Recently seeing this short documentary again, its relevance was amazing. This film includes interviews with about five veterans of the My Lai massacre in 1968, when under the apparent orders of their superiors they killed every man, woman and child in this village. Each interview was done in a different place, nicely photographed by Haskell Wexler, but it is the men themselves, dryly describing how they destroyed the village of My Lai, that makes this one of the most intense films of the 1960s.
4 Reviews
Shocking yet strangely unsurprising
erwan_ticheler19 May 2004
This documentary doesn't have any real footage of the slaughter,yet the stories of the veterans don't leave much to wonder.
What makes it even more a strange documentary is the fact that the My Lai incident (if one can call it like that) has some likeness with the actual Abu Graib abuses in Iraq.The cover up that happened then will happen now,at least that's what I think (BUT DON'T HOPE).
What I don't understand and never will probably is the fact that soldiers actually kill innocents (they know they are that) because a higher ranked officer tells them to.
I'm not gonna talk about the film itself,one has to see it without any knowledge about it. 9/10
What makes it even more a strange documentary is the fact that the My Lai incident (if one can call it like that) has some likeness with the actual Abu Graib abuses in Iraq.The cover up that happened then will happen now,at least that's what I think (BUT DON'T HOPE).
What I don't understand and never will probably is the fact that soldiers actually kill innocents (they know they are that) because a higher ranked officer tells them to.
I'm not gonna talk about the film itself,one has to see it without any knowledge about it. 9/10
Haskell Wexler, RIP
lee_eisenberg23 January 2016
In 1969, journalist Seymour Hersh revealed that US troops had massacred Vietnamese civilians in My Lai the previous year.* Joseph Strick's Oscar-winning "Interviews with My Lai Veterans" features interviews with the men who carried out the massacre. One of the men notes that the army gave them the authority to shoot anything that moved. Another says something to the effect of "There would probably be no enemy if we weren't there." See a similarity to recent events?
Everyone should see this documentary. Regardless of the young men's attitudes towards their actions, there can be no doubt that the My Lai Massacre was one of the worst war crimes ever. The order to kill may come from the top, but it's the soldier on the battlefield who makes the final decision. I also recommend 1974's "Hearts and Minds".
I noticed that the recently deceased Haskell Wexler was one of the cinematographers. Everyone should see his "Medium Cool", filmed during the protests at the 1968 Democratic Convention.
*It later came out that a young Colin Powell had helped cover up the massacre.
Everyone should see this documentary. Regardless of the young men's attitudes towards their actions, there can be no doubt that the My Lai Massacre was one of the worst war crimes ever. The order to kill may come from the top, but it's the soldier on the battlefield who makes the final decision. I also recommend 1974's "Hearts and Minds".
I noticed that the recently deceased Haskell Wexler was one of the cinematographers. Everyone should see his "Medium Cool", filmed during the protests at the 1968 Democratic Convention.
*It later came out that a young Colin Powell had helped cover up the massacre.
Intensely disturbing short documentary about the My Lai massacre
llltdesq3 March 2014
Warning: Spoilers
This short won the Academy Award for Documentary Short. There will be spoilers ahead:
This short consists of interviews with five of the soldiers involved in the My Lai massacre. Between the very matter of fact recitation of events, the relaxed nature of the interviews and the subject matter involved, this is a very disturbing and unsettling short, even more than 40 years after it was released.
A couple of the interviewees clearly feel what happened was wrong and should never have happened, but they were following the orders of superiors and responding to their training. One of them indicates receiving veiled threats to his own safety from a superior.
One of the five makes a few attempts to kind of, sort of, explain if not justify what was done. His replies are measured and considerably more guarded than those of the other four.
The most disturbing thing for me is the fact that the five discuss a mass murder of old men, women and children in the same way people discuss the weather or last night's baseball game. You don't really see much in the way of remorse.
This short is well worth tracking down and is well worth watching. Most highly recommended.
This short consists of interviews with five of the soldiers involved in the My Lai massacre. Between the very matter of fact recitation of events, the relaxed nature of the interviews and the subject matter involved, this is a very disturbing and unsettling short, even more than 40 years after it was released.
A couple of the interviewees clearly feel what happened was wrong and should never have happened, but they were following the orders of superiors and responding to their training. One of them indicates receiving veiled threats to his own safety from a superior.
One of the five makes a few attempts to kind of, sort of, explain if not justify what was done. His replies are measured and considerably more guarded than those of the other four.
The most disturbing thing for me is the fact that the five discuss a mass murder of old men, women and children in the same way people discuss the weather or last night's baseball game. You don't really see much in the way of remorse.
This short is well worth tracking down and is well worth watching. Most highly recommended.
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