''Introduction to the Enemy'' is a 1974 American
documentary film
A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in te ...
about
Vietnam
Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...
, filmed and directed by
Haskell Wexler
Haskell Wexler, ASC (February 6, 1922 – December 27, 2015) was an American cinematographer, film producer, and director. Wexler was judged to be one of film history's ten most influential cinematographers in a survey of the members of the Inte ...
. Shot in the spring of 1974 and released before the end of the year, the film examines the human costs of the
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...
. The camera follows
American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
actress
Jane Fonda and her husband
Tom Hayden
Thomas Emmet Hayden (December 11, 1939October 23, 2016) was an American social and political activist, author, and politician. Hayden was best known for his role as an anti-war, civil rights, and intellectual activist in the 1960s, authoring t ...
, already known in their home country for
antiwar activism, as they make inquiries regarding the war's effects and legacy among
Vietnamese people
The Vietnamese people ( vi, người Việt, lit=Viet people) or Kinh people ( vi, người Kinh) are a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to modern-day Northern Vietnam and Southern China (Jing Islands, Dongxing, Guangxi). The native la ...
from all walks of life.
Plot and style
The film presents the experiences of Fonda, Hayden, and their infant son
Troy
Troy ( el, Τροία and Latin: Troia, Hittite: 𒋫𒊒𒄿𒊭 ''Truwiša'') or Ilion ( el, Ίλιον and Latin: Ilium, Hittite: 𒃾𒇻𒊭 ''Wiluša'') was an ancient city located at Hisarlik in present-day Turkey, south-west of Ç ...
as they traveled throughout Vietnam in the spring of 1974 – after U.S. military involvement had largely ended but before the ultimate end of the war. Their journey goes from the capital city
Hanoi
Hanoi or Ha Noi ( or ; vi, Hà Nội ) is the capital and second-largest city of Vietnam. It covers an area of . It consists of 12 urban districts, one district-leveled town and 17 rural districts. Located within the Red River Delta, Hanoi is ...
in
the North through the
demilitarized zone
A demilitarized zone (DMZ or DZ) is an area in which treaties or agreements between nations, military powers or contending groups forbid military installations, activities, or personnel. A DZ often lies along an established frontier or bounda ...
down to
Quang Tri province in
the South.
The trip was deemed "a tour in support of the Vietnamese people",
[Streible, p. 407.] and the film was intended to show the universality of human lives among "the enemy" in the Vietnam War.
[
The film largely avoids dramatic details of war and politics and instead focuses more on the day-to-day lives of average people. Fonda and Hayden visit farmers, doctors, artists, soldiers, trade unionists, and even fellow actors and filmmakers in a Hanoi movie studio. One of the key points that it attempts to express is that the ]Vietnamese people
The Vietnamese people ( vi, người Việt, lit=Viet people) or Kinh people ( vi, người Kinh) are a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to modern-day Northern Vietnam and Southern China (Jing Islands, Dongxing, Guangxi). The native la ...
did not hold American people in contempt as a result of the decade-long Vietnam War, always distinguishing between people and their governments. Fonda described the message of the film as one of peace and unity. She noted that, while American involvement in Vietnam had officially ended in 1973, the film helped to raise much-needed awareness of American culpability and the ongoing struggle of the Vietnamese.
Critics noted its gentle and unhurried style: Nora Sayre
Nora Clemens Sayre (September 20, 1932 – August 8, 2001) was an American film critic and essayist. She was a reviewer of films for ''The New York Times'' in the 1970s, and, from 1981, a writing teacher for many years at Columbia University ...
described it as a "quiet, moving film",[ while ]Molly Haskell
Molly Clark Haskell (born September 29, 1939)Aitken, Ian, ed. (2006)''Encyclopedia of Documentary Film, Volume 2'' New York: Routledge. p. 541. . is an American feminist film critic and author. She contributed to ''The Village Voice''—fir ...
praised it as endearingly modest in its approach, "a tiny jewel of a film".[ Fonda herself calls the film "slow-moving" but intentionally so, mimicking as it does the traditional pace of daily life in Vietnam.
Still, at least one scene breaks the languidity with a shock. An undetected ]landmine
A land mine is an explosive weapon, explosive device concealed under or on the ground and designed to destroy or disable enemy targets, ranging from combatants to vehicles and tanks, as they pass over or near it. Such a device is typically d ...
exploded during production, killing a nearby man offscreen as cameras rolled.[ Wexler captured Fonda's horrified reaction, and this was left in the final cut.][ ] She later described the moment as possibly the most powerful in the entire film, remarking with irony: "How many times as an actress I was paid to cry...."[
]
Production and distribution
''Introduction to the Enemy'' was the first release of Fonda's newly founded production company, the Indochina Peace Campaign (later rebranded as IPC Films).[Ross, p. 247.] Cinematography was by Wexler with assistance by Pham Viet Tung.[ Film editing was handled by Christine Burill and Bill Yahraus.]
The film was released to select theaters in November 1974.[ Fonda and Hayden went on an accompanying lecture tour, speaking at screenings throughout the U.S. and beyond. As a commercial release, it was a box office failure,][ but an expected one. Beyond its limited release, it was frequently donated to antiwar groups and shown free of charge. In interviews, Fonda spoke of the imperative to spread the message of the film.][
]
Reception and legacy
Writing in ''The New York Times'', Nora Sayre called the film "pensive and moving"[ but others were less admiring. The ''Times own associate editor, Walter Goodman, labeled the film as "Communist propaganda", and complained acidly that it plays upon sentimentality by constantly veering among shots of "beautiful children, bombed-out-towns, beautiful children, workers making bicycles... and beautiful children".][ ] An editorial in a Louisiana newspaper called it "an unabashed publicist's job" for the North Vietnamese.[ The Hollywood trade journal '']Variety
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'' simply dismissed it as an example of the filmmakers' self-dramatization and radical chic
Radical chic is the fashionable practice of upper-class people associating with politically radical people and causes. Coined in the 1970 article "Radical Chic: That Party at Lenny's" by journalist Tom Wolfe, the term has become widely used in l ...
(and even scornfully remarked upon Fonda's "incongruously dippy smile").[
Molly Haskell wrote a highly positive review, with particular approval for how "Wexler's cinematography beautifully captures the twin landscapes of destruction and rebirth".] The film is emblematic of Wexler's personal brand of leftist politics as displayed in his other works, from the 1971 documentary '' Interviews with My Lai Veterans'' to the 1978 big-budget drama '' Coming Home'' (also starring Fonda). Nonetheless, after his death in 2015, Wexler's obituaries generally gave only minimal descriptions of ''Introduction'', and at least one major newspaper described it simply as "notorious".
From her involvement with the film (and with radical politics in general), Fonda suffered some repercussions, but she defiantly described them only as "a loss of cynicism, and a loss of irrelevance." Her professional career continued to move briskly forward. She starred in the Hollywood-made comedy '' Fun with Dick & Jane'', a box office success in 1977, and went on to a lengthy body of work.[ ] Hayden went on to serve in the California State Assembly and Senate. He and Fonda divorced in 1989.[
The film was shown at the 2015 ]Vienna International Film Festival
The Vienna International Film Festival, or Viennale, is a film festival taking place every October since 1960 in Vienna, Austria.
The average number of visitors is about 75,000. Traditional cinema venues are ''Gartenbaukino'', ''Urania'', ''Metro ...
,[ and at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) on March 7, 2016.
]
References
Bibliography
*
*
*
External links
* {{IMDb title, tt0071664, Introduction to the Enemy
1974 documentary films
American documentary films
Documentary films about the Vietnam War
Films directed by Haskell Wexler
Films set in Vietnam
Films shot in Vietnam
1970s English-language films
1970s American films