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Going Upriver: The Long War Of John Kerry: Review

GOING UPRIVER: THE LONG WAR OF JOHN KERRY
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George Butler's unexpectedly poignant look at presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry's tour of duty in Vietnam and his subsequent pivotal role in the antiwar movement opened amidst a glut of political documentaries. While the film is unabashedly pro-Kerry — Butler and Kerry are longtime friends — it isn't simple hagiography; it's also a portrait of Vietnam War-era America. After a brief recap of Kerry's childhood and his college years at Yale, Butler examines Kerry's military service in Vietnam, where the young lieutenant proved a strong leader and a brave soldier. When Kerry returned stateside in 1969, he wrestled with feelings of disillusionment that weighed on many veterans and got involved in Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW), attending its landmark Winter Soldier Investigation in early 1971. Moved by the testimony he heard, Kerry took an active role in the organization and spearheaded its march on Washington, D.C., that April. With Kerry as primary spokesperson, veterans spent five days in the capital, rallying outside government offices and lobbying to see their congressional representatives. The protests remained peaceful, in large part because of Kerry's steady leadership, and on the penultimate day of the march, he delivered a stirring speech in front of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that catapulted him into the public eye. Watching this oration — which the film replays in its entirety — and a rarely seen debate on The Dick Cavett Show between Kerry and John O'Neill, who was enlisted by the Nixon White House to discredit the popular activist — it's hard to reconcile the restrained Kerry of 2004 with the fiery young man who once challenged the Senate's most powerful committee with the question, "How do you ask a man to be the last to die for a mistake?" This documentary could be dismissed as an extended campaign ad, but Butler never allows hero worship to supersede substance: He re-creates a time when the efforts of individuals like Kerry proved to an America deeply divided over a foreign war that there was a way to find common ground, provided both sides were willing to look for it. The parallels to America's 21st-century entanglement in Iraq and the bitter rift that war engendered at home are undeniable, and it's to Butler's credit that he doesn't overstate them. The ability to make a documentary with the genuine ability to inspire is rare in the poisonous atmosphere of contemporary politics, but Butler succeeds. leave a comment --Ethan Alter
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