Sir! No Sir!

2005 film about anti Vietnam War soldiers and sailors

Sir! No Sir! is a 2005 documentary by Displaced Films about the anti war movement within the ranks of the United States Armed Forces during the Vietnam War. The film was produced, directed, and written by David Zeiger. The film had a theatrical run in 80 cities throughout the U. S. and Canada in 2006, and was broadcast worldwide on Sundance Channel, Discovery Channel, BBC, ARTE France, ABC Australia, SBC Spain, ZDF Germany, YLE Finland, RT, and several others.

Sir No Sir! tells for the first time on film the story of the 1960s GI movement against the war in Vietnam. The film explores the profound impact that the movement had on the war, and investigates the way in which the GI Movement has been erased from public memory. In the 1960s an anti war movement emerged that altered the course of history. This movement didn't take place on college campuses, but in barracks and on aircraft carriers. It flourished in army stockades, navy brigs and in the dingy towns that surround military bases. It penetrated elite military colleges like West Point. And it spread throughout the battlefields of Vietnam. It was a movement no one expected, least of all those in it. Hundreds went to prison and thousands into exile. And by 1971 it had, in the words of one colonel, infested the entire armed services. Yet today few people know about the GI Movement against the war in Vietnam.

The film brings to life the history of the GI Movement and the stories of those who were part of it through interviews with veterans plus hitherto unseen archival material. Archival materials include news reports from local and national television broadcasts, images from newspapers and magazines, and Super 8 and 16mm film footage of events in the GI Movement shot by GIs and civilian activists. Recently shot interviews with individuals involved in the struggle include soldiers imprisoned for refusing to fight, to train other soldiers, or to ship out to the frontlines; Vietnam veterans who became antiwar activists or joined the 500,000+ soldiers whom the Pentagon listed as deserters during the war; the leader of the Presidio 27 Mutiny, also known as the Presidio mutiny; and soldiers who went on strike while in Vietnam, plus other interviews, including with Hollywood activist Jane Fonda. Exclusive footage from documentary coverage of the movement includes highlights from the FTA Show, Jane Fonda and Donald Sutherland's antiwar stage revue that traveled to military bases around the world, F. T. A. the feature length film about that tour; Vietnam veterans hurling their medals onto the Capitol steps; the refusal by troops to engage in combat at Firebase Pace; and an audio recording made by the journalist Richard Boyle, who was also the author of The Flower of the Dragon and the Oliver Stone film Salvador.

The film garnered critical acclaim and has an 89% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Ebert & Roeper gave the film "Two Thumbs Up", and Richard Roeper proclaimed: "This is an important chapter in the Vietnam library of films." Manohla Dargis in the New York Times called it a "smart, timely documentary about the G. I. Movement" and praised it for serving "as a corrective to the rah rah rhetoric about Vietnam in such schlock entertainments as the 1980's 'Rambo' franchise". The Los Angeles Times declared it "a powerful documentary that uncovers half forgotten history, history that is still relevant but not in ways you might be expecting." For L. A. Weekly, Chuck Wilson wrote: "David Zeiger's superb documentary about the Vietnam War era's GI protest movement is jammed with incident and anecdote and moves with nearly as much breathless momentum as the movement itself." Jonathan Rosenbaum of the Chicago Reader wrote: "I expected to emerge depressed by how long these stories have gone untold, but the speakers' courage and humanity are a shot in the arm."