Ken Burns previews his film to ‘unpack’ Vietnam War
America has yet to recover fully from the Vietnam War, says documentarian Ken Burns. On Thursday evening, Harvard got a preview of his and Lynn Novick’s powerful 18-hour film, “The Vietnam War.” Interviewed before the screening, Burns told the Gazette why now is an appropriate time to proceed with “unpacking” the war. “You need the passage of time, the triangulation of scholarly information. You need people to have reached a certain age where they can offer some wisdom. We still suffer today from the divisions that took seed in Vietnam. So maybe the virus we caught then will be serviceable for a vaccine now.” “It seems particularly acute in this exact moment,” Novick added. “When you see the rancor and indignation that people felt during the war, and the lack of trust in leaders, that does resonate today. In fact it’s a little uncanny.” The film doesn’t underline parallels with the present, says...