Good Morning, Vietnam

original title:
Good Morning, Vietnam
other titles:
(Guten Morgen Vietnam)
country / year of production:
USA / 1987
original length:
119 min. , color
premiere:
23 December 1987
genre:
Comedy
based on:
director:
Barry Levinson
film script:
Mitch Markowitz
producer:
Larry Brezner , Mark Johnson (I)
cinematographer:
Peter Sova
editor:
Stu Linder
composer:
Alex North
cast (role):
Robin Williams ( Airman 1st Class Adrian Cronauer) , Forest Whitaker (Private 1st Class Edward Montesque Garlick) , Chintara Sukapatana (Trinh) , Bruno Kirby (2nd Lieutenant Steven Hauk) , Robert Wuhl (Staff Sgt. Marty Lee Dreiwitz) , Robin Williams , Forest Whitaker , Robert Wuhl , Chintara Sukapatana , Bruno Kirby
more:
plot synopsis:
Ddisc jockey Adrian Cronauer gets a job on Armed Forced Radio during the Vietnam War. Known for his lively performance he supposed to brighten up the stiff and boring program. His unorthodox style and his special liking of rock´n´roll and soul music make him famous among the troops. His Officers are less amused by his little soldiery style. In his spare time he tries to get to known the country and the people better. Eventually he falls in love with a Vienamese girl which he adddressed on the street. Cronauer does not give up and tries to get to know her. He starts to teach English in her class only to be close to her. What he does not know: his girl-friend is in contact with the Vietcong. And suddenly the war, that hardly existed in his programm bursts into his life.
keywords:
reporter , women during wartime , media , order and obedience
war:
Vietnam War (1946-1975)
literature:
Lawrence H. Suid. Guts & Glory. The making of the American military image in Film. Lexington: University of Kentucky Press, 2002, 536-39.
remarks:
The story is based in the year 1965, the year when the US greatly increased the number of troops in Vietnam and the "police action" turned into a true war.
To this escalation was a key concern for director Barry Levinson and producer Laryy Bresner.
TIME Magazine called the movie "the best military comedie since M.A.S.H. disbanded" - a credit that primarily goes to Robin Williams. For the scenes in which he sits down in the control booth, where the real Adrian Cronauer performed his broadcasts Williams used the script merely as a basis: "As soon as he sat down in the control booth ..., we just let the cameras roll. He managed to create something new for every single take", remembers coproducer Mark Johnson. The real Cronauer wondered: "Am I that funny? No way! He does not sound like me. He does not talk like me. I wouldn't try to do that stuff".
The critics misse dsome claerer references to the situation in 1965. Williams' Cronauer had no eyes and ears for the situation around him, they claimed, instead he is a totally self-contained charater, which is why the film fails to illustrate the changes of that important year in Vietnam.

Won the American Comedy Award for the funniest actor (Robin Williams).
availability:
VHS, DVD