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Fascinating documentary in which American Vietnam veterans tell shocking stories emphasising the attraction and addictive effect of killing.
Coco Schrijber and Sander Snoep pose the classic question whether a murderer lurks in every one of us. In their essayistic investigation, they interview American Vietnam War veterans. Their sometimes shocking stories emphasise the attraction of, addiction to and fascination with killing. For example, a former 'tunnel rat', who voluntarily combed the Vietcong's tunnels, longingly recalls the war. Furthermore, they interview photographer Eddie Adams, the maker of the famous Vietcong street execution picture, and former journalist Michael Herr, known as the co-scriptwriter for Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket and monologue writer for Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now. From time to time, the music also refers to these two films. The interviews pass from talking heads into voice-overs, accompanying street scenes in present-day Vietnam. The atrocities, recounted in a composed voice, give these seemingly peaceful images a jarring edge. Winner of the Dutch Film Critics Award 2002.

Credits

Set geluid
Production company
Lemming Film
TV company
IKON TV
Distributor NL
Public Film

Title: First Kill
Year: 2001
Duration : 1 hour, 13 minutes
Category: Long Documentary
Edition: NFF 2002

Gouden Kalf nominees

Other awards

Prijs v.d. Nederlandse Filmkritiek (2002)

NFF Archive

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