by Matthew Tobey
synopsis
The directorial debut of documentary filmmaker Eugene S. Jones, A Face of War is a feature-length account of a single day's activities of a group of U.S. soldiers in Vietnam. Jones follows the 7th Marine Regiment from dusk to dawn, with occasional pauses for reflective interviews. These scenes are placed in perspective with footage of other war zones in Southeast Asia. Before the film is over, some of the participants are killed, and several others -- including two of the film crew -- are wounded. A Face of War was honored with the Special Award for Feature-Length Documentary at the 1969 National Society of Film Critics Awards.
