by MATTHEW HAYS

It is indeed strange to look back at the Vietnam War, especially in light of the current occupation of Iraq. I'd be lying if I said I thought the current situation is a good one, but the stat of approximately one U.S. soldier dying in Iraq a day pales in comparison to the droves of body bags that were being air lifted back to the U.S. throughout much of the '60s and '70s.

And when one considers the horrors being perpetrated in a developing country by American forces, it seems to make so much of what the radical activist group the Weather Underground stood for make sense. Their message was a simple one: our government is committing genocide for no good reason in another part of the world; said government is not paying attention to massive democratic protests by citizens urging them to pull out of Vietnam; thus the only solution is the violent overthrow of the current government.

Okay, so it sounds a bit extreme, but Underground co-directors Sam Green and Bill Siegel are smart enough to make members of the Weather Underground very sympathetic figures. In essence, these were young, idealistic men and women who felt that blacks and women should be equal and America should not be bombing the hell out of another country for dubious reasons.

This film has considerable power and strength, letting us hear about the troubled times from the lips of members of the Underground now. A couple have served prison time (one is still there and will be for life) and many say they'd do it all again if they could. These are fairly radical words, considering the group believed that violent acts were justified against the U.S. government.

The Weather Underground is as important as it is entertaining, leaving us with an intense sense of history, even allowing the interviewees to reflect on the new terrorism of 9/11. It's a brilliant doc - and whatever you do, stay through the final credits, when we learn the fates of all of the Underground's members.

The Weather Underground opens
Friday, Oct. 24 at Cinéma du Parc

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