Last Days in Vietnam

Director: Rory Kennedy

The debacle known as the Vietnam War seems so distant now, as if that time were more myth than history. Director Rory Kennedy's Oscar nominated documentary Last Days in Vietnam is a forceful reminder that the past isn't an abstract, fuzzy fantasy.

And given our government's vile habit of meddling in other nation's political affairs, (our misguided, empty-headed and ill-advised invasion of Iraq is a recent example) Kennedy's film shows us a lesson that should have been learned and digested back in 1975.

It makes sense that Kennedy, niece to John F. Kennedy; the man partially responsible for our involvement in south-east Asia, would take on a subject that weighs heavily on the Vietnamese and the American conscience. In doing so, she tells a story of how we betrayed the South Vietnamese people in their most desperate days and how, in spite of prodigious efforts to evacuate those seeking refuge from the North Vietnamese, many were left behind to face imprisonment, "re-education" and possibly execution.

Mixing copious news and film footage with personal accounts of American military and civilian personnel and Vietnamese evacuees (including some unfortunates who were left behind), a compelling and ultimately infuriating chronicle coalesces.

The Paris Peace talks, where Secretary of State Henry Kissinger helped broker a honorable withdrawal of American forces in Vietnam, marks the beginning of the film. We learn that much of what was agreed upon by the North Vietnamese and American diplomats was nebulous at best. But one proviso of the negotiations was the promise of South Vietnam's sovereignty. After Nixon ordered the withdrawal of American troops from Vietnamese soil in 1973, the North respected the terms of the talks; that is, until Nixon left office ignominiously after the Watergate scandal. As the film is keen to point out, North Vietnam was emboldened by Nixon's resignation, which helped initiate its invasion of South Vietnam.

Talking heads point out that the North invaded incrementally; testing the U.S. government's willingness to intervene militarily. When it became abundantly clear the U.S. wouldn't re-commit troops to the defense of the South, the North began its rapid sweep. Woefully under-supplied and crippled by its weakened resolve, the South Vietnamese army found it couldn't resist the North's ferocious and aggressive push. And when it became evident the South was lost, the evacuation of the remaining American troops and embassy personnel became a frightening reality.

The meat of Kennedy's film are the events between January and May 1975, when the evacuation of Saigon began in earnest.

Kennedy's film sheds light on the politics of the time, as Henry Kissinger himself gives us the Washington insider's perspective. We learn something about Graham Martin, the U.S. Ambassador to South Vietnam and his policy regarding evacuation, which betrayed a stunning disregard for reality. Unable or unwilling to accept America's flight from South Vietnamese soil, Martin dithered as the North Vietnamese Army continued its advance.

We also hear from many South Vietnamese; now American citizens, as they discuss their fear and anxiety of the government's imminent collapse and their frenzied attempts to gain access to the American Embassy compound, where Chinook helicopters carried evacuees to American naval vessels off the Vietnamese coast. The footage of teeming crowds trying to gain access to the compound and rushing Chinook ramps is disquieting.

And as former personnel talk movingly of the chaos that reigned over the evacuations and share their own experiences, the story becomes more tragic and harrowing. It becomes clear many Vietnamese will be left behind, while a few Marines recall how they too were almost abandoned as the North Vietnamese army entered Saigon.

Kennedy balances the footage and interviews nicely; giving us a complete picture of the time and people affected by the experience. It is heartbreaking to listen to one Vietnamese man talk about he and others were denied transport and his subsequent incarceration at an re-education camp. He ultimately escaped in 1979 and is now residing in America, as are many of the Vietnamese interviewed in the film.

Though the subject matter is fascinating and sad, I'm not sure I found Kennedy's film to be masterful. It is well-told and the stories and pictures are marshaled well but I've seen better documentaries this past year. Nevertheless, it is an important film about an important time in America's history.

The fact that this story can be re-told and still leave the viewer feeling an array of emotions ranging from disgust to remorse says something about Kennedy's film.

Watching Vietnamese pushing against the Embassy walls, hoping for an escape that will be denied many, is the culmination of a chain of events leading back to America's first blind and impetuous intervention in Vietnam. A Portugese proverb says there is nothing worse than a fool with initiative. That also might sum up America's time in Vietnam. Kennedy lets us know we can never be reminded too often of that unfortunate fact.