http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/rothermel010409.html FTA -- Now More Than Ever by Jay RothermelFTA (Dir. Francine Parker, 1972).Preamble: "This film was made in association with the servicewomen and men stationed on the United States bases of the Pacific Rim, together with their friends whose lands they presently occupy." Accepting his Oscar for Best Actor, Sean Penn jokingly referred to the Academy as lovers of "commies and homos." It's a tribute to the low level of politics among our cultural workers today that Sean Penn would be surprised at acknowledgement of his performance. The Academy loves movies about exceptional heroes, whether they are overcoming physical disabilities, sports team segregation, the Holocaust, or the Roman Empire.The entertainment industrial complex also loves it when its celebrities serve as a prophylactic for US humanitarian imperialism in countries like Sudan or Tibet. (Poor Rose McGowan, conversely, hasn't been heard or seen since expressing understanding for what motivated men and women in Ireland to join the IRA.) All of which brings us to the opposite end of the movie food chain, far from the heights of Oscardom: FTA, Francine Parker's documentary about the "Free the Army" tour. Washington and Wall Street long ago erased this movie. The miracle of globalized media today, however, means we can sit at home and watch it on DVD or its showing on that greener-than-green parrot cage called the Sundance Channel.What strikes the viewer first about FTA is the humility, sense of proportion, and optimism the film has about events it depicts. We are a long way here from the old Michael Moore bazooka and the longeurs of Ken Burns, Inc.There are many similarities between FTA and the great rock concert documentaries of the same period: only a few lines of narration for context, and then getting out of the way of the performances.FTA the movie was long ago blacklisted from theaters, just as FTA the traveling political musical extravaganza was blacklisted from history. A key part of the "culture war" trumpeted by media and academic hacks of the Bill Bennett-David Horowitz-Rush Limbaugh variety (and which is itself part of a larger 30 year war against the gains of the labor, civil rights, women's, and anti-war movements) is the depiction of the those opposed to the Vietnam War as "stabbing our troops in the back." One tonic effect of FTA's DVD release and Sundance showing is to put the lie to that libel. As Washington's invasion and war against the people of Vietnam proceeded, one of the greatest concentrations of anti-war sentiment and activism was found among GIs themselves. The script for the FTA revue itself was drawn exclusively from material GIs published in their own anti-war newspapers.FTA was the product of a flourishing anti-war culture. Today we see this culture boiled down to a History Channel "flower power" documentary, histories like Tom Brokaw's Boom, and the memoirs of Senators and ex-Senators like John Kerry and Bob Kerry. But Vietnam's war of independence at its height inspired militants around the world, from Che Guevara's guerillas to the 1968 strikers in France.One of the great pleasures of FTA is the forthright energy of the performers and their audience. The GIs heard their own thoughts -- salty, sarcastic, and full of gallows humor and solidarity at the same time -- repeated back to them. The leaps of consciousness over just a few years as they rejected each rationale of the Washington war machine confirmed the anti-war movement's strategy of orienting to these "workers in uniform." The cast of the FTA revue is filled with gifted performers. They continued with their artistic careers after the U.S. anti-war tide receded. It is a pleasure to see them in their youth, energized by work that gave shape to the feelings of the immense majority. Between concerts they marched in solidarity with local activists protesting Washington's devastating "military base colonialism" in the Philippines, Okinawa, and Japan.Today one of the movie FTA's great strengths is its potential as a recruiting tool. It is the perfect length to have classes, meetings, and potlucks built around it. The moral authority of the movie is without equal: completely ignoring the pundits and the bi-partisan Wall Street war party in Washington, it lets the anti-war GIs speak for themselves.Jay Rothermel lives in Cleveland, Ohio.

This is like those old CSO shows during world War II with Bob hope and the Andrews Sisters.Trade Europe for Viet Nam and bring in Fonda, Sutherland, and Boyle and there's the diff.While the social commentary between the acts was clearly against the war, no soldiers were catching heat for it. It was made clear that they deserved pity too. Despite Fonda's semi-traitorous politics, she never really was angry at the common men. It's the brass and the suits that catch it here.And it's amusing seeing Donald Sutherland combine his 'Hawkeye' character from M*A*S*H and "Oddball" from Kelly's Heroes and throw in a dash of Ed Sullivan. He still sounds like he's got a mouth full of grits.Rumors say that Peter Boyle's scenes were used against his will. But I'm not sure of the facts.Hearts & Minds with humor. Worth a look...IF you can find it.

FTA is a time capsule that should only be opened by those who lived through it, and even then, maybe not...This is the story of a group of actors and actresses who toured around the world playing near US military bases with a show called FTA for "Free" The Army. The acting troop is lead by Jane Fonda and Donald Sutherland. The film is a combination of performances and interviews with the GI's from the bases. Its nothing you probably haven't seen before in other ways, heart felt songs about how we love the soldiers but hate the war, general protest songs, skits about how absurd the war is and general silliness. Very little of it actually holds up as funny or touching, although some of the ideas work in structure if not execution, Donald Sutherland doing a play by play of a battle as a football game is very clever, but not very funny.I completely understand why this film hasn't been seen in 30 years, it simply is not very good. I doubt highly that this film would have ever played well to any group other than those near the army bases at the time. Its a starry eyed version of a college frolic.The naiveté of many of the actors is very hard to take. The "war is bad" attitude they have is nice and simple, but when mixed with the uncertainty expressed by the soldiers who are actually in harms way, the show comes off too sweet. The film shows clearly why Jane Fonda is hated by many people and still called "Hanoi Jane", since she comes off as a spoiled rich girl who doesn't really have a clue as to what is going on in reality. Donald Sutherland, for what ever reason, seems to carry a weight and understanding most of his fellow performers don't, and I felt he had a better grasp of what was going on.I wanted to like this film, especially owing to some of the parallels with the present war in Iraq. I was hoping to find some kernel of truth to take away, some insight into a country at war with another country and itself, and instead I found just a quaint period piece that was never in touch with anytime, even its own.I can't recommend anyone see this, unless you are a Fonda or Sutherland completest or if you are a student of the Viet Nam war and its effects on the home front.

This film doesn't seem to be in the official filmographies for either Jane Fonda or Donald Sutherland. It is easy to cast stones at the youthful excesses of the cast of this awful movie but I am glad that some of the theatre I was responsible for in college was not filmed. The ensemble filmed a series of sketches performed outside of army bases in the Pacific Rim and although I agree with the leftie politics espoused, there is nothing of interest here. I would rather watch Congress perform "Oh, Calcutta" WITH the nude scenes than sit through this mess again.