Most American war-themed films, no matter how they are anti-war, are probably inseparable from the cruelty of the war itself and the trauma, physical or spiritual, of the American people, especially American soldiers, in the war. There will be some reflections on the war, but it is difficult to find an equal understanding and thinking about the countries that have encountered wars (the American wars are naturally carried out on the territory of other countries). At most, it is just looking down with sympathy. But from "Good Morning, Vietnam", I can feel the director's equal gaze and his respect for the country and people of Vietnam. He has a more Vietnamese perspective. Those perspectives are what Cronauer sees as the quiet village, the peasants toiling in the fields, the peaceful old man sitting around him, the children chasing roosters and playing. Those perspectives are the rejection of the phrase "We are different" from Chen's mouth. Those perspectives are still the interpretation of Enemy in his mind that makes Chen's younger brother cry. Finally, those perspectives at the end of the film are a group of Vietnamese and Americans playing baseball with fruit in the sun, including old people, young people, teenagers, men, women, Vietnamese civilians and American soldiers. You don't see borders dividing. You also don't see war. What you see is more of the life of the locals. One or two of these shots are even scattered, trivial, and messy, such as the walks of chickens and ducks and the daze of buffaloes.
I think this is the director's good intentions to a somewhat deliberate level. Cronauer's broadcast with guns and live ammunition patrolling American soldiers is like being on vacation, and the burned villages and fallen Vietnamese in the music of "What a Wonderful World" are like going out on location. It's like Chaplin's antics... The whole movie has a Comedy (please forgive me for using this word that appears in the movie, I can't really find a more sensual word to translate it). But when Cronauer searched and chased the Viet Cong boy and got lost in the streets and yards, he was watched by many pairs of Vietnamese eyes full of indifference and pity, whether it was hatred, fear or compassion, you can see , behind all the calm, the war is still in every day and say good morning to Vietnam. Calm and Comedy aren't the director's evasion of war hypocrisy. It is the accumulation of a reflective attitude and the brewing of redemptive emotions. It's a comedy appearance for a lost ideal. In just a moment, everything is fleeting. It's like our DJs live on the streets for the soldiers in traffic jams, full of entertainment where our entertainment stars live for the fans, but when the road clears, the motors start, the soldiers say goodbye to Cronauer, and leave The music in the car is so heavy.
The director is actually trying to explore the logical connection. There are times, even less negative characters, like Cronauer's colleagues, that show that kind of contempt for the Vietnamese - they'll say: we're here to help you... as in the beginning of the bar fight The arrogance and rudeness of most American soldiers towards Vietnam, as well as the hasty killing and expulsion, from the description of the picture to the explanation of the dialogue, are not uncommon. The director didn't particularly reinforce these plots, they were just scattered throughout the development of the story. But the repeated appearance strikes the viewer's nerves and memory again and again. I began to think that this kind of randomness of the director may be to find the feeling of saving Vietnam but despising Vietnam in the deep subconscious of the American heart. The feeling is that all of this, for Americans, is no big deal. However, in the song "I see trees of green, red rose too; I see em bloom, for me and for you... What a wonderful world", everything seems so absurd and contradictory. Falls and shatters cannot be avoided. Who is to be saved?
If "anti-war" is a topic that the film doesn't address, then the attitude towards "Funny" is so obvious. To be honest, I can't quite understand Cronauer's many "Funny", but I still feel that "Funny" feeling strongly in the film. The lieutenant said to the general unconvinced: I know in my heart that I am humorous. But this film is to tell the audience what a real "Funny" is: there is no cultural barrier, it is not the playfulness of language, it is the attitude of life. Throughout the film I admired Cronauer's energy, optimism, and the kindness and serious sense of justice that was never lost. It's not that he has no worries, the two vulgar superiors have been trying to "tame" him; he is not far from the war, the bomb in Saigon almost sent him to the sky, but when "Funny" is not only in his heart, but can change The life of a road soldier, even if only for a few minutes, "Funny" is an amazing thing. I couldn't help but think: We all yearn for Funny life as much as everyone in the movie, but life is not easy, how do we have it?
Cronauer returned unexpectedly, but not sadly. At least the prototype of the movie's protagonist has a chance to retell its own story in the US and show over 33 seconds of the Gooooo...oood Morning saga. But the world hasn't changed. Like fifty years ago, there are still wars and troubles everywhere. Perhaps, we should have realized that a DJ cannot save the world, just as he could not save the fate of his compatriots who were transported back to the United States in small boxes. However, I still want that Gooooo...oood Morning ringing in everyone's heart from time to time - it must be the beginning of a good day.
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