Going Upriver
Encyclopedia
Going Upriver: The Long War of John Kerry is a documentary film
on U.S. Senator
John Kerry
's military service during the Vietnam War
and his subsequent participation in the peace movement. There is significant emphasis on Kerry's famous speech before a Senate committee, historical footage from the Winter Soldier Investigation
s, and coverage of the Dewey Canyon III anti-war demonstrations in Washington, D.C.
The majority of the film is composed of archival footage, with much of it in the original black-and-white
format.
From the producer's website, http://web.archive.org/web/20041001095639/www.goingupriver.com/synopsis.html (retrieved Oct. 1, 2004):
Going Upriver is the culmination of a forty-year friendship between Kerry and George Butler. They first met in 1964 while Butler was a reporter and photographer, and published a book together ("The New Soldier
," about Vietnam vets and the Anti-war Movement) in 1971. Butler has documented Kerry's political career with thousands of photographs, and Kerry is godfather to one of Butler's sons. Butler builds a portrait of Kerry through conversations with the men who served with him, people who went to college with him, and relatives. He narrows the story to Vietnam, and uses vintage footage to show the duty to which Kerry asked to be transferred. The recollections from his shipmates, and shots of battle and battle damage on his and other swift boats, underscores the nature of the duty and Kerry's performance of it.
The video of his TV appearances and congressional testimony when he got back provides the context to Kerry's change of heart on the war and his determination to see to it that his comrades stopped dying over there. Considerable attention is paid to the lesser known activities and details behind some of that era's most tumultuous events, such as the occupying of the Washington Mall despite court injunctions and the two marches to the Arlington National Cemetery. Descriptive narrative often gives way to the more powerful messages conveyed by the expressions and actions of participants caught on film at these events. Some of the footage shot in Vietnam could be considered mildly graphic.
Going Upriver was first pre-released at the Toronto International Film Festival
under the "Real to Reel" documentary category on September 9 through September 18, 2004.
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
on U.S. Senator
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
John Kerry
John Kerry
John Forbes Kerry is the senior United States Senator from Massachusetts, the 10th most senior U.S. Senator and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He was the presidential nominee of the Democratic Party in the 2004 presidential election, but lost to former President George W...
's military service during the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
and his subsequent participation in the peace movement. There is significant emphasis on Kerry's famous speech before a Senate committee, historical footage from the Winter Soldier Investigation
Winter Soldier Investigation
The "Winter Soldier Investigation" was a media event sponsored by the Vietnam Veterans Against the War from January 31, 1971 – February 2, 1971. It was intended to publicize war crimes and atrocities by the United States Armed Forces and their allies in the Vietnam War...
s, and coverage of the Dewey Canyon III anti-war demonstrations in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
The majority of the film is composed of archival footage, with much of it in the original black-and-white
Black-and-white
Black-and-white, often abbreviated B/W or B&W, is a term referring to a number of monochrome forms in visual arts.Black-and-white as a description is also something of a misnomer, for in addition to black and white, most of these media included varying shades of gray...
format.
From the producer's website, http://web.archive.org/web/20041001095639/www.goingupriver.com/synopsis.html (retrieved Oct. 1, 2004):
- "This is a feature length documentary about character and moral leadership during a time of national crisis. Loosely based on the best-selling book Tour of Duty by Douglas Brinkley, Going Upriver examines the story of John Kerry and the key events that made him a national figure and the man he is today.
- "Going Upriver director George Butler (best known for his highly acclaimed films Pumping IronPumping IronPumping Iron is a 1977 docudrama about the world of bodybuilding, focusing on the 1975 IFBB Mr. Universe and Mr. Olympia competitions and the 100 days leading up to them. The film was inspired by a book of the same name, written by Charles Gaines and George Butler...
, featuring Arnold SchwarzeneggerArnold SchwarzeneggerArnold Alois Schwarzenegger is an Austrian-American former professional bodybuilder, actor, businessman, investor, and politician. Schwarzenegger served as the 38th Governor of California from 2003 until 2011....
and The Endurance: Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic ExpeditionThe Endurance: Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic ExpeditionThe Endurance is a 2000 documentary film directed by George Butler about Ernest Shackleton's failed Antarctic expedition in 1914. The Endurance was the name of the ship of Shackleton's expedition.-Plot:...
) first realized Kerry’s importance to his generation and began documenting his journey in photographs in 1969, covering Kerry's leadership of the Vietnam Veterans Against the WarVietnam Veterans Against the WarVietnam Veterans Against the War is a tax-exempt non-profit organization and corporation, originally created to oppose the Vietnam War. VVAW describes itself as a national veterans' organization that campaigns for peace, justice, and the rights of all United States military veterans...
(VVAW), his early political campaigns, as well as intimate moments of his personal life. The film weaves together Butler’s extraordinary photographs with archival film, interviews with Kerry’s closest associates, and more contemporary images of the Senator at home and abroad."
Going Upriver is the culmination of a forty-year friendship between Kerry and George Butler. They first met in 1964 while Butler was a reporter and photographer, and published a book together ("The New Soldier
The New Soldier
The New Soldier was published as both a hard and soft cover book in October, 1971, by Vietnam Veterans Against the War. Principally a photographic essay accompanied by text, the work was edited by David Thorne and George Butler, with a section written by John Kerry...
," about Vietnam vets and the Anti-war Movement) in 1971. Butler has documented Kerry's political career with thousands of photographs, and Kerry is godfather to one of Butler's sons. Butler builds a portrait of Kerry through conversations with the men who served with him, people who went to college with him, and relatives. He narrows the story to Vietnam, and uses vintage footage to show the duty to which Kerry asked to be transferred. The recollections from his shipmates, and shots of battle and battle damage on his and other swift boats, underscores the nature of the duty and Kerry's performance of it.
The video of his TV appearances and congressional testimony when he got back provides the context to Kerry's change of heart on the war and his determination to see to it that his comrades stopped dying over there. Considerable attention is paid to the lesser known activities and details behind some of that era's most tumultuous events, such as the occupying of the Washington Mall despite court injunctions and the two marches to the Arlington National Cemetery. Descriptive narrative often gives way to the more powerful messages conveyed by the expressions and actions of participants caught on film at these events. Some of the footage shot in Vietnam could be considered mildly graphic.
Going Upriver was first pre-released at the Toronto International Film Festival
Toronto International Film Festival
The Toronto International Film Festival is a publicly-attended film festival held each September in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. In 2010, 339 films from 59 countries were screened at 32 screens in downtown Toronto venues...
under the "Real to Reel" documentary category on September 9 through September 18, 2004.
Production details
- Opening release date: October 1, 2004
- Scheduled date of DVD release: October 19, 2004
- Runtime: 130 min / USA:90 min (theatrical version)
- Rating PG-13
- Country: USA
- Language: English
- Color: Black and White / Color
- Production Company: Swiftboat Films LLC
- Distributed by: ThinkFilm, Inc.
- Executive Producers: William Samuels, Vin Roberti, Marc Abrams, Russell Abrams, Michael R. Klein
- Producers: George T. Butler, Mark Hopkins
- Director: George T. Butler
- Screenplay: Joe Dorman, Douglas Brinkley (novel)
- Cinematography: Sandi Sissel
- Editor: Melody London, Tim SquyresTim SquyresTim Squyres is an American film editor with about 30 film credits. Squyres has had an extended collaboration with the Taiwanese director Ang Lee, having edited all but one of Lee's feature films....
, Jean Tsien, Kenneth Wachtel - Sound: C5
- Music: Philip GlassPhilip GlassPhilip Glass is an American composer. He is considered to be one of the most influential composers of the late 20th century and is widely acknowledged as a composer who has brought art music to the public .His music is often described as minimalist, along with...
Cast
Credited Cast - Partial Listing:- Douglas BrinkleyDouglas BrinkleyDouglas Brinkley is an American author, professor of history at Rice University and a fellow at the James Baker Institute for Public Policy. Brinkley is the history commentator for CBS News and a contributing editor to the magazine Vanity Fair...
........ Himself - Official Kerry Biographer - Max ClelandMax ClelandJoseph Maxwell Cleland is an American politician from Georgia. Cleland, a Democrat, is a disabled US Army veteran of the Vietnam War, a recipient of the Silver Star and the Bronze Star for valorous action in combat, and a former U.S. Senator...
.............. Himself - Former Democratic Senator (Georgia) - Bestor Cram.............. Himself - VVAW Anti-War Activist, Vietnam Veteran (as Bester Cram)
- Richard HolbrookeRichard HolbrookeRichard Charles Albert Holbrooke was an American diplomat, magazine editor, author, professor, Peace Corps official, and investment banker....
...... Himself - Former US Ambassador to the UN - John KerryJohn KerryJohn Forbes Kerry is the senior United States Senator from Massachusetts, the 10th most senior U.S. Senator and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He was the presidential nominee of the Democratic Party in the 2004 presidential election, but lost to former President George W...
................. Himself (archive footage) - Joe KleinJoe KleinJoe Klein is a longtime Washington, D.C. and New York journalist and columnist, known for his novel Primary Colors, an anonymously written roman à clef portraying Bill Clinton's first presidential campaign. Klein is currently a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and is a former Guggenheim...
................... Himself - Writer - Lenny Rotman............ Himself - VVAW Anti-War Activist, Vietnam Veteran
- Wade SandersWade SandersWade Sanders is an attorney from in San Diego, California and a retired United States Navy Captain who served as Deputy Assistant United States Secretary of the Navy for Reserve Affairs during the Clinton Administration. He was formerly California Lt. Gov. John Garamendi's senior adviser for...
........... Himself - Fellow Swift Boat Skipper, Vietnam Veteran - Neil SheehanNeil SheehanCornelius Mahoney "Neil" Sheehan is an American journalist. As a reporter for The New York Times in 1971, Sheehan obtained the classified Pentagon Papers from Daniel Ellsberg. His series in the Times revealed a secret U.S. Department of Defense history of the Vietnam War and resulted in government...
............. Himself - Author, Historian - David Thorne.............. Himself - Childhood Friend, Yale Classmate, Vietnam Veteran
- Thomas OliphantThomas OliphantThomas "Tom" Oliphant is an American journalist who was the Washington correspondent and a columnist for the Boston Globe. - Life and career :...
........ Himself - Boston Globe reporter who covered the veterans' protest