The War at Home (1979)

                One of the best books I have read is David Maraniss’ “They Walked into Sunlight:  War and Peace, Vietnam and America, October 1967”.  He follows two events -  the Battle of Ong Thanh and the protests at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.  I have been waiting for years for a movie to be made about it.  For now, I’ll just have to settle for this documentary that covers the protests. 

                “The War at Home” uses the standard documentary format of mixing interviews with footage.  It starts with an introduction to the city of Madison, Wisconsin.  It was a typical college town, but in the late 60’s, like many other campuses, it was roiled by student protests.  The film gives background leading to the 1967 protests.  This includes the Gulf of Tonkin Incident, the daisy commercial, and American troops arriving and fighting in South Vietnam.  It does balance the pro and anti views.  War footage is intermingled with protest clips.  By 1966, college students have become impacted by the war.  Yes, you had a draft deferment, but sooner or later you would have to graduate.  And if, like UMW, your school supported the war effort with ROTC and military research, protesting could be justified as not only for personal reasons, but for the greater good.

                The movie focuses on 1967. This is when a large number of students organized to halt Dow Chemical (the makers of napalm) from recruiting on campus.  The students responded with a sit-in which attracted club-swinging police.  Tear gas was used.  Although no one was killed like at Kent State two years later, there were numerous students who were injured. 

                Although the movie interviews both hawks and doves, it is definitely slanted towards the anti-war movement.  There are three times as many anti-war interviewees.  There are a lot of interviews and copious footage.  What it lacks is a narrator to provide background and connections between the war and the anti-war movement.  Like other documentaries about the war, it assumes the audience is familiar with the war.  If it was up to me, I would have included more anti-war songs for the soundtrack. 

                I’ve seen better documentaries about the opposition to the Vietnam War.  Movies like “Hearts and Minds” and “Sir! No Sir!”  “The War at Home” is a decent look at the war in general and the protests at University of Wisconsin – Madison in particular.  It could have been better, but if you are already familiar with the history of the war, you might be interested in a movie that is chock full of archival footage and interviews.  And if you have teenagers preparing for college or in college, it’s a curio of when college students cared about something besides cramming and boozing.

GRADE  =  C