 
|
Movie: Going Upriver
Starring: John Kerry
Written by Douglas Brinkley and Joseph Dorman
Directed By George Butler (ThinkFilm Inc.)
Reviewed by Rusty Pipes
It's been a very good year for political documentaries and this is an important one, for it is one of the few sources where you can get a feel for who John Kerry is.
To understand Kerry is to understand his experience as a Swift Boat commander in a designated "free fire" zone, where few hostiles wore uniforms and the sailors were authorized to shoot at anything that moved. This is the story of Going Upriver and the reasons why Kerry was awarded his medals are clear. The reasons why the war was not to be won and its effect on Lieutenant Kerry are also made clear, as Going Upriver also tells the story of his work with Vietnam Veterans Against the War after he returned.
One is tempted to classify Going Upriver with Fahrenheit 911 but unlike the first person preachy-but-wry narration of Michael Moore, Director George Butler, whose credits include the movie that made Arnold Schwarzenegger famous, Pumping Iron, has given us a pretty straightforward account here, taking us back to a time when the country was a lot more divided then it is now.
Butler employs lots of period music, archival footage and footage that he himself shot because he knew Kerry well in his early years. He also has interviews from Kerry family members, fellow veterans like Max Cleland, and others who served with him, but clearly it's Kerry who's the star. There is quite a lot of footage of him on Boat 94. I can't help but think how similar these scenes are to the classic Vietnam movie, Apocalypse Now, however it's Butler's own material shot in the early 70s that is most interesting. I had forgotten much about the thousands of veterans who demonstrated en masse, camping out for weeks in the middle of Washington DC, demanding that the government stop the war.
Kerry is seen often on camera giving statements as he moves forward through the VVAW movement. It's easy to see why he was chosen to give testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, the most telling moment here. Unlike many of his embittered and emotional comrades, Kerry is low key, articulate and all the more moving for it. Of course all this was much to the displeasure of Richard Nixon, who invented a veterans group of his own to counteract them. (Rather like the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth of today?)
Some have dismissed this movie as propaganda for the Kerry candidacy, but it's in such limited release that it's hard to believe all the complainers have even seen it. Upriver does not mention the present campaign at all. Moreover if it really were propaganda, Butler would not have included the scene of Kerry returning his medals. It's still controversial and probably doesn't win him any friends. It's understandable that some call that act unpatriotic but most others who lived through that time understand why these veterans did that, to speak out against the Vietnam War. Kerry shows reluctance but obviously felt it was also patriotic to speak up, to correct our country's mistake, and that is Going Upriver's most important message about this man.
The Skinny:
Am I glad I saw the movie? Definitely engaging, but it's not exactly entertainment.
Would I go to see it again? Not unless I'm researching about Kerry or the war again.
© 2004 - Rusty Pipes