''In the Year of the Pig'' is an American documentary film directed by

Emile de Antonio Emile Francisco de Antonio (May 14, 1919 – December 15, 1989) was an American director and producer of documentary films, usually detailing political, social, and counterculture events circa 1960s–1980s. He has been referred to by Randolph Le ...

about American involvement in the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...

. It was released in 1968 while the U.S. was in the middle of its military engagement, and was politically controversial. One year later, the film was nominated for the

Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature An academy ( Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosoph ...

. In 1990,

Jonathan Rosenbaum Jonathan Rosenbaum (born February 27, 1943) is an American film critic and author. Rosenbaum was the head film critic for ''The Chicago Reader'' from 1987 to 2008, when he retired. He has published and edited numerous books about cinema and has ...

characterized the film as "the first and best of the major documentaries about Vietnam".

Summary

The film, which is in black and white, contains much historical footage and many interviews. Those interviewed include

Harry Ashmore Harry Scott Ashmore (July 28, 1916 – January 20, 1998) was an American journalist who won a Pulitzer Prize for his editorials in 1957 on the school integration conflict in Little Rock, Arkansas. Early life and career Ashmore was born in Greenvi ...

Daniel Berrigan Daniel Joseph Berrigan (May 9, 1921 – April 30, 2016) was an American Jesuit priest, anti-war activist, Christian pacifist, playwright, poet, and author. Berrigan's active protest against the Vietnam War earned him both scorn and admi ...

, Philippe Devillers,

David Halberstam David Halberstam (April 10, 1934 April 23, 2007) was an American writer, journalist, and historian, known for his work on the Vietnam War, politics, history, the Civil Rights Movement, business, media, American culture, Korean War, and late ...

Roger Hilsman Roger Hilsman Jr. (November 23, 1919 – February 23, 2014) was an American soldier, government official, political scientist, and author. He saw action in the China-Burma-India Theater of World War II, first with Merrill's Marauders, getting wo ...

Jean Lacouture Jean Lacouture (9 June 1921 – 16 July 2015) was a journalist, historian and author. He was particularly famous for his biographies. Career Jean Lacouture was born in Bordeaux, France. He began his career in journalism in 1950 in ''Combat'' ...

, Kenneth P. Landon, Thruston B. Morton,

Paul Mus Paul Mus (1902–1969) was a French writer and scholar. His studies focused on Viet Nam and other South-East Asian cultures. He was born in Bourges to an academic family, and grew up in northern Viet Nam (Tonkin). In 1907 his father opened the Col ...

, Charlton Osburn,

Harrison Salisbury Harrison Evans Salisbury (November 14, 1908 – July 5, 1993), was an American journalist and the first regular ''New York Times'' correspondent in Moscow after World War II. Biography Salisbury was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He gradu ...

, Ilya Todd, John Toller, David K. Tuck, David Wurfel and John White. Produced during the Vietnam War, the film was greeted with hostility by many audiences, with

bomb threats A bomb threat or bomb scare is a threat, usually verbal or written, to detonate an explosive or incendiary device to cause property damage, death, injuries, and/or incite fear, whether or not such a device actually exists. History Bomb threats ...

and

vandalism Vandalism is the action involving deliberate destruction of or damage to public or private property. The term includes property damage, such as graffiti and defacement directed towards any property without permission of the owner. The term ...

directed at theaters that showed it. When confronted with the charge that ''In the Year of the Pig'' had a leftist perspective, de Antonio conceded the point, replying: “Only God is objective, and he doesn’t make films.”

Home media

''In the Year of the Pig'' was released as a region 1 DVD in 2005. In addition to the film, the DVD has audio commentary with director Emile de Antonio composed from archival sources, an interview with de Antonio, and liner notes by de Antonio scholar

Douglas Kellner Douglas Kellner (born May 31, 1943) is an American academic who works at the intersection of "third-generation" critical theory in the tradition of the Frankfurt Institute for Social Research, or Frankfurt School, and in cultural studies in the ...

Influences

A still photograph used in the film that displayed Marine Corporal Michael Wynn later was incorporated into the album cover for

The Smiths The Smiths were an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1982. They comprised the singer Morrissey, the guitarist Johnny Marr, the bassist Andy Rourke and the drummer Mike Joyce. They are regarded as one of the most important acts to eme ...

' second album ''

Meat Is Murder ''Meat Is Murder'' is the second studio album by English rock band the Smiths, released on 11 February 1985 by Rough Trade Records. It became the band's only studio album to reach number one on the UK Albums Chart, and stayed on the chart for ...

'' (1985). The insignia on Wynn's helmet was changed to "meat is murder".

Footnotes

References

*Schwartzman, Theresa. 2004. ''In the Year of the Pig, 1968''. UCLA Film and Television Archive: 12th Festival of Preservation, July 22-August 21, 2004. Festival guest publication.

External links

*{{IMDb title, id=0064482, title=In the Year of the Pig
''In the Year of the Pig'' review by Jim Frosch
(March 7, 1969) at ''The Harvard Crimson'' website
''In the Year of the Pig''
at TCM.com (archived by the

Wayback Machine The Wayback Machine is a digital archive of the World Wide Web founded by the Internet Archive, a nonprofit based in San Francisco, California. Created in 1996 and launched to the public in 2001, it allows the user to go "back in time" and see ...