IF THE FIRST CASUALTY OF WAR IS TRUTH, THE LAST IS MEMORY. —Peter Davis – Director of Hearts and
Minds.
Dear Friends, The classic and controversial Vietnam era documentary “Hearts and Minds,” which wonan Academy Award in 1974, has just been re-released in selected theaters and for group shows on
DVD. There will be a SPECIAL ADVANCE SCREENING with discussion with the film’s director, Peter
Davis, and others, in the Washington, DC metro area at the American Film Institute’s (AFI) Silver
Theater on Saturday, October 16th and in New York City at the Film Forum on Friday, October 22.
Read to end for those details. Eddie Becker
REVIEW EXCERPTS:
“IT’S A TRIBUTE TO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE THAT THEIR LEADERS PERCEIVED THEY HAD TO BE LIED TO”
“Today the film has not lost any of its punch. Now the punch is packed with new meaning.
“Quagmire,” “hearts and minds” and “liberating the people” are all back. A little more than a
year ago, Ari Fleischer, President Bush’s press secretary, said, “Slowly but surely, the hearts
and minds of the Iraqi people are being won.” Mr. Davis said after a special screening for the
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, “We were lied to in both wars.” The Gulf of Tonkin
incident was used to justify deeper American involvement in Vietnam, he said, just as fears about
weapons of mass destruction were used to justify invading Iraq. In addition, as with Vietnam, Mr.
Davis said, “we did not trouble ourselves to learn about Iraq,” or at least the policy makers did
not. “It is a short trip between Saigon and Baghdad,” he said.
“If John Kerry’s combat record and Bush’s lack of one an increasing part of the current
presidential campaign, and the poorly-planned occupation of Iraq heading into quagmire territory,
this landmark 1974 documentary acquires a newfound immediacy. Acclaimed filmmaker and journalist
Peter Davis’s Hearts and Minds illustrates in human and at times graphic terms the horrors and
lessons of the Vietnam conflict. Edited from over 200 hours of footage–incorporating newsreels,
telecasts, even scenes from Hollywood war movies–the film captures the experience of war through
multiple perspectives, depicting its effects on the diverse range of actors and participants (from
“doves” to “hawks,” military advisors to bombing victims, GIs to bargirls) that make up the
societies of Vietnam and America. Premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 1974, Davis’s
film—highly anticipated at the time given his reputation for provocative telejournalism on
politically sensitive subjects—quickly drew media attention for its unflinching examination of the
then-recent conflict and its implications for America’s role in the world. The resulting public
interest led to the film’s review being read aloud to both houses of the U.S. Congress, the only
movie thus discussed as part of the Congressional Record. The film went on to win an Academy
Award for Best Documentary Feature. In light of current international events, Hearts and Minds
once again prompt us to examine the underlying assumptions of our culture and its far-reaching
political effects. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will present the film in a
newly struck 35mm print from a recent restoration. 112m.”
“FIRST AN UNDECLARED WAR, THEN AN UNSEEN FILM”
“It was a fluke that Hearts and Minds was made at all. Hollywood was no more eager in the 1970s
than it is today to bankroll political controversy. Nonetheless, Bert Schneider made so much
money for Columbia with Easy Rider and Five Easy Pieces that the studio gave him a big budget with
no strings. Schneider turned around and gave a million dollars, no strings, to CBS documentary
producer Peter Davis, best known to that time for Hunger in America and the controversial
Emmy-winning 1971 Selling of the Pentagon. Work on Hearts and Minds began in 1972.”
“Davis’s groundbreaking work in television journalism and documentary filmmaking include such
highly acclaimed series as Middletown for PBS (10 Emmy nominations, 2 Emmies; DuPont Citation;
First Prize Sundance Festival) and, by far his most famous and controversial TV documentary, The
Selling of the Pentagon for CBS News, a film that was both highly lauded (Peabody, Emmy, Polk,
Saturday Review, Writers Guild awards) and condemned by both the Defense Department and Nixon’s
White House, culminating in a Congressional investigation.”
Winning Hearts and Minds “SO WE MUST BE READY TO FIGHT IN VIETNAM, BUT ULTIMATE VICTORY WILL
DEPEND UPON THE HEARTS AND MINDS OF THE PEOPLE THAT ACTUALLY LIVE OUT THERE.” Lyndon Johnson
“Hearts and Minds, Examines the American consciousness that led to involvement in Vietnam.
Includes interviews with General William Westmoreland, former Secretary of Defense Clark Clifford,
Senator William Fulbright, Walt Rostow, and Daniel Ellsberg as well as American Vietnam veterans
and Vietnamese leaders. Presidents Eisenhower, Truman, Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon are show in
rare footage.”
DC Premier. On Saturday, October 16, at 7:30 p.m. SILVERDOCS and Discovery Times Channel present:
The Washington Premiere of the new 35mm Restored Print of the Academy Award-winning HEARTS AND
MINDS Following the special advance screening, the films Director Peter Davis will be joined for
an on-stage discussion of the film by Bobby Muller, president of the Vietnam Veterans of America
Foundation, who, as a wounded Vietnam War veteran, appeared in the 1974 film. Other notable
political experts (some of whom were featured in the film) have been invited to participate in the
panel discussion. An audience Q&A will follow
Regular run at AFI Silver Theatre - two-week engagement from Friday, October 22 through Thursday,
November 4.
http://www.afi.com/silver/new/nowplaying/2004/v1i13/heart.aspx
A RIALTO PICTURES RELEASE. Running time: 112 minutes.
WHO: Peter Davis, Academy Award-Winning Director, HEARTS AND MINDS
Robert Muller, Vietnam War Veteran featured in HEARTS AND MINDS
Other panelists t/b/a
WHAT: SILVERDOCS, AFI Discovery Channel Documentary Festival
SPECIAL ADVANCE SCREENING of HEARTS AND MINDS
WHERE: AFI SILVER THEATRE AND CULTURAL CENTER
8633 Colesville Road, Silver Spring, Maryland
General information: 301-495-6720
WHEN: Saturday, October 16, 7:30 p.m.
Hearts and Minds will be shown in New York City at the Film Forum from October 22-November 4,
2004, http://www.filmforum.com/films/hearts.html
And at the Film Forum in New York, director Peter Davis will introduce the 7:30 SHOW ON Friday,
October 22, Following the screening, Mr. Davis will be joined by cinematographer Richard Pearce
and Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation president Bobby Muller (who appears in the film) for a
Q&A.
For more information, see http://www.filmforum.com/films/hearts.html
Check the Rialto Pictures web site for more theatrical screening from around the country.
http://www.rialtopictures.com/hearts.html
“Hearts and Minds” is also available on DVD. Contact Rialto Pictures,
http://www.rialtopictures.com for special group shows. The DVD of the film was made from a new
digital transfer supervised by the director and the cinematographer. The disc includes commentary
by director Peter Davis. An accompanying booklet contains several printed essays about the film.
For more information about individual sales of the DVD, go to the Criterion Collection Web site.
http://www.criterionco.com/asp/release.asp?id=156