The Face of the Enemy (2009) dir. Erik Pauser

Over four million Vietnamese died in what one side calls the American War and the other side calls the Vietnam War. A war so brutal, that it has been described as their ’own’ Third World War by the Vietnamese. In this rare instance, it is those who lost the war that have almost exclusively written its history. Whilst countless stories have been told from the American point of view, most often reducing the Vietnamese to faceless shadows very little has been heard from the other side. The official Vietnamese line meanwhile continues to issue purely one dimensional propaganda. The Face of the Enemy is a unique documentary, in that it tells the story of the Vietnamese that fought in “The American“ war, in their own words. In the film the veterans have the chance, often for the first time, to recall the experiences that transformed and changed their lives. A film that has inspired the filmmakers is Peter Davis’ “Hearts and Minds“ from 1975. A documentary, whose truth and relevance has been merely re-strengthened with the passage of time. The title of that film refers to a speech given by Lyndon B. Johnson in which he proclaimed the escalation of the American involvement in the Vietnam War.