The Mills of the Gods: Viet Nam

The Mills of the Gods: Viet Nam is a Canadian documentary film, directed by Beryl Fox and released in 1965.^[1] Made in the Direct Cinema style, the film documents the Vietnam War.^[2]

The film aired on CBC Television on December 5, 1965 as an episode of Document, the documentary companion series to the newsmagazine This Hour Has Seven Days.^[3]

In 1966 the film won the George Polk Award for Best Television Documentary,^[4] and the Canadian Film Award for Film of the Year.^[5]

Synopsis

The film opens on a group of US servicemen singing the chorus of "Blood on the Risers" ("Gory, gory, what a hell of a way to die"). It then shows US troops arriving to the coast of South Vietnam aboard the USS General Simon B. Buckner. An unidentified voice answers a question about what the war is like in Vietnam, it states the US rationale for participating in the war (to stop the spread of communism) and his worries that the US is spread too thin military across the world in this fight. Some of soldiers on board answers some questions about the war before disembarking (to the tune of an instrumental version of the Battle Hymn of the Republic) before onlooking Vietnamese civilians. The scene then switches to a group of US soldiers in the field during the rainy monsoon season. They speak about their families back home and their views on the war. Then there is a montage of dead and wounded (one corpse still clasping a grenade). After that some scenes from the sendoff of a number of US flag-draped coffins.

Bernard Fall speaks of the situation of the Vietnamese civilian villagers (rural inhabitants making up the majority of the population), caught between the South Vietnamese government and the insurgent Viet Cong. Fall ends his speech by saying that the Vietnamese value education in their children. A scene from a Vietnamese school is shown next. Fall then continues in voice-over over footage of Vietnamese farmers saying that the average Vietnamese is squeezed by Viet Cong and government taxation, and are frustrated with the failure of the many land reforms carried out by the government. Many Vietnamese, he states, feel that the freedom being fought for is paid for heavily by them. Scenes from a hospital next, with several wounded children.

An unidentified Vietnamese man speaks next, saying that if the Americans leave the "Red Chinese" will move in and take over and no true peace would come.

A group of US servicemen are seen next, saying what they think of Vietnamese women. Then there are scenes from urban nightlife where US servicemen go to bars and talk to Vietnamese women to a rendition of Petula Clark's "Downtown". A Vietnamese woman states that she likes the Americans and wouldn't want the Viet Cong to take over because they are cruel.

A few US servicemen speak in voice-over about their motivations for joining up, over footage of US servicemen unloading rations which segues into footage from a foot patrol. A US serviceman states that they tend to shoot Vietnamese who run away from them as Viet Cong. They are also frustrated that civilians attack them and that it is hard to separate friend from foe. There is some shooting by the patrol towards unknown targets. Fall then comes in in voice-over again, stating that although the Viet Cong cadres are trained in North Vietnam, they have a popular base in the south. This over footage of blindfolded Vietnamese prisoners being moved and one of them is waterboarded. Another unidentified voice speaks, saying that it isn't possible to eliminate all the Viet Cong, but it is possible to neutralize them as a military threat.

Two dead Vietnamese killed in a US ambush (alleged Viet Cong) are moved to a grave as US servicemen look on and take pictures.

Fall speaks again, restating that the average Vietnamese is caught in the middle in this war and that 50,000 Viet Cong with North Vietnamese cadres have brought the US to partial mobilization. He says that the Vietnam model might be a way for the Russians to drag the US into a whole series of similar wars across the globe. He states that he has heard officers say that they killed entire villages because there were communists in them, and that this is a respectable rationale from a military perspective, but not a tactic that will win the war. The Vietnamese want immediate land reform and good governance to support the South Vietnamese government according to Fall. Failed reforms will only feed the subversive opposition. He states that it is an open question if US military might will be able to also bring the political results the US government wants.

Some street scenes.

Views from the Mekong Delta next, where a voice states that the US military build-up has been successful in pushing back the Viet Cong, shattering the myth of Viet Cong invincibility. He states that the Viet Cong has assassinated 1,500 local officials in the Delta and are "drafting" men as old as 35 into their forces. He says that their people aren't paragons of virtue either and that it is a cruel war on both sides. The tide has turned in the Delta, and the US is winning. The South Vietnamese units in the Delta are held by him as equally effective as the US Marines. The South Vietnamese soldiers are shown as struggling through the muddy Delta terrain.

Douglas A-1 Skyraider on an air-strike mission with napalm and conventional bombs. The flight commander states that the air strike is a success and that he would love to participate in a ground mission after one of his successful strikes, just to see how effective they were.

Deployment of a US airmobile helicopter unit next, they wrangle a Vietnamese prisoner. Then there is footage from the smoking ruins of a Vietnamese village and dead and wounded Vietnamese.

A reprise of the chorus of "Blood on the Risers" from the beginning which segues into the end credits which feature a rendition of the "Battle Hymn of the Republic". The film is dedicated to the soldiers and peasants "for whom the Mills of the Gods grind slowly and they grind woe".

References

External links

• The Mills of the Gods: Viet Nam on IMDb