The film moved and shocked viewers because "it is not a war between two sides but a state of torment, reflecting the bad and good in each person". And it is also the awakening of the whole of the United States after the military's denunciation of crimes in My Lai, which after many years, Hugh Thompson - the one who told the truth - was recognized as a hero.
The emotional sound of a generation
Unlike documentaries revolving around a massacre, The awakened My Lai is seen from the perspective of a director who is remaking a musical about a war tragedy and from the psychological perspective of the deeply damaged captain Hugh Thompson - who was considered a traitor when he decided to stop and speak up to denounce this crime.
The film is a voice filled with sad emotions for those who lived through the 1960s and is a profound experience for the younger generation.
Music is the fiber throughout the film, when artists of the Kronos quartet, famous Opera singer Rinde Eckert-on and famous Vietnamese T'rang artist Vo Van Anh (currently living in San Francisco) began participating in the musical. The loud, heartbroken, painful, loss, regretful sounds and emotions... the angry monologue of each musical instrument, especially the t'uron and the sound of the Kong made of American bullets. Standing in the midst of that sound line was Rinde Eckert-on's voice when talking about the grief and pain of Hugh Thompson while flying in a helicopter when he suddenly noticed a long ditch full of bodies and determined to land to investigate the incident. After the figures full of dead bodies, including children, women, the elderly and even newborns, suddenly the heartbreaking male voice spoke up...
I always want to fly like a bird, but they dont have the chance to fly. The ocean of dragons and fields shines, when landing in a chaotic place, we must stop this, let's shoot them apart, shoot them apart, it's a honor for us to be caught up in actions that change the world from now on...".
In fact, after discussing with his two teammates, Hugh Thompson landed and was ready to point guns at people on the same side to prevent the massacre and take the injured to the emergency room. When he returned to the US, he continued to speak out about the crimes of the US military in My Lai and accepted to be called a traitor, being questioned, questioned and his life was completely disrupted. A while later, the US government admitted to having committed a assassination and awarded him the title of hero and his comrade. Moreover, all images of the My Lai tragedy were taken by only one American journalist present at the event on March 16, 1968 and should have been erased if Thompson had remained silent.
It is still a painful image of My Lai but there is also the beauty of courage, when soldiers accept to pay to tell the truth to the whole world. The film is the echoes of the human soul involved, witnessing the murder scene, wondering whether I should speak up or not and finally the arousal of conscience to become a "whistle blower", denouncing crimes in My Lai, shocking the whole of the United States.
awakening the American conscience
Director Connie Field - who has won many major awards in the US and internationally - is very good at arranging and restraining multi-layered events in the documentary into a series of images of traditional and humane values.
Her message in this film is to give young people a look at human conscience, the choice in the moment of life and death to become a symbol of the US's awareness of the US's conscience in the war in Vietnam.
When composer Jonathan Berger was young, he knew the story of My Lai, and his life changed from then on. That was a turning point that made many people like him join the anti-war movement in the US. I myself participated in the anti-war movement for 7 years. For people like me, the My Lai event has created a foundation to build personality for themselves and young people as well as bring political understanding to the US government. Through plays, composers want to reveal to people the best and worst in each person. I joined him in the process of forming the musical script. The interesting thing about my filmmaking process is that when we put the first story next to the second story, a third story will arise" - Connie Field shared.
After 2 screenings in Ho Chi Minh City, The Whistleblower of My Lai will have an additional screening on March 29 at the Vietnam Feature Film Studio (No. 4 Thuy Khue, Tay Ho District, Hanoi) with a ticket price of 150,000 VND/person and a limit on the number of viewers. In addition, there is a screening for US veterans in Hanoi. These are the first screenings in the world and also the first version with Vietnamese subtitles.
