A courageous and startling film, Peter Davis’s landmark documentary Hearts and Minds unflinchingly confronts the United States’ involvement in Vietnam. Using a wealth of sources—from interviews to newsreels to documentary footage of the conflict at home and abroad—Davis constructs a powerfully affecting portrait of the disastrous effects of war. Explosive, persuasive, and shocking, Hearts and Minds is an overwhelming emotional experience and the controversial winner of the 1974 Academy Award™ for Best Documentary. —The Criterion Collection
Cutting back and forth between US military officials and Vietnam civilians during the Vietnam war, Hearts and Minds paints of a picture of the separation between those on the sidelines of war and those directly affected by its horrors.
Paraphrasing Ellsberg: It's a tribute to the American people that five presidents felt they had to lie to promote the war in Vietnam. Not sch a tribute that the lies went down so easily.
With his partner Bob Rafelson, Schneider played a major role in launching the “New Hollywood” in the 70s.
