FTA

One of the guys who was there, shared this with me. I looked it up today because Donald Sutherland just passed away, but most importantly, I knew some of these Marines. I was once married to one of them. This film was and still is, a very important timepiece. It was a bit slow but I liked Donald Sutherland smile at parts. Imagine my surprise, when I heard a familiar voice! There was this Marine from Beaver Dam, KY. That I knew quite well. He was a character and he also hated this war. These guys were drafted into a war that they didn't believe in. One young man said, "it was jail or the military." I suppose that most people except that age group, those who served or in my case, knew some of the guys who got a speaking role.

So after a year of enduring a "long wait" listing on Netflix, I finally got FTA in the mail yesterday and just watched it on DVD. A chronicle of Jane Fonda and Donald Sutherland's travails through the Pacific Rim with their fellow players for the title tour during 1971, we not only see them performing their skits and songs, we also see the disillusioned soldiers commenting on how they don't really understand or like the orders they're having to take during the then-current events of the Vietnam War. I was especially fascinated by the Philippines segment as both of my parents are from there and had left it long before that time. I liked many of the songs that were performed. The skits, not as much, but there were some amusing ones like Sutherland and a fellow player's play-by-play commentary of war as if they're at a football game! It seemed to drag near the end but still, I'm glad I watched FTA. Update: 10/5/14-There's a nice extra of Ms. Fonda talking about her experiences during the FTA tour. Well worth seeking on the disc.

The point of viewing this film is not only to see the theatrical skits performed by young stars like Jane Fonda and Donald Sutherland, but to see those skits in context, filmed as they were performed on and near military bases around the world, to audiences of American troops, as the U.S. was in the midst of the Viet Nam war. Like most vaudeville, the skits were an excuse for political and social commentary, though some of them were funny and others were quite moving. The music was also excellent. What is most remarkable in the film, though, are the interviews with soldiers on active duty in wartime, and the camera pans of vast crowds of soldiers watching the stage performance avidly. It brings home the support that the peace movement had even with active duty troops in wartime. It's exceptionally difficult to get a copy of this film in the U.S., though there are some copies still in circulation in Europe. If you ever get a chance to see it, don't miss it--it's an important slice of U.S. history, long buried and forgotten. Today we remember (falsely) that peaceniks spat upon veterans. This gives the lie to that urban myth. In fact, the peace movement and veterans were often strongly aligned, as both groups were dedicated to "supporting the troops" by bringing them home.

unfortunately, in other reviews made about this film there is a lack of

understanding. The time and place of this movie are the two things that are of utmost importance to comprehend, only with the comforting feeling of ignorance can the point of this material be avoided. Being the residual of a post-Vietnam society that resides in the same state on this day of November 1st, 2004 as it did when this film was made, can we still be so blinded by the pure'ed peas of pride. I would hope, all attention deficits and outside influences aside that you would be capable of seeing this film with an open mind.

i applaud your effort. HL

Jane Fonda and Donald Sutherland headline an anti-war tour around military establishments. In the opening, Jane claims that there is a large contingent of military personnel opposed to the war. This is their response to the Bob Hope patriotism and pro-war USO tours. The film was pulled quickly after Jane's Hanoi visit and most copies destroyed. This is a very compelling time capsule. The anti-war movement can be portrayed as lamb to the slaughter. In this case, this group is quite confrontational. I am especially struck by the lyrics from the Okinawa singing group. This is unapologetically anti-Americanism. Some of this goes over the line for me but I didn't live through that time. As a film, it's a little rough technically at times. The filmmaking is not the best but that is not the most important.