The World of Charlie Company (1970)

Directed by

John Laurence

Genre

war, documentary

Country

United States

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

This documentary follows a single rifle company of American soldiers as they fight in the jungles of South Vietnam. It shows their daily lives, patrols, and encounters with North Vietnamese troops over several months.

rawunflinchingimmersivegrittyintimategroundedsombervisceral

What happens

The World of Charlie Company is a one-hour film documentary produced by CBS News in 1970 that shows what life was like in the jungles of South Vietnam for a rifle company of American soldiers fighting regular units of the North Vietnamese People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN). The film was made by John Laurence, correspondent in Vietnam for CBS from 1965-70, his American camera team and a producer in New York. They spent more than five months embedded with a military unit. The photojournalist was Keith Kay, the sound technician was James L. Clevenger and the producer in New York was Russ Bensley. Dana Stone worked briefly on the film as a cameraman before being sent by CBS to Phnom Penh on 28 March to cover the aftermath of the Cambodian coup. The documentary was broadcast in prime time on the CBS television network twice in July, 1970. It received the George Polk Memorial award of the Overseas Press Club of America for "best reporting in any medium requiring exceptional courage and enterprise abroad" as well as every major award for broadcast journalism in the United States. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

More like this

• Interviews with My Lai Veterans (1970)
• A Face of War (1968)
• Different Sons (1971)
• Hearts and Minds (1974)
• The Anderson Platoon (1967)
• Vietnam Requiem (1982)
• Winter Soldier (1972)
• Restrepo (2010)