London, Oct 23 : The French national archive has released a footage of Republican presidential candidate John McCain being interviewed as a bedridden prisoner during the Vietnam War.

McCain, who was filmed smoking, was emotional during the interview, the Sky News reported

The video portrays McCain as a hero but the message may be tarnished as he is filmed smoking a cigarette.

In the footage an emotional and shirtless McCain passes a message to his wife saying he will get well and loves her. He also describes being shot down over Hanoi in 1967, and parachuting into a lake.

At times, when speaking of his family, McCain’s lower lip trembles and his voice breaks.

“I was on a flight over the city (Hanoi) ... and I was bombing and I was hit by a missile or anti-aircraft fire, I’m not sure which,” he said, adding that his plane “when straight down.”

After landing in the lake, McCain said he “was picked up and taken to the hospital, where I almost died.”

In the interview, McCain said he was treated well by his Vietnamese captors. Asked about the food, he told his French interviewer, “It’s not like Paris ... (but) I eat it.”

French reporter Francois Chalais conducted the interview, which was first broadcast on French television programme “Panorama” in January 1968.

The journalist’s widow, Mei Chen Chalais, is seeking payment from several television broadcasters in France and the US for the unauthorised use of the footage.

Her lawyers have even written to the McCain campaign as its website features a few seconds of the footage, which Chalais said was done without her approval. (ANI)