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Vietnam. “This work makes a lot of sense to me”, Jahn says. “Each day we get injuredpeople who would be lost without our help.”The InterviewsObservation, interview, observation—this is the underlying structure of Grabe’sdocumentary. During the interviews, the audience recovers a certain distance from theoppressive pictures they have just seen. At the same time, the interviews prepare themfor what is still to come.Grabe did the interviews in a separate session because he did not want his interviewpartners to be still under the immediate impression of the situation in the operationtheater. He refrained from doing spontaneous interviews, a typical feature of TVreportage. Instead, his interview partners have the distance they need to ponder theirmotives, attitudes, and experience in front of the camera. The static composition of thepictures and the framing—Grabe, himself, can only be seen sporadically on the edge ofthe screen—stresses just how much these interviews serve as a moment of reflection.The interviews assist the audience in developing a technique that enables them tocope with the pictures of mutilated and maimed children. To be sure: the crew of theHelgoland was also shocked at first. Yet, in order to help the injured people of DaNangh they could not give in to this shock.“It was terrible”, a middle-aged, experienced nurse remembers. “These were not sickpeople. They had been deliberately destroyed. At first, we just stood around thestretchers and cried.” A seaman adds: “I have become used to the situation though.Now, I can help at once when something happens.” The next take shows him and anurse supporting the victim of a Napalm attack in his first attempts at walking again.War victims need help. Yet, in order to help, one must pay attention to detail. “Wemust examine the bowels bit by bit”, the surgeon explains during the operation. “Allother organs of the abdomen must be carefully scrutinized, too. Not to notice a woundcould mean the death of the patient.” With this explanation, Grabe justifies hisdecision to include these shocking pictures in his documentary. Yet, the surgeon’s wordsare more than just a justification: they are instructions to the viewer on how to dealwith these pictures.This use of appropriate interview passages is a method that Grabe relies on to a greatextent. Only rarely does he give explicit instructions in the voice-over. This stresses theimportance of the message and guarantees the credibility and authenticity of thedocumentary because viewers can see the consequences of the surgeon’s statement. Hecan save his patient only because he does not let his disgust at her blood and pain winover his determination to help her.Language and PictureThe surgeon’s professional and detached attitude solves the film’s most difficultproblem: the showing of the victims. Grabe does not present them suddenly. Instead,the surgeon introduces each patient to the audience – like in a doctor’s round – whilethe camera records everything in great detail.“This is a 13-year-old boy who has been with us for one week now”, Dr. Jahn saysfacing the camera. Then the camera pans along the boy’s body up to his head and thestumps of his arms. “A mine explosion tore his hands to pieces”, the surgeon explains23Feedback June 2003 (Vol. 44, No. 3)