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Vietnam War in film

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Vietnam War in film

This article lists notable films related to the Vietnam War.

Contents

Representation of the Vietnamese in film

According to a study by Martin Novelli, the depiction of the Vietnamese in American war films is woefully stereotyped. Vietnamese civilians are usually shown as passive victims, prostitutes, or conniving with the enemy, while North Vietnamese or NLF guerilla fighters are frequently drawn as cruel torturers or effeminate cowards, and the ARVN are described as incompetent. In Walsh and Louvre's opinion, "the ideology of such films speaks of several basic and widespread public attitudes towards the war".

Donna Alvah reported that students writing an introductory essay on the war often reflect the perception shared by most Americans born after the war. According to Alvah, students' conceptions of the Vietnam War are "largely gleaned from movies, documentaries, music, and .. relatives who served in the war, or who in any case hold strong opinions about it."

Post-war films

After the Vietnam War ended in 1975, there was an increase in American films that were more "raw", containing actual battle footage. A FilmReference.com article noted that American filmmakers "appeared more confident to put Vietnam combat on screen for the first time" during that era. These American post-war film representations have generally been more realistic and gritty, such as The Deer Hunter (1978) and Apocalypse Now (1979).

References

Vietnam War in film Wikipedia