Face of the Enemy (feature length)

The Vietnamese who fought in the American War

Over four million Vietnamese died in what one side calls the Vietnam War and the other side calls the American War – this is the story from the other side

It was a war so brutal that it has been described as their ‘own’ Third World War by the Vietnamese. In this rare instance, history is written by those who lost the war. Whilst countless stories have been told from the American point
of view, most often reducing the Vietnamese to faceless shadows, very little has been heard from the other side. Meanwhile the official Vietnamese line is to continue issuing
purely one-dimensional propaganda.

The Face of the Enemy tells the story of the Vietnamese that fought in “The American” war, in their own words. Whilst for the most part following the chronology of the war, the film focuses more on the personal stories of these characters than on the main events of the war. Here the veterans have the chance, often for the first time, to recall the experiences that changed their lives. Who were the Vietnamese who fought in the war? How did they sustain their morale in the face of such overwhelming odds...?

An inspiration has been Peter Davies’ film Hearts and Minds from 1975, whose relevance has been merely re-strengthened with the passage of time. The title of the film refers to a speech given by Lyndon B. Johnson in which he proclaimed the escalation of the US involvement in Vietnam and where he claimed: “The ultimate victory will depend on the hearts and minds of the people who actually live out there”. Whilst Davis’ film looks closer at the Americans, this film looks at the other side.