Questions about Southern Comfort

Maybe they had it take place in 1973 to be closer to when Deliverance was filmed (1972)...or maybe because no one would believe wild backwoods Cajuns were taking on the military in 1981?

National Guard is of course voluntary but at least in the past, most of the members probably didn't took it that seriously. Here in Finland we still have universal conscription meaning that any adult male must take at least 6 months basic military training although those incapable of military service are exempt and you can do civil service (working at hospitals, schools etc.) if you are opposed to armed military service.

Sometimes those who are in the reserve (back in civilian life, having done their 6+ months of armed service) are called up for refreshment training which is like those National Guard training camps. They spend a week in some military installation practicing marksmanship and doing some war games, sometimes sleeping in the forest and fighting OPFOR with blanks. Most of the time, this is quite relaxed. They make coffee and cook sausages over a bonfire and bond with their old military mates. If there's a chance, they might even sneak into a local pub and have a pint in the evening.

Even though this is practically mandatory for all those involved, one can observe that even those guys who were the most "pro-military" during the initial basic training are not taking taking these exercises very seriously. All those who are not career soldiers have very different civilian lives to lead and no matter how militaristic you are, it is hard to adjust to military life after doing something else. So it all comes down to ridiculing commanding officers and just having a good time with your old friends while camping in the training area. They are truly "weekend soldiers". They hate being there but in some way or another, most of them love it too. I guess that goes for the National Guard as well.

Guard is voluntary, but it got you a free ticket out of going to Nam, so many joined it in those days, and were not too happy about it. It was just something they felt they needed to do to avoid something worse.

Our War-Hero, Military man President, joined the Texas guard since his Daddy arranged it for him to avoid Nam.

I can't answer 1) or 2) but the rest are simple.In the movie only a handful of folks are real cajuns.I was a extra in the movie and consulted on filming locations around Caddo Lake where the majority of this film was shot.Most of the folks you see are from the small east texas towns of Uncertain (yes it's a real town on the western shore of Caddo Lake) Jefferson and Marshall Tx. The geography is typical of many areas in Texas,Louisiana and most other southern states. Swamps are not uncommon down here. However Caddo is very easy to access which makes it suitable for filmmaking. Other movies film there include Universal Soldier II, Soggy Bottoms USA, The Long Hot Summer etc... The town was just a facade, it was a leftover movie set from the filming of Soggy Bottoms USA. I truly enjoyed working on this film and yes they really killed the pig... I ate some of him and he was quite tasty! :)

Cheers
Joey Warren

I think setting it in 1973 gives it the end stages of US involvement in Vietnam as a backdrop, which was intentional. Also one character references the Guard being used against protesters, a feature of the time (Kent State, but I think there were also violent incidents in New Orleans).

"Chicken soup - with a *beep* straw."

1. I can only imagine it ties into the Vietnam War, and perhaps a way of explaining why these guardsmen are such total idiots and incompetents -- anyone of draft age would've have been in Vietnam, and anyone else wouldn't be in the Guard.

2. Most people in the guard do regular jobs at bases when they have duty, field exercises are infrequent and seen as a giant unpleasant waste of time run by incompetent leaders.

3. My guess is they hired locals as extras. It'd be way cheaper than using real extras, costuming them, etc.

4. There are swampy areas all along the gulf from Texas to Florida, but there is a lot of this in South Louisiana. And it looks JUST like this. I took an air boat ride (from a French-speaking Cajun who made his living as a hunting and fishing guide) and it's astonishing how much of a jungle it is. You get a mile into it, and you're in another world.

5. I generally doubt it. Maybe before 1950 there would be remote communities with older people who spoke little English, but English was probably a grudging necessity and hard to not learn, especially with it mandated in public schools. As I said above, we went air boating with a Cajun in 1999, and he was probably 60 and had no accent, but could speak fluent French. He told me it was spoken at home, especially among his parents generation, but that everybody knew English because you had to for the most part if you interfaced with the outside world.

I think you'd have to go back pretty far to find French-only communities.