Narrative background scrolls up the screen after a few opening titles.William Munny, a reputed outlaw, buries his young, 29 year old wife after she died of smallpox:She was a comely young woman and not without prospects...?" [The snake is a potent sexual symbol, although it has a female name.] After being assured that Emma hadn't followed them down into the room, she invites him to accompany her to a chaise lounge.Although Gilbert's career star was fading, Garbo insisted that he play the male lead role (although Laurence Olivier had been the original choice).Others hat swept across movie screens in the late 70's and 80s to illustrate he 'hellish', futile conditions of bloody Vietnam War combat included:the Oscar-winning documentaryHearts and Minds (1974)Francis Ford Coppola'sApocalypse Now (1979)Oliver Stone'sPlatoon (1986)Stanley Kubrick'sFull Metal Jacket (1987)John Irvin'sHamburger Hill (1987)Oliver Stone'sBorn on the Fourth of July (1989)Brian De Palma'sCasualties of War (1989)This film received nine Academy Award nominations (including Best Actor (Robert De Niro), Best Supporting Actress (Meryl Streep), Best Cinematography (by Vilmos Zsigmond - who had just filmed Spielberg'sClose Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)), and Best Original Screenplay), and won five Oscars: Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor (Christopher Walken), Best Director, Best Sound, and Best Film Editing.