It is as an earnest attempt to redress a festering grievance, not as film art, that The Hanoi Hilton deserves attention. Writer-Director Lionel Chetwynd's intention is to re-create the life endured in North Viet Nam's Hoa Lo prison by American POWs, in some cases for as long as eight years. Their lot consisted of systematic degradation, maddening isolation and the grinding $ waste of years, punctuated by episodes of ghastly pain. But, presented artlessly, this is not the stuff of compelling drama. There is not enough filth in the corners, not enough ambiguity when the movie shows prisoners resisting the pressure...
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