Inventing Vietnam: The War in Film and Television (Culture And The Moving Image) [Hardcover]

Michael Anderegg (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 11, 1991 | Series: Culture And The Moving Image

The Vietnam War has been depicted by every available medium, each presenting a message, an agenda, of what the filmmakers and producers choose to project about America's involvement in Southeast Asia. This collection of essays, most of which are previously unpublished, analyzes the themes, modes, and stylistic strategies seen in a broad range of films and television programs. From diverse perspectives, the contributors comprehensively examine early documentary and fiction films, postwar films of the 1970s such as "The Deer Hunter" and "Apocalypse Now", and the reformulated postwar films of the 1980s "Platoon", "Full Metal Jacket", and "Born on the Fourth of July". They also address made-for-television movies and serial dramas like "China Beach" and "Tour of Duty". The authors show how the earliest film responses to America's involvement in Vietnam employ myth and metaphor and are at times unable to escape glamorized Hollywood. Later films strive to portray a more realistic Vietnam experience, often creating images that are an attempt to memorialize or to manufacture different kinds of myths. As they consider direct and indirect representations of the war, the contributors also examine the power or powerlessness of individual soldiers, the racial views presented, and inscriptions of gender roles. Also included in this volume is a chapter that discusses teaching Vietnam films and helping students discern and understand film rhetoric, what the movies say, and who they chose to communicate those messages. Michael Anderegg is Professor of English at the University of North Dakota, and author of two other books: "William Wyler" and "David Lean".

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Testimony of the unique relationship between the U.S.-Vietnam War and the images and sounds that have been employed to represent it

About the Author

Michael Anderegg is Professor of English at the University of North Dakota, and author of two other books: William Wyler and David Lean.

Contributors: Cynthia J. Fuchs, John Hellman, David Desser, Ellen Draper, Tony Williams, Judy Lee Kinney, Daniel Miller, Carolyn Reed Vartanian, Susan White, Owen W. Gilman, Jr., Thomas Doherty, Thomas J. Slater, and the editor.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 315 pages
• Publisher: Temple University Press (October 11, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0877228612
• ISBN-13: 978-0877228615
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.8 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 1.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,682,375 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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This review is from: Inventing Vietnam: The War in Film and Television (Culture And The Moving Image) (Paperback)

The book had markings and highlights that make it nearly impossibly to read. The book was not described in this manner at the time of purchase.