Search - Vietnam: Long Time Coming (Kartemquin) on DVD

Helps viewer reconcile with demons from the past

Quynh Nguyen | Minneapolis, MN | 07/10/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"As a first-generation Vietnamese American I've long struggled with understanding the costs of the Vietnam War. This video shows the reconciliation between American vets and North Vietnamese citizens as they cycle along a path that brings back bad memories. The cinematography is great, showing aspects to Vietnamese life I'd only heard about through my mom. The filmmakers focus on the experience of the vets, though there are marathon cyclists and other civilians in the tour. The vets relate their tour of duty, their tears and their PTSD to the audience. The longstanding pain they carry is palpable.

Long story short, everyone has a sort of epiphany with the trip and the trip proves to be therapeutic to the vets.

The fun part is watching the deleted scenes that show tension between the American and Vietnamese cycling groups. The whole time I was watching the video, I was wondering, geez this story seems almost too perfect, too free from conflicts. You find more in the deleted scenes. The vets chafe at attending certain sites like the My Lai memorial and choose to stand outside, stating that they don't want to be puppetted by the government. In the deleted scenes the vets go into more detail of how the bicycle tour got rerouted and channeled through many, many memorials, like rubbing salt in with a forced mea culpa.

I would suggest renting or borrowing this video, as opposed to buying it...it doesn't have much for repeat viewing value."