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10 / 10

Even more poignant now
I’d seen this movie a couple of times, the first time in the theater when it came out.

At that time, it seemed we’d learned a lesson about war. Viet Nam was over.

So watching it again last night was even more poignant – did we really learn anything, back then? I don’t think this is a heavily politicized movie, although it doesn’t really show any positive effects of war, doesn’t say anything positive about fighting in Viet Nam. How could it, really? They had the recruiter speaking at the high school, about duty and honor and serving the country, all true. But could he say, about Viet Nam, that we “won” or “freed” anyone?

So showing an unflinching catalog of the aftermath of battle becomes anti-war, simply because war is horrible. Very little dialog is devoted to telling us war is wrong. We can decide for ourselves based on what we see.

Another comment says this: “One could actually describe the film as the 1970s’ answer to William Wyler’s The Best Years of Our Lives (1946). ” That’s an excellent point. Nothing was said in “Best Years” (one of my favorite movies) that was anti-war. In fact, there is a scene in that film where the lead characters get in a fist fight with a man who says the war was a mistake. But we still saw the aftermath, the horrible wounds inflicted, the PTSD that they called “shell shock” back then, the disruption in home life, the difficulty resuming life at home. The film manages to tell the truth about war (up to a point) without being “anti-war”.

Fonda’s character does not become politicized. She wakes up to a certain extent but never takes a side on the issue. She supports her husband and hurts when he hurts. She supports Voight’s character and hurts when he hurts. She’s compassionate with the soldiers she encounters at her job. She never comments on whether Viet Nam was right or wrong. She only reacts to the pain she sees around her. Taking off her bra and letting her hair curl again, dressing like a hippy, aren’t political statements about war. That was just the end of the 50’s/early 60’s mentality she’d been living under.

Dern’s character doesn’t have a lot of screen time but what he does have is riveting. He’s tormented. He has no opinion about whether “the” war is right or wrong, only that “war” is awful.

People can say what they want about Fonda, but she plays this one pretty close to the vest. Her character never says “Gee, we shouldn’t have gone to Viet Nam.” She reacts with compassion, not judgment or recrimination.

I don’t necessarily like Fonda in most films, but her turn in this one is excellent. Voight and Dern are likewise excellent, making us feel the confusion, anger and pain of their characters.

A classic movie that everyone should see.Read More