Sap Bucket Studios

Movie Review:

The Vietnam War is a detailed and moving ten-part, eighteen hour documentary film series directed by filmmaker Ken Burns and Lynn Novick. The documentary tells the epic chronicle of one of the most divisive, misunderstood, and forgotten events in American history.

The second episode, Riding the Tiger (1961-1963) talks in detail about how PResident Kennedy inspired the young American populations to take up arms, preparing an American Armed Forces build up that President Kennedy struggled to figure out how to use. As the autocratic Diem regime faced increased opposition from communist insurgency and buddhist protests. Eventually their demise was met and a successful coup was carried out. A politically crisis follows.  

During this documentary I looked into how the interviews were carried out and how imperfections, give the viewer a more realistic feel of the film.

 

First Interview: John Musgrave

• The shot is a very close up of the soldiers face, his face is off to the left, but not quite rule of thirds. The lighting is very dim and it looks like there is only a spot light on Mr. Musgraves face and a light in the background. There is a shadow of the left side of his face, giving a striking look.

 

Second Interview: Bia Ninh

• The shot is again, as the first interview very dim and the same lighting setup seems to be used. Mr. Ninh is a North Vietnamese soldier and interestingly enough he is placed on the right of the frame while the first interview of Mr. Musgrave is on the, opposing sides. There is a shadow of the right side of his face, giving another striking look.

 

Third Interview: Robert Rheault

• The shot is again very tight on Mr. Rheault’s face and the lighting is once again very dim, lots of shadows and you can’t see any of the background. However, the details of his face pop, he see that Mr. Rheault from his face has seen a lot, has been through a lot of things most people haven’t.

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Forth Interview: Neil Sheehan

• The shot is different, Mr. Sheehan is not a soldier he is a journalist, the shot is farther out and the lighting is better, he didn’t live through the mess like the soldiers. He is only stating facts and not as many real world observations. He is almost perfectly rule of thirds off to the left.

 

The Vietnam War will go down in history as a war that is hard for anyone to wrap their head around. It was controversial, but necessary in the eyes of many. From this episode we learn about the mistakes that were made that made the war what it became. The south Vietnamese brought their own fate onto themselves. They made critical misjudgments early on that cost them. The United States Government missed the cues that would have saved the lives of tens of thousands. The purpose of the war was there but the execution was ill planned and ill calculated. This film was made up of Ken Burns effect pictures, still images, war time footage, and interviews of people that lived through the tear, nothing else. The Ken Burns images are striking and well placed, while in turn the still images and war time footage are the same. It is simply striking, no pun intended. You will he listening to an interview and all of sudden helicopter noise grows and bam you’re thrown into an ARVAN platoon in a fire fight. As a viewer you have no choice but to simply watch it intently and everything else you were doing you completely forget. The war time is nothing but intense to watch. It all comes together so well to make a documentary that will go down in history.

I would easily rate this documentary 10/10 and I can’t wait to watch the next episode. Ken Burns knocked this series out of the park. It is simply amazing, something that everyone, especially Americans should watch.