Hearts and Minds

Hearts and Minds, by Peter Davis, delivers a brutally honest view of the Vietnam War and the involvement of the United States. Its title is based on part of a speech given by President Lyndon B. Johnson, in which he stated that the resolution of the Vietnam War depended on winning the “hearts and minds” of the Vietnamese people.

The film features interviews with General William Westmoreland, who was the commander of US military operations during the war; George Thomas Coker, who was held as a prisoner of war by the North Vietnamese for almost seven years; and Bobby Muller, founder of the Vietnam Veterans of America and a prominent anti-war activist.

The documentary juxtaposes the American military perspective on the Vietnam War with the everyday lives of Vietnamese civilians, using previously unseen footage of peaceful village life interrupted by conflict.