Arrivederci Saigon

I came upon this documentary by accident, checking the "Vietnam War" films on Netflix. It moved me beyond words, it's a discreet little gem of a film, a bittersweet and even funny in its absurdity tale that touches upon many things, life and war, music and bombs, youth and old age, innocence and disillusionment, men and women, civilians and soldiers, whites and blacks, then and now. These elderly Italian ladies, these small town music teachers, may seem like they don't have much of a story to tell but trust me, you don't want to miss it!

This mildly entertaining documentary is about how the all-female Italian band, called "Le Stars" got started and engaged in a Far East tour that ended in Vietnam. Since the year was 1969 (or 1968 or whereabouts...) it wasn't exactly the best time to visit the country.

Four of the five band members are interviewed and they tell lively stories about their experience. They were young (four were actually minors), scared and troubled by the experience, but for sure they never forgot it.

Then comes the plot twist - for those unaware of Italian politics - the girls came from blue-collar, communist families and their families were shocked to know the girls performed for the Americans, because the party supported the Vietcong. So, once back home, the girls were insulted, since it was implied they cavorted with American soldiers (read also misogynist attitude) and the story was buried.

Now that they're finally free to tell what happened, you realize that their two and a half months spent performing in South Vietnam were hardly a ground-shaking experience, although the director tries to make the most of it.

Shame that there isn't any footage of the girls performing and that the editing is atrocious. The director wants to make her point and the band's story is just an excuse to push her leftish agenda in the most unsophisticated way.

It is obvious that this is not about the music or the girls, because we're shown only tiny pictures of the band among plenty of random footage of soldiers and students protesting back home, and we finally get to hear the lead singer sing only at the very end.