Return with Honor

Background: I saw this film ten years ago (1998). I was an associate the law firm at which one of the featured POWs, Ron Bliss, was a partner. (I knew Ron in a casual, work relationship, but had never heard his story from him. He never made a big deal of it.) So, I was perhaps pre-disposed to view the film favorably due to that relationship. Perhaps this review is colored by my recollections of the film 10 years later. Perhaps that is telling (of what stays with me after a decade). I was born in 1970, after the events documented by this film took place. Growing up in public schools in the 1970s and 1980s, I wasn't taught much (and certainly not much objectively) about the war in Viet Nam. This film blew me away. Looking back ten years, it perhaps is no surprise that it took 35+ years from the events for the story to be told in this way--removed from the passions and politics of the time, with only the human elements surviving.

Trying to be apolitical, I must say that the men documented in this film are genuine heroes. Not because of the situations life thrust on them, but because of how they reacted. While I can't recall all of the details of the film, ten years after viewing it, I vividly remember (and often consider when things in my life may be difficult) one of the closing comments from one of the POWs: "It's never a bad day when there's a doorknob on the inside of the door." That comment has helped me through many personal situations. Both literally and figuratively, it tells us that when we have some control over our circumstances, we have no reason to complain. I have never experienced what these men lived through, and I pray to God I never do, but I am comforted to know that the human spirit, with faith, can withstand it.

Sorry to sound trite, but this this film changed my worldview. It is worth seeing. If you were born after 1968 and have any interest in history, you owe it to yourself to see this film. I am off now to find a copy on the internet so that I can show it to my kids (who were not yet born even when the film was made....)

I saw this film in March 1999 at the Cleveland International Film Festival, and was blown away. Remarkably candid, disturbing, and honest revelations from Vietnam veterans about their captivity and release, combined with remarkable archival footage of the prisoners from the war, made this film touching and inspiring. The directors are both previous Oscar winners, and this film shows their experience and skill in the medium. Wonderful film about a difficult topic, told by the veterans themselves.

This was such a great movie. By the end of the movie, I was in tears. I just felt so proud to be an American and so very proud of two of my brothers, who served two tours each in the Vietnam War. This movie was very emotional and I felt that it showed us that we should be very proud and respect all the men and women who served over there regardless of what our opinion of the war was. And I will always remember the scene with the woman who had been in a concentration camp for over two years and the P.O.W. telling her that she should be standing in his place and that he should be thanking her. This was a very emotional film, one that I will not forget anytime soon.

This won the audience award at the 1999 Cleveland Int'l Film Festival and was brought back for the Director's Spotlight on Freida Lee Mock in 2006. Like her other works, it's a quality product taking a deep look at a time/event that resonates strongly in the American psyche.

The look back in time to the prisons that held our Viet Nam era POWs is done effectively, with voices of the POWs themselves over pictures of the "Hanoi Hilton" and other 1960's vintage Hanoi. Mock presents a powerful portrait of the prisoners, the brutality, the political wills of the times.

It's not Mock's role to say that history repeats itself, for we see the same issues in 2006 in the POW issue that we see portrayed in her film. Political pawns for both sides, expendable as individuals, tools of a national leadership's will, individuals struggling to survive; it has not changed.

This is an excellent companion piece to another of Mock's works, "Maya Lin: A Strong, Clear Vision" chronicles this architect's part in creating the Viet Nam War Memorial.

An incredible doc interweaving interviews with P.O.W.s with amazing footage from the Vietnam war. Interviews include Arizona Senator John McCain & Ross Perot's Veep James Stackpole.

Really charasmatic storytellers and first rate production really make this movie an entirely riveting experience. How the hell did they get this footage? Very American (and patriatic film).

Would have liked to heard some of the Vietnamese's perspective but after all...it is the P.O.W.'s story. Very very engaging docu