Rory Kennedy’s significant documentary, “Last Days in Vietnam,” is still timely even though it is set forty years ago in what was arguably one of the worst years in modern American history.
IFC is releasing theatrically this worthy documentary on September 5, and there are various formats and venues to watch it outside the movietheaters.
During the chaotic final days of the Vietnam War, the North Vietnamese Army closed in on Saigon as the panicked South Vietnamese people desperately attempted to escape.
Meanwhile, American soldiers and diplomats confronted a moral quandary: whether to obey White House orders to evacuate only U.S. citizens or risk being charged with treason and save the lives of as many South Vietnamese citizens as they could.
With time running out and the city under fire, an unlikely group of heroes emerged as Americans and South Vietnamese took matters into their own hands.
Assisted by sharp writing from Mark Bailey and Keven McAlester, who provide useful information about the socio-political-military context of those turbulent days, helmer Kennedy highlight some universal moral and ethical dilemmas regarding personal responsibility versus official authority.
Unrated, 1 hr. 38 min.