DATELINE-SAIGON Review – Bright, Shining Truths

We see a young battle weary soldier meeting our gaze, competing with the image of his dead compatriots surrounding him in piles. We feel the dust of helicopters flying up from the field of battle below. Elegant svelte women wearing stylish áo dài walk the streets of Saigon, fluttering past Paris style cafes as they happily chatter. Later, we see a stream of politicians from JFK on down, assuring us that America is not at war, or winning the war, or involved in an existential battle to prevent the Communists from toppling one after another Southeast Asian nation like dominoes.

DATELINE:SAIGON Reminds of Lost Innocence

For fellow Vietnam War protesters back in the day DATELINE:SAIGON is a pithy reminder of how draft dodging became an honorable option. It is most of all German photojournalist Horst Faas’ iconic black and white photo captures of events unfolding that stir memories. Or, hearing the one-time AP stringer Malcolm Browne recount his PTSD-inducing witness of Buddhist monks setting themselves on fire, as we watch it too, that brings us back to the times.

The story focuses on five journalists then fresh-faced and not long out of college when fate sent them to be the first ones covering the emerging war: Malcolm Browne, Peter Arnett, Neil Sheehan, David Halberstam, and photographer Horst Faas. More green than seasoned, they were rivals who become bonded brothers when the powers that be turned on them to suppress the truth from being told. In the film we meet these men in their later years, each with long lists of accolades such as Pulitzer Prizes. Though they are now gray haired elder statesmen, their common tale of losing innocence often brings quakes to their tone. They learned to jettison their trust in our generals, political leaders, and anything other than the facts on the ground they could find for themselves—and us, the eventual consumers of the bright shining truths they uncovered.