Background Resources for Teachers
Altman, Rick. Film/Genre. London: British Film Institute, 1999. In this book Altman explodes the static definition of genre. He presents genre in film as a dynamic concept, influenced by audience and filmmakers alike. The book may give educators a new way to think about and use genre studies in class.
Armstrong, Charles K. "America's Korea, Korea's Vietnam." Critical Asian Studies 33, no. 4 (December 2001): 527-540. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed July 14, 2009). A comprehensive background resource for those interested in learning more about Korean involvement in Vietnam. Many people know very little about the role the Republic of Korea played during the conflict. Armstrong highlights military and economic factors and discusses the aftermath of the Vietnam War in South Korea.
Charlot, John. "Festival `90 Victims of a Common Tragedy: While Vietnam struggles to recover, its film industry works to heal and humanize those who were once on opposing sides of the war: [Home Edition]."Los Angeles Times (pre-1997 Fulltext)), August26,1990, http://www.proquest.com/(accessed July 14, 2009). One of two essays by John Charlot regarding the Vietnam Film Project. This one compares Vietnamese films and their depictions of Americans with the American films of the time. May be a useful point of reference in class.
Charlot, John. "Vietnamese Cinema: First Views," Journal of Southeast Asian Studies, Volume 22, Number 1, March 1991, pp. 33-62. I recommend this essay for teachers interested in using The Abandoned Field or When the Tenth Month Comes in their classrooms. There are not many critical pieces on these Vietnamese films, and this essay is one of the most comprehensive overviews of Vietnamese Cinema that I came across.
Davenport, Robert R. The Encyclopedia of War Movies: The Authoritative Guide to Movies About Wars of the Twentieth Century (The Facts on File Film Reference Library). New York: Facts on File, 2004. This comprehensive encyclopedia includes over 800 films about war. Entries range in level of detail; all include identifying information and a synopsis of the film. Some entries include "interesting facts," quotes, mistakes, and details about the real life military service of men and women depicted in the films. This resource may be useful for teachers and students seeking more films on a given war or generic information about a given film.
Hunter, Stephen. Violent Screen: A critic's 13 years on the front lines of movie mayhem. Baltimore: Bancroft Press, 1995. Stephen Hunter collected his own movie reviews (from The Baltimore Sun) into thematically organized chapters. The chapter on "War: The charisma of brutality" included reviews and a comparative essay on a group of Vietnam War films. Other articles may be interesting for teachers as well, since they are directly about violence and its use in film. Teachers can also use Hunter's reviews as models of critical writing and may choose to design "movie review" or "film critic" writing activities based on the examples here.
Smith, Julian. Looking Away: Hollywood and Vietnam. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1975. This collection of essays starts with a strong critique of The Green Berets. Smith is also interested in the ways in which Hollywood dealt with Vietnam by making movies that were not directly about the war during the 1960s and 1970s. Teachers may use this book to better understand the context and criticism of The Green Berets and to discuss other films from the time period.
Walker, Mark. Vietnam Veteran Films. Lanham, Maryland: The Scarecrow Press, Inc., 1991. This book concentrates specifically on films about or involving Vietnam Veterans. It covers about 30 years of film history, and highlights the evolution of the Vietvet as a film character. The essays are organized by genre of film and there are many types represented: horror films, biker films, dramas, comedies, and more traditional war films. The book also includes a very useful filmography. Again this kind of critical material may not be directly usable in the classroom but can give interested teachers (or precocious students) a deeper understanding of Vietnam War films and stories, especially those involving veterans.
Matelski, Marilyn J. and Nancy Lynch Street, eds. War and Film in America: Historical and Critical Essays. Jefferson, N.C.: Mcfarland & Company, 2003. The essays in this collection focus on the historical events represented and some address films from a critical theory perspective. The collection contains 4 essays that relate directly to Vietnam War films, including one focusing on John Wayne ("John Wayne: American Icon, Patriotic Zealot and Cold War Ideologue" by Bonnie S. Jefferson) and another that I reference in my unit plan, ("Top Guns in Vietnam: The Pilot as Protected War Hero" by Sharon D. Downey).
Mctighe, Jay and Grant Wiggins. Understanding by Design (2nd Edition) (ASCD). Alexandria, VA: Prentice Hall, 2005. This "backwards design" approach to lesson and unit-planning informs my instructional practice. It may be useful to other teachers seeking to replicate all or part of this unit.
Taylor, Philip. "The Green Berets." History Today 45, no. 3 (March 1995): 21. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed July 13, 2009). An overview of the historical and political context for the film The Green Berets.
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