Chris Marker and many others - Far from Vietnam / Loin du Vietnam (1967)

[Thorkell A. Ottarsson]

OK, first. Chris Marker did not direct any part of this film. He was a
directing and script supervisor. The best known directors here are
Jean-Luc Godard, Alain Resnais (both made the worst segments) and
Agnès Varda. This is really a mixed bag. We get everything from
speeches to history lesson to documentaries of people protesting in
the streets to a glimpse of every day life in Vietnam under the war.

First about the two bad parts

Alain Resnais makes a shockingly bad segment about a man arguing and
screaming because he is so angry at the Vietnam war. In the room with
him is a woman who just sits there silent, taking it all in and not
saying anything. One can only guess that this is his wife or
girlfriend and that this is not the first time the man goes bananas in
their living room. My sympathy was with the wife/girlfriend, not the
man or the Vietnamese in that segment.

Godard is trying to pretend that he is not angry for not getting a
visa into Vietnam to film there. He says he understands that they
can't trust him. He is from the west and maybe it was for the best.
And then he gives a long political speech and shows how he has
supported the fight against Vietnam in his film. That he is in fact a
true communist believer. Rather boring, as Godard usually is when he
tries to be serious and political.

The rest was rather good to great. I enjoyed best the protest and
arguments in the streets and the scenes we got of people in Vietnam.
How they dealt with the horrors and explained them.

One question I came away with from this film. How in hell did USA get
away with not paying any damages in Vietnam?

An interesting film and a great window into the past.

Thorkell