The Face of the Enemy is a documentary project that tells the story of the Vietnamese who fought in what they called the American War, in their own words. In the film and installation, veterans and their families have the chance, often for the first time, to recall the experiences that transformed and changed their lives. The project is built from over 150 hours of filmed interviews. The addition of rare archival footage and personal photos of the veterans themselves aids in the attempt to chart a new perspective on one of the most decisive conflicts in modern history.
The project focuses on personal stories from the war. What did the Vietnamese feel when they joined the army? What were their thoughts when they first arrived at the front? How did they view their comrades? How did they perceive the enemy? How did their families back at home think of the men and women at the front?
The Cu Chi tunnel network covered some 250 kilometers - from the Cambodian border in the west to the outskirts of what was then Saigon. Beginning in 1948 during the war for independence from the French, the tunnel network slowly expanded. Each tunnel was dug by hand. As the tunnels grew, arms stores, hospitals, bomb shelters, and even theaters to stage plays and films were added. In some cases, the American military unknowingly built bases on top of the tunnels, enabling the guerrillas to mount surprise attacks and then, as quickly as they had appeared, to vanish without trace.
With Le Ly Hayslip, Tran Thi Nho, Dang Thi Huong, Le Thi Suong, Doan Thi Cong, Do Duc Diu, Pham Niec, Hang, Nga, Hoang van Tinh , Hoang vanThoung, Hoang van Toan, Nguyen van Ma, Do Thi Bich Canh, Christian Langworthy, Pham Cheiu Duong, Troung Thi Ngoc Lan, Pham Duonh Lam, To Tien Hoa, Hoang Dinh Phuong, Le Quang Bao, Phan Thi Le, Vo Thi Tram, Bao Ninh, Nguyen Than, Nam Khahn Postproduction facilities Presentationsdesign Cinepost studios Translation Tue Nguyen Dinh, Thien Y, Thao Jörgenssen, Tran Thi Ha, Vu Tuan Anh, Nguyen Than Huong, Huonh Thi Than Nguyen, Pham Cong Phoung.
Dagens Nyheter 2010 03 25 Face to Face - Vietnamese testimony in gripping film. Norrköping Art museum
Does anybody remember the Vietnam War? Stupid question. For us who were born in the 1960:s it came to characterize our childhood. The bombs fell and fell; children were burning like living torches. Olof Palme shouted; ”Bloody Murderers!” When the war finally ended it became an American action film.Far fewer have heard about ”The American War” as the war is called in Vietnam.The visual artist Erik Pauser has turned the camera around to look for the Vietnamese voices and testimonials. 58 000 American soldiers came home in body bags, but almost 5 million Vietnamese lost their life’s. An untold number of Vietnamese children were born with birth defects caused by Agent Orange a compound used to strip forests of their leaves. The long lasting effect of Agent Orange still plagues the country.In ”The Face of the Enemy” shown at Norrköping Art museum a multitude of voices and pictures fills the rooms. There is stories about the fighting, the bombs, about life in the tunnels in enemy controlled areas in South Vietnam, deadly voyages along the Ho Chi Minh trial were troops and material were transported to the front in unprotected lorries. There are stories of the propaganda used to supply the front with more and more canon fodder, but also stories of the fighting spirit and the patriotism. Its an overwhelming and gripping work of art consisting of around a dozen monitors with Pausers unedited interviews and an strictly composed and edited feature length film projected on a wall. The serene music of Jean-Louis Huhta creates well-needed pauses in the harrowing stories. There are some well known names among the people featured; like Le Ly Hayslip who’s memoires Oliver Stone based his film ”Heaven and Earth” on, as well as Bao Ninh who 1991 published the controversial ”The Sorrows of War”. The first book about the war from a Vietnamese soldiers perspective that were a great success. The battle hardened war photographer Doan Thi Cong, still in his photographers vest with many pockets with great sorrow tells the story about the siege of the citadel in Quang Tri. He was one of the few survivors. With great sadness and indignation he recalls how his superiors destroyed all negatives that showed pictures of the slaughtered soldiers not the propagandistic rousing heroism asked for by the authorities. The most gripping story is that if Do Duc Diu who has buried twelve of his fifteen children born after the war due to injures. A small coffin is already prepared for his remaining daughter Hang. In an interview Pauser has talked about the difference between interviewing American veterans and Vietnamese veterans. The American veterans most often wants to meet in a neutral place out of the bounds of their private life, while the Vietnamese veterans invite Pauser to their home and wants to share their stories with him, family and friends. An intense feeling of time shortening is the strongest impression of the exhibition. The painful events in ”The Face of the Enemy” melts together in a tormented, documentary now – whose strength fiction seldom can match.
Helena Lindblad
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