What is the psychology of war? Do soldiers become murderers when they enjoy killing? Is war beautiful? Are all humans capable of monstrous acts? FIRST KILL examines these and other questions, as it explores what war does to the human mind and soul.
Interviews with several Vietnam veterans evoke the contradictory feelings that killing produces – fear, hate, seduction and pleasure. FIRST KILL also includes a discussion with Michael Herr, the former war correspondent who wrote the screenplays to Apocalypse Now and Full Metal Jacket, and wrote Dispatches, the best and most important book about the experiences of the combat soldier in the Vietnam War.
For the last ten years Herr has refused to give any interviews, but in FIRST KILL he descends into his own dark experiences one more time. “If war was hell and only hell and there were no other colors in the palate… I don’t think people would continue to make war,” he says.
For other people war is just work. Immediately after taking his well-known photograph of a Vietnamese general shooting a Vietcong soldier in the head, Eddie Adams went out to lunch. Other Vietnam veterans talk about similar numbing experiences, many of them continuing to suffer nightmares and are still struggling with their traumas. On the other hand, former “tunnelrat” Billy Heflin openly admits that, despite his aversion to war, he is addicted to killing, and longingly recalls his wartime experiences.
November 18, 2010 at 2:59 am | John
A very interesting documentary, definitely worth a watch!
April 23, 2011 at 9:12 am | AC
I concurr…(re John’s comment)
April 30, 2011 at 2:24 am | Backlinks
Awesome, watch this video !
June 21, 2011 at 8:35 pm | anonymous
eddie adams sucks
July 3, 2011 at 9:27 pm | Esa
A really good documentary. Left you trying to find answers to a dozen hard questions…
July 3, 2011 at 9:27 pm | Esa
A really good documentary. Left you trying to find answers to a dozen hard questions…
July 3, 2011 at 9:27 pm | Esa
A really good documentary. Left you trying to find answers to a dozen hard questions…
July 22, 2011 at 1:38 am | TheSweatyButcher
this film was a roller coaster for me, had a dozen or so flashbacks.
July 22, 2011 at 1:38 am | TheSweatyButcher
this film was a roller coaster for me, had a dozen or so flashbacks.
July 22, 2011 at 1:38 am | TheSweatyButcher
this film was a roller coaster for me, had a dozen or so flashbacks.
October 31, 2011 at 8:01 pm | Alen
when the dude say he wanted to go back to vietnam to kill because he missed it, that people tell them after war to live the ordinary life, but they couldnt… that was the real problem nowadays with us, our civilization. normal life is not enough for many people, not necessary people who have been in a war, just plain people who want adventure in their life, so thats why they do all the horrors to others. and i mean “little” horrors like bosses to their employees, ceos, bankers, politicians, etc.
what is the answer to need of a war addicted people? same as for everybody else, screw the 9-5 jobs and find your own interest, fight the dark side by finding the “light” side of you, the one which is enthusiastic and passionate for the thing you are doing. Every person has a place in this world which does not make it necessary for them to do harm to others.
you can feel good and fulfilled about what you are doing by seeing that you help others, by seeing that what you do helps other people, society or nature, and those are mostly the “basic” jobs like farming, not complex people jobs like newspapers, politics, or law practice.
if you find a simple interest youre good at and see that this interest returns gratitude from society, its recognized and you will find true meaning of your existence on this planet.
it is harder for war addicted people, but they can do it, somebody just has to make them become aware of this other side of theirs. theyve found bad side, now they must be guided by someone to good side.
even art could be a great satisfaction and comfort, a way to express themselves somehow and to be recognized as doing a good thing, that’s enough to wake up with a smile and with joy and enthusiasm to “go to work”.
December 18, 2011 at 11:37 pm | Yo
I agree
. It’s much better to die doing what you love than to work your whole life and only enjoy the last couple years.
December 22, 2011 at 6:13 am | Awful_truth
An excellent documentary. Although I have no doubt that anyone could be made to do evil things out of circumstance, As a martial artist I learned a long time ago that the best way to avoid a punch is not to be there.(don’t make a victim of yourself) Human nature cannot be denied, but when you look at why these guys did what they did, their answers revealed the egoic self-centeredness of themselves. Well, my grandfather and father fought in previous wars; my parents loved my brother more, so I had to earn their respect, etc, etc. In reality, people always have a choice, but to recognize it, you actually have to think.(use your brain) 3 million Vietnamese and 60 thousand Americans died for a lie. 40 years later, 1 million Iraqi’s died for the same lie because the American public(generally speaking) are a bunch of ignorant people who didn’t learn even from their recent past. The Iraqi war would have never occured if the American public were truly educated, and not FOX news brainwashed. The fact that Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Wolfiwitz, etc were not jailed for war crimes after the fact is precisely why it will occur again, and again.
Addiction to money, power, drugs, sex, etc all lead to self-justification for one’s actions, and while drug addicts are incarcerated, murderers are given a medal.(go figure) The best example is to look at all the legal destruction alcohol creates, but don’t smoke a joint. Since grass is far less destructive than alcohol, people should ask why it is illegal when alcohol isn’t, or more importantly, why the public accepts the contradictory statement of ‘alcohol and drugs’ when alcohol is a drug, and one of the worst at that! If the general public can’t see this, then they will never understand the difference between ‘defending one’s country’, and ‘protecting our way of life’. In my humble opinion, the root of the problem is lack of thinking, and without it, democracy is meaningless. If anyone questions the validity of this statement, ask yourself the following question. If there was a billion intelligent people, and the other 6 billion are out to lunch because they are racist, prejudice, and uneducated people who believe in greed, subjugation, and exploitation, would you truly want democracy?
Since no such thing (democracy) exists to begin with, any answer will be moot. In the final analysis, the veterans interviewed in this documentary are all damaged goods who sold their souls to experience war because they wanted the experience at any cost, or because they didn’t have the moral courage to tell their government to piss off because they weren’t defending their country, which is the only acceptable justification. Since the world is heading towards an economic global hedgemony, no country or ideology can be trusted. I will leave the reader with a quote from a truly intelligent individual, Albert Einstein.
” Man, like every other animal, tends to ignore his own situation unless goaded by circumstance. As a young man, I too went through such a phase trying to be and act like one’s fellow. Communism, socialism, nationalism, militarism, etc while constituting a diverse range of political ideologies, all lead to the subjugation and enslavement of the individual by the state, putting an end to freedom, and personal liberties”.
December 22, 2011 at 6:58 am | Awful_truth
An excellent documentary. Although I have no doubt that anyone could be made to do evil things out of circumstance, As a martial artist I learned a long time ago that the best way to avoid a punch is not to be there.(don’t make a victim of yourself) Human nature cannot be denied, but when you look at why these guys did what they did, their answers revealed the egoic self-centeredness of themselves. Well, my grandfather and father fought in previous wars; my parents loved my brother more, so I had to earn their respect, etc, etc. In reality, people always have a choice, but to recognize it, you actually have to think.(use your brain) 3 million Vietnamese and 60 thousand Americans died for a lie. 40 years later, 1 million Iraqi’s died for the same lie because the American public(generally speaking) are a bunch of ignorant people who didn’t learn even from their recent past. The Iraqi war would have never occured if the American public were truly educated, and not FOX news brainwashed. The fact that Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Wolfiwitz, etc were not jailed for war crimes after the fact is precisely why it will occur again, and again. Addiction to money, power, drugs, sex, etc all lead to self-justification for one’s actions, and while drug addicts are incarcerated, murderers are given a medal.(go figure) The best example is to look at all the legal destruction alcohol creates, but don’t smoke a joint. Since grass is far less destructive than alcohol, people should ask why it is illegal when alcohol isn’t, or more importantly, why the public accepts the contradictory statement of ‘alcohol and drugs’ when alcohol is a drug, and one of the worst at that! If the general public can’t see this, then they will never understand the difference between ‘defending one’s country’, and ‘protecting our way of life’. In my humble opinion, the root of the problem is lack of thinking, and without it, democracy is meaningless. If anyone questions the validity of this statement, ask yourself the following question. If there was a billion intelligent people, and the other 6 billion are out to lunch because they are racist, prejudice, and uneducated people who believe in greed, subjugation, and exploitation, would you truly want democracy? Since no such thing (democracy) exists to begin with, any answer will be moot. In the final analysis, the veterans interviewed in this documentary are all damaged goods who sold their souls to experience war because they wanted the experience at any cost, or because they didn’t have the moral courage to tell their government to piss off because they weren’t defending their country, which is the only acceptable justification. Since the world is heading towards an economic global hedgemony, no country or ideology can be trusted. I will leave the reader with a quote from a truly intelligent individual, Albert Einstein. ” Man, like every other animal, tends to ignore his own situation unless goaded by circumstance. As a young man, I too went through such a phase trying to be and act like one’s fellow. Communism, socialism, nationalism, militarism, etc while constituting a diverse range of political ideologies, all lead to the subjugation and enslavement of the individual by the state, putting an end to freedom, and personal liberties”.
January 8, 2012 at 8:25 pm | Fred Bazzeeda
volume level is low.
January 20, 2012 at 6:23 am | Enorton51
Very poor sound quality in that even with amplified speakers it is hard to hear it.
March 19, 2012 at 8:20 am | Lloyd Harvey Gandy
i dont believe anyone of these soldiers. I meen the parts where they said
they loved to kill.do you?
May 14, 2012 at 1:15 am | squidder
When oh when will people that make documentaries learn how to normalize the sound?! I swear, there is a free program called audacity that will do a great job. I am so sick and tired of jogging the volume back and forth when I lay down and put a doc on to fall asleep to and I can’t hear the people talking so I turn it up only to wake the neighbors up when music starts and it’s 2-3 times as loud. Seriously people that make these things, get you sh*t together and normalize the sound. And when in doubt, make the people talking louder than the music, not the other way around!