Review of In the Year of the Pig (1969) by Walter M — 02 Jul 2016

[font=Century Gothic]For those that are knowledgeable about the Vietnam War, there will be nothing new to be found in the documentary "In the Year of the Pig." When it was made in 1968, it may have felt like a radical breath of fresh air, linking the Cold War and anti-Communist rhetoric to the tragedy of Vietnam. Speaking of which, President Kennedy, himself a fervent anti-Communist, surprisingly gets a free pass when discussing whether or not he would have escalated American involvement in Vietnam if he had lived. I do think it was a definite possibility considering his aggressive handling of the Cuban Missile Crisis and employing the same brain surgeons who also advised President Johnson.[/font].

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[font=Century Gothic]Using archival footage and interviews with experts and politicians, "In the Year of the Pig" makes a detailed case for the hypocrisy of American politicians preaching democracy while not allowing self-determination when it came to Vietnam choosing its form of government, first in preventing the scheduled 1956 elections to unite the country and then supporting the repressive regimes of South Vietnam where the population was moved into strategic hamlets against their will and forced to vote in meaningless elections. Meanwhile in North Vietnam, the populace is armed in collective defense of which women were a very large and important part of.[/font].