GOING UPRIVER: THE LONG WAR OF JOHN KERRY
Reviewed by Harvey S. Karten
THINKfilm
Grade: B
Directed by: George Butler
Written by: Book "Tour of Duty" by Douglas Brinkley
Cast: John Kery
Screened at: Park Ave., NYC, 9/20/04
When Michael Moore's stunning documentary, "Fahrenheit
9/11" came out, critics blasted his alleged perversion of the
rules. Documentaries, they say, should be fair and balanced.
This might have been true in the past, but given today's sizable
gap between the two major political parties and the need for
each side to put as much oomph into convincing voters as they
can, we can safely kiss the old rule goodbye and welcome in the
new. While "Going Upriver: The Long War of John Kerry" is
unabashedly a partisan work by writer-director George Butler
(inspired, but not greatly copied from Douglas Brinkley's rah-rah
biogaphy "Tour of Duty), Butler is no Michael Moore.
Unfortunately or not, Moore has raised the bar, in effect telling
documentarians to be bolder, more imaginative, more inventive
in putting across their visions. Butler has too many talking
heads and not enough imagination to propel his film into an
ideal zone of entertainment, but for what it is, "Going Upriver"
does give us more insight that we've gotten from CNN about
what formed John Kerry from his days at Yale, where he was
always "running from one meeting to another" in the words of
one of his classmates, through his participation in the Vietnam
War, a high point being the testimony he gave before the
Senate Foreign Relations Committee after he completed his
service.
According to Butler, Kerry could have re-entered civilian life
as a pro-war advocate, given the Silver Star and the three
Purple Hearts he won, and been elected to Congress. What
might have convinced the electorate then (and now) is his
restraint. During the ninety-minute film, we note that while
thousands of Veterans Against the War demonstrated in an
over-the-top angry manner–for which they cannot be blamed,
given what they had gone through "for nothing"–Kerry keeps a
measured tone whether he Is addressing a group of
demonstrators or talking to an SRO Senate committee chaired
by William Fulbright. This very restraint, however, might militate
against his potential in November 2004 since many people
who'd like to be convinced not to push the lever for Bush are
saying, "Doesn't that man ever get angry?"
Butler uses considerable film stock to illustrate actions in the
jungles of Vietnam during the late 1960's (the war ended in ‘75),
highlighting the naval activities of the so-called swift boats which
barreled down the Mekong Delta with such noise that enemy
soldiers could easily run and hide. With this knowledge, the
enlistees on the swift boats would fire aimlessly into the jungle,
always concerned like used-car salesmen about reaching their
quota of body counts. It mattered little whether the Vietnamese
corpses were innocent civilians or Viet Cong. Given that some
three million Vietnamese died together with 58,169 Americans,
we watch the film convinced that something was deeply wrong,
not just about the causes and goals of the war (to prevent
communism from spreading throughout SoutherEast Asia) but
about the mindless devastation Americans were inflicting on the
"enemy," half of whose bodies were civilians.
The talking heads include Danny Barbiero and Harvey Bundy,
who were Kerry's college roommate at Yale; former Sen. Max
Cleland of Georgia, a Vietnam vet who lost both legs and one
arm in the war; columnist Joe Klein, who writes on national and
international affairs for Time magazine; historian Neil Sheehan,
who wrote for United Press International as a Vietnam War
correspondent; and several others from various walks of
life–though surprisingly no women are interviewed (presumably
because relatively few fought in the ‘nam).
What came across most notably for me is the way John Kerry
resembles JFK in appearance, his New England accent, his
enviable mop of hair, his obvious intelligence. What remains to
be seen in November is whether this JFK spirit, so potent in the
early sixties, will invigorate the American voter now, the
downside being that despite Kerry's capturing Kennedy's
Massachusetts accent, he lacks the former president's
magnetism. "Going Upriver," then, exposes us to some film
footage never seen on TV, the question remaining whether
Butler is preaching to the choir or whether he will attract
audience attention from the swing voters.
Not Yet Rated. 92 minutes. © 2004 by Harvey Karten
at harveycritic@cs.com
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