THE ABANDONED FIELD -- FREE FIRE ZONE
A film review by Thomas E. Billings
Copyright 1989 Thomas E. Billings
Synopsis: A young Vietcong couple, with their infant son, live an idyllic life in a swamp. They are relentlessly pursued by U. S. Air Force helicopters, which they frequently hide from. An amateurish propaganda film; this stinker is so bad it's good!
Vietnam (English subtitles), black and white, 1979, 90 minutes. Director: Nguyen Hong Sen
The film begins with scenes of the young couple climbing trees, singing silly songs to each other that are a mixture of romance and propaganda. We soon learn that they are Vietcong, living with their infant son in a swamp, an abandoned rice field (the "abandoned field" of the title) that is located in a free-fire zone in the Mekong Delta.
There follows various scenes of domestic tranquility, interspersed with scenes of the helicopters searching for them. The couple seem to be skilled at hiding whenever the helicopters come near. The man and his Vietcong comrades occasionally go on forays, which seem to turn into exercises in group hiding.
The U. S. forces, from aerial photos, determine that there are people still living in the free-fire zone. They then set out to clear the zone of the Vietcong. This sets the situation for a climactic battle between the Vietcong and the U. S. helicopters.
I was surprised and disappointed by the film. The program notes described it as "...unnerving and compelling in its subjective camera-eye view of war...." After seeing it, I would describe it as alternately boring and laughable!
The film has very serious technical flaws. Subtitles are frequently missing or displayed too fast, too early, or way too late. The photography is out of focus far too often. Also, the infant steals the show in a number of scenes by staring at the camera and making faces. This is natural for a baby, but hasn't the Director ever heard of retakes? [Sarcasm alert: perhaps the Director wants to emulate "one shot" Edward Wood, Director of PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE. Should this be called PLAN 9 FROM VIETNAM?]
Additionally, much of the editing is choppy and severe. Even worse, in the major "battle" scenes, the two opposing groups appear to be operating alone, in separate areas, and the film spliced together. Needless to say, the editing is very amateurish indeed.
Much of the dialogue is unrealistic; some of it is quite ridiculous. The portrayal of U. S. Air Force officers (by Vietnamese actors) is stereotypical, thoroughly stupid, unbelievable, and (unintentionally) frequently funny! The U. S. Air Force is portrayed as a bunch of drunken, philandering deviants and cowards who shoot their helicopter guns at random.
The film is openly propagandistic in every way. Such a film could be very offensive, if cleverly done. However, this film is so ridiculous and poorly done, that the only thing that might offend you is the film's own stupidity! The audience frequently laughed at the film, though probably not where the Director might expect laughter. Overall evaluation: gives PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE some competition in the worst film category. Fans of trash movies might want to check it out.
Remark: this film is in limited distribution as part of "The Vietnam Film Project," a touring exhibition organized by the UCLA Film and Television Archive, with assistance from The Asia Society (New York) and the East-West Center (Hawaii).
Reviewer: Thomas E. Billings, Department of Statistics University of California, Berkeley Reviewer contact: teb@stat.Berkeley.EDU
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