Terry Gilliam
In celebration of the release of Pixar's 'Up' and Wes Anderson's 'Fantastic Mr Fox', read our rundown of fifty classic feature length animations












What do you think?
Post your review now