The new 40-minute documentary, In My Living Room, consists of reflections about the Vietnam War by Pat Toal, a federal administrative court judge in Chicago who did a tour as an Army artilleryman in Vietnam in 1968. Director Harriet Spizziri asks a few on-camera questions (”Can you tell me what a Bronze Star is?”) and Toal responds for a good 35 minutes sitting in the director’s livingroom. Many of his answers are illuminating and insightful. Spizziri, who is a stage director in the Windy City, intersperses Toal’s musings with still photos of him in Vietnam, footage of antiwar protests and lots of images of artwork, many of them disturbing, from drawings and paintings by Vietnam veterans from the National Vietnam Veterans Art Musuem in Chicago. You can learn more about this documentary and see a clip, at the film’s website.
Review by Marc Leepson at the Arts of War on the Web May 5th
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