Robert Richter in Person!
In 1978, veteran documentary filmmaker Robert Richter became the first and last American allowed into post-war Vietnam for the purpose of making a documentary film, permission for which he had secured in a meeting with the Vietnamese at the United Nations. What Richter sought in his seven weeks of shooting was to show the legacy of the war, how the nation is rebuilding, and how America fits into the picture. With a crew of two, Richter traveled the entire length of Highway One - North to South Vietnam, Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City. The result is what is probably the most comprehensive look inside Vietnam that Americans will have for a long time, including shots of a largely rebuilt Hanoi; a visit to the War Crimes Museum at DaNang; scenes of daily life, young couples and holiday outings contrasted with the poverty and scarred landscape of Ho Chi Minh City; a look at Vietnamese culture: opera, ballet and circus; interviews with ex-prostitutes who describe how their lives have changed; and an interview with the sole survivor of the My Lai massacre.
“It's a forthright, unpretentious account of a filmmaker's journey.... The film dramatically reminds us.... that real people lived at the other end of all those military flights. It shocks us that we are shocked by a peacetime Vietnam.” -Pat Aufderheide, In These Times