In the Year of the Pig
| In the Year of the Pig | |
|---|---|
 DVD cover art | |
| Directed by | Emile de Antonio |
| Produced by |
John Attlee Emile de Antonio Terry Morrone Orville Schell |
| Music by | Steve Addiss |
| Edited by |
|
Release dates |
|
Running time | 104 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
In the Year of the Pig is an American documentary film directed by Emile de Antonio about American involvement in the Vietnam War. It was released in 1968 while the US was in the middle of its military engagement, and was politically controversial. In 1969, the film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.[2] In 1990, Jonathan Rosenbaum characterized the film as "the first and best of the major documentaries about Vietnam".[3]
The film, which is in black and white, contains much historical footage and many interviews. Those interviewed include Harry Ashmore, Daniel Berrigan, Philippe Devillers, David Halberstam, Roger Hilsman, Jean Lacouture, Kenneth P. Landon, Thruston B. Morton, Paul Mus, Charlton Osburn, Harrison Salisbury, Ilya Todd, John Toller, David K. Tuck, David Werfel and John White.[2][4]
Produced during the Vietnam War, the film was greeted with hostility by many audiences, with bomb threats and vandalism directed at theaters that showed it.[5][6]
De Antonio cites the film as his personal favorite. It features the ironic use of patriotic music, portrays Ho Chi Minh as a patriot to the Vietnamese people, and asserts that Vietnam was always a single country rather than two.
Home media
In the Year of the Pig was released as a region 1 DVD in 2005.[7] 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.
Influences
A still photograph used in the film that displayed Marine Corporal Michael Wynn was later incorporated into the album cover for The Smiths' second album, Meat Is Murder (1984). The insignia on Wynn's helmet was changed to "meat is murder". This image was again used for the box art of the 2005 DVD release of the film.
References
- ↑ Helen Slote Levitt has been mistakenly credited as an editor of this film; Helen Levitt, who is well known as a photographer but who also had a long career in film editing and cinematography, was the editor. See Barsam, Richard Meran (1992). Nonfiction Film: A Critical History. Indiana University Press. p. 418. ISBN 978-0-253-20706-7.
- 1 2 Niemi, Robert (2006). "In the Year of the Pig (1968)". History in the Media: Film and Television. ABC-CLIO. p. 154. ISBN 9781576079522.
- ↑ Rosenbaum, Jonathan (May 18, 1990). "The Life and File of an Anarchist Filmmaker". The Chicago Reader.
- ↑ Thompson, Howard (November 11, 1969). "The Screen:' In the Year of the Pig,' Documentary, Bows". The New York Times.
- ↑ Lewis, Randolph (2000). "In the Year of the Pig". Emile de Antonio: Radical Filmmaker in Cold War America. University of Wisconsin Press. p. 92. ISBN 9780299169138.
- ↑ "Cold War Chronicles: The Films of Emile de Antonio". Harvard Film Archive. September 10–29, 2004. Archived from the original on 2007-09-27.
- ↑ In the Year of the Pig (DVD (region 1)). Home Vision Entertainment. September 20, 2005. ISBN 9780780030404. OCLC 61251191.