From Hanoi to Hollywood: The Vietnam War in American Film / Edition 1

by Linda Dittmar, Gene Michaud, Rick Berg, Kevin Bowen, Leo Cawley

Overview

This volume is about power. It is about the power to make war and to destroy lives. It is also about another kind of power-the power to make images that may distort, displace, and destroy knowledge of the times in which those lives were lived. Many of the nineteen essays gathered in this volume are about the interrelationships between these two types of power. They demonstrate, as well, yet another type of power, the power of critical thinking to challenge dangerous myths and to confront prevailing ideologies.

The title of this anthology calls attention to the process whereby aspects of the Vietnam War have been appropriated by the American cultural industry. Probing the large body of emotion-laden, controversial films, From Hanoi to Hollywood is concerned with the retelling of history and the retrospection that such a process involves. In this anthology, an awareness of film as a cultural artifact that molds beliefs and guides action is emphasized, an awareness that the contributors bring to a variety of films. Their essays span over one hundred documentary and fiction films, and include in-depth analyses of major commercial films, ranging from Apocalypse Now to Platoon, Rambo: First Blood Part II, and Full Metal Jacket, and documentaries from In the Year of the Pig to Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam.

The essays in this volume deal with representations of the Vietnam war in documentary film and television reporting, examining the ways the power of film is used to deliver political messages. There are surprises here, new readings, and important insights on the ways we as a society have attempted to come to terms with the experiences of the Vietnam era. The book also contains two appendixes-a detailed chronology charting the relationship between major historical events and the release of American war films from 1954 through 1988, and a filmography listing information on over four hundred American and foreign films about the Vietnam War.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780813515878
Publisher:	Rutgers University Press
Publication date:	12/01/1990
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	418
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.10(d)

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations
Preface
Notes on the Contributors
Introduction
One. Wide Angles: History in the Remaking
Two. Close-Ups: Representation In Detail
Three. Other Frames: Subtext and Difference
Four. Other Forms: Documenting the Vietnam War
Appendix A: Chronology: The United States, Vietnam and American Film
Appendix B: Selected Filmography: The Vietnam War On Film 
Index

Editorial Reviews

Mass media representations of the Vietnam War both reflect and impact upon public perceptions and assessments of U.S. history. Editors Dittmar (English, Univ. of Massachusetts) and Michaud (media coordinator, Univ. of Massachusetts) have assembled an important group of essays which examine the meaning of Hollywood's depiction of the conflict in Southeast Asia and at home. Commercial filmmakers and studios may not feel responsible for the messages their works disseminate ``as long as they make money,'' but the writers represented here feel a responsibility to discuss the perceptions that these films present to the public. The level of inquiry is high and the revelations telling. Special attention is paid to the portrayal of soldiers and veterans, and issues of race and class. Significantly, non-Hollywood films are also considered. This is an important addition to any American history collection and essential for those libraries with collections on media, movies, Vietnam, veterans, or associated areas.-- Robert Rayher, Sch. of the Art Inst. of Chicago

Library Journal