John Pilger’s controversial first documentary film created a sensation when it broke the story of a rebellion emerging within the American army fighting the War in Vietnam. Changing public and media perception of the war, The Quiet Mutiny contributed to the withdrawal of US troops from the region.
In this, the first of his 58 documentary films, John Pilger combines candid interviews and amazing frontline footage of Vietnam to portray a growing rift between the US military bureaucrats - "lifers" - and the soldiers who physically and mentally fight the war on the ground, the "grunts". By 1970, it is an internal sense of disillusionment and frustration born from this rift that is triggering the withdrawal of US forces from Vietnam.
As the US employs psychological warfare against its enemy, Pilger finds himself unable to glean significant information from the military; a press conference he attends is nicknamed "the 5 o'clock follies" for the evasive nature of the proceedings. And so it is with the grunts, the "wheels of the green machine", that Pilger finds a very human side to the US presence in Vietnam: soldiers who are at once ready to serve their country and doubtful of their purpose there. Plied with visits from Miss America and ignored by Vice President Spiro Agnew, they experience the war in a way many of their superiors do not.
Review via - http://www.bullfrogfilms.com/catalog/quiet.html
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Comments
I saw that documentary at the
I saw that documentary at the Barbican cinema and Pilger gave an intro.
The documentary shows how a significant amount of soldiers' refusal to fight on the front lines, around fire bases and reports of 'accidents' happening to officers was a contribution to the war machine grinding to a near halt in Vietnam, and not because of demonstrations in America and the media coverage.
Not forgetting the Tet
Not forgetting the Tet Offensive of course..