So Ken, what prompted you
to look at The Vietnam War?
The Vietnam War
is the most important event
in the second half of
the 20th century for Americans,
and I thought I knew
something about it.
And, you know,
beginning this project
was almost daily humiliation
of how much I didn't know
and when you
understand that,
then it permits you
to shift your perspective
and listen
to everybody's stories
and maybe find
some common ground.
How has your perspective
on what happened
and the war changed?
It has changed quite a bit.
As a youth in Vietnam,
you believe
what you were told.
Right
And, you know, the world
was very, very clear
and black and white
that way.
My father's from the South,
he's in the military.
My mother's from the North,
her uncle's in the military.
And as you know,
there's also a third party,
which is the Viet Cong,
which is the Southern
insurgents, in the South.
And I also have an uncle
who was a part of Viet Cong.
Wow
So, you know,
from an emotional standpoint
it was a lose, lose, lose,
either way.
And then, you know, over
the years you learn to heal.
And not only that, sort of have
the compassion
among
the different people
and recognizing the sacrifices
that they have done.
That's a very healing process
to do that.
I agree.
This is what I've learned
in all the films about war
that I've done;
is that soldiers,
the experience for soldiers
is very, very similar.
So we made a very important
decision
to not just tell
the American story,
but to talk about
the South Vietnamese experience,
civilian and military,
also the North Vietnamese,
what it was like
to be a Viet Cong guerilla
and hear from everybody and put
our arms around all of that.
And I have to tell you that
this couldn't have happened
anywhere else
but public broadcasting.
And we have enjoyed
for more than ten years,
the time it's taken us
to make this,
the support
of Bank of America.
So this is an opportunity for me
to say thank you!
What you did superbly well
is that you merged
a very large picture
Yes
of a very consequential
conflict...
But in parallel bring that
to a very emotional,
personal level.
After the war,
my uncle from the North
finally met with my father
in the South,
and so you have
two fairly,
highly ranked people
getting together.
And so in some ways, you know,
that human level
has always been connected.
Wars, you know, obviously
reveal the worst of us,
but they also sometimes reveal
the best of us:
courage and comradeship
and partnership.
And we think that this is
an important story to tell.
And the way you did that,
I mean,
it's not something
that you watch,
it's something
that you feel.
So, thank you for that.
♪♪
