olihist "Last Days in Vietnam" tells the story of the Fall of Saigon through the eyes of the people - American and South Vietnamese - who experienced this tragic event. While a couple of these persons are notable figures - Dr. Henry Kissinger and former Deputy Sec. of State Richard Armitage among others - most of the people included in this film are not, and it is their harrowing, heroic, and often heart-wrenching stories that make up the heart of this film. Director Rory Kennedy interweaves these stories within a visually poignant portrait of a nation - and particularly its capital - in its death throes. While the film largely ignores the North Vietnamese perspective, it powerfully depicts American and South Vietnamese stories of compassion, resilience, and courage in the face of overwhelming adversity. But perhaps the most powerful theme that runs throughout this film - and in other documentaries that examine the Fall of Saigon - is betrayal, often personal betrayal. Although America entered Vietnam with a noble determination to promote democracy and stem communism, it exited that country in a painful and humiliating disillusionment with its own purpose in the world. "Last Days in Vietnam" however ignores much of the preaching and controversy surrounding the Fall of Saigon to tell a more human and personal story. At a time when Americans are once again debating the merits of being the world's policeman, "Last Days in Vietnam" offers a powerful lesson about the costs that come from taking on such a responsibility.

bachphi It's very heart wrenching to watch 'Last Days in Vietnam'. Old memories keep just rushing back like yesterday. I would like to thank the help of many American personnel, except the stupid 'Dr'. Kissinger. We lost the war because of the maneuvering dirty politician like Kissinger, in general, I have lot of respects to Jewish people as a whole, but not Kissinger. Let's not forget that Kissinger is also the one who opened the door for China to become a powerful country which it now threatens the world and its neighbors.As for the last ambassador Martin, he is very much in the same category as the loser of president Nguyen van Thieu. I wish that we have a good president back then.To the Kennedy family, you NEED to do a film on the tragedy of your family and see whether or not it is a some kind of pay back as result of ordering the killing of brothers Ngo family. Both families are catholic.

MartinHafer A couple hours ago, I saw an interesting tweet. It seems that the Oscar-nominated documentary, "Last Days in Vietnam" is now available to watch for free online. Is there a catch? Yep. You need to live in the United States to view this film from Public Broadcasting. Once I learned that this film was financed by PBS and is part of their "American Experience" series, I was a bit surprised however. After all, these films are shown on television here in the States-- so they are not usually eligible for Oscar consideration, though they have received numerous awards such as the Emmy due to their exceptional quality. Apparently, a few "American Experience" films have been shown in theaters (most likely as part of a film festival) and that is why some have been eligible for the Academy Award. In fact, this is the fourth "American Experience" film to be nominated for the Oscar. "Last Days in Vietnam" is about the fall of South Vietnam for the North's forces in the Spring of 1975. And, because it's an American Experience film, it's told from the viewpoint of Americans as well as some of their South Vietnamese allies. However, this does not mean it will not be interesting to everyone. The story is compelling and you really don't need to be an American or Vietnamese in order to appreciate the story. It's an interesting topic as folks today really don't talk about this period in history and when I was teaching American history, our curriculum rarely talked about the South falling to the Communist forces in the North. Like a typical "American Experience" film it's told through lots and lots of interviews as well as stock footage as well as some computer models. It does not have narration--and I actually enjoyed this because instead of talking about what occurred, it lets people who were there explain it in their own words. And, like a typical show in the series, it's exceptionally well made and very interesting. It's clearly a very well made film. However, I would say that it's not necessarily better than any of the other shows in the series, as they are almost always exceptionally well made .So should this win the Oscar? Probably not, as I still prefer "Virunga"--and recommend you see it as well as "Last Days in Vietnam". I should also note that I have not yet seen two of the nominees, "CitzenFour" and "Salt of the Earth"--as finding these documentaries is not always easy. Hopefully I'll get to these before the awards are nominated and I'll update you on my recommendations.Here is the link. I have been told that it will only be available to see online for a limited time--so get to it as soon as you can: http://video.pbs.org/video/2365417082/

Arnold F. Fege Rory Kennedy is a masterful story teller, and has combined that talent with historical accuracy in this engaging and truthful documentary. Having been a former AP reporter in Vietnam, I can verify that the US evacuation in 1975 is a little told story---a critical element of the war story, but often disregarded in the annuls of this war. But the evacuation is a catalyst for Ms. Kennedy to recreate the dynamics of how easy it is to get into war, but how difficult to get out. For Vietnam veterans, often not wanting to talk about their war experiences, Ms. Kennedy deftly interweaves the soldiers stories who were there, with an out of touch US ambassador who refused to believe that Saigon would ever be defeated, to a Congress that blocked any more funding to support a falling regime. But the soul of this story is how they all were morally and personally torn by leaving behind many of their Vietnamese counterparts who could not be evacuated in a very hasty and uncoordinated US departure. To add another original dimension, one of the US Kirk navy men had hours of 8mm footage of the evacuation that was uncovered in his attic and remastered by Ms. Kennedy for use on the documentary. One of our soldiers spoke for many of our troops when he said "that he sometimes even dreamed in Vietnamese." In one of the same, this may have been a small part of the war's history, but at the same time epitomized the entire war in 98 minutes of drama, skilled cinematography, stunning resolution and sound, and the riveting pain of war. As an educator and child advocate, I would urge that this be used as a resource in every social studies, history, and political science class rooms in the country.