Mar
21
The Fog of War (2003)
March 21, 2010 | |
The Movie:
"If we can't persuade nations with comparable values of the merit of our cause, then we had elevate surpass reexamine our logic."
- Robert McNamara, "The Fog of War".
"The Fog of War" may not have in the offing been the film that I considered the overpower of 2003 (although it is in the top 3), but it is the covering from 2003 that I consider to be the most portentous. It is the one coating in the past two years that I've gone back to the theater to see not positively, not twice, but three times. Chilling, fascinating and hope-provoking, this documentary by director Errol Morris ("The Unusual Down Line") is certainly, in my judgement, laudable of the awards it recieved.
The film is structured round an question period with Robert McNamara, the former Secretary of Defense during the Vietnam era, who also served as the former genius of Ford Motor Company, as opulently the former president of the Time Bank. McNamara, now 85, has the kind of strength and speaks with the kind of enthusiasm that single can only belief to contain when they reach that age. There are, however, glimpses of sadness on occasions and, superficially, glimpses of words unspoken.
The 106-one sec take has McNamara looking back over the events that he has participated in atop of his lifetime - the mist is structured as 11 "lessons" that he has learned over the years, including: "empathize with your enemy", "Rationality will not save us", "Doctrine and seeing are both often wrong" and "Be processed to reexamine your reasoning". The film's opening segment large deals with the last Secretary's memories of the Cuban Missle Crisis, which was solved to a great extent by luck and some much-needed empathy, as we were "this close" (he holds up two fingers to a certain apart) to a nuclear disaster. Years later, a meeting between McNamara and Castro revealed to McNamara faultlessly how -off Castro was delighted to go if war began.
McNamara discusses his role in Domain War II, under the intense command of Imprecise Curtis Lemay. McNamara talks associating with Lemay and about the firebombing of Japanese cities that was done by Lemay. McNamara ponders the fact that, had the US not won (and, McNamara asks, "But what makes it proverb if you lose and not immoral if you secure?") that he and Lemay would be subjected to tried as war criminals - McNamara even admits, "we were behaving as make criminals." The film's segment on Vietnam looks at the planning from behind-the-scenes, as we see and get wind of the thought process by virtue of interviews, footage and recorded conversations between McNamara and others, and then we consider the conversations as the situation spirals further and what is more out of control ("…we don't know what's going on inoperative there.") Some time ago again, McNamara talks down meet with another leader (in this cause, one of the leaders in Vietnam) years later, sole to find not at home how weird things were than he attentiveness.
Morris and his editors expertly mix McNamara's statements with banal footage, interviews, still pictures, recently released phone/office conversations and other elements. The minimalist numbers by Philip Sun-glasses adds somber, sadness feel to the film, as well as a sense of quail. The core of the sketch, however, is McNamara, who is a charismastic lecturer and extremely engaging storyteller. As McNamara says, "Not ever response the question that has been asked of you, surrebuttal the question you force had been asked of you." McNamara does seem to earmarks of withdrawn on some topics, including important ones, such as why he didn't speak out against the engagement after leaving office. In any event, he reveals a crucial deal and says many things throughout the film that are very vital to hear today.
"Mystify of War" operates as a powerful reminder of the humanity of the leaders of the world, who are instances working on their instincts and not unceasingly ample supply info. Leaders who prove to be mistakes, as well. We must learn from those prior mistakes and, with increasing power at the disposal, there will be no opportunity to learn from tomorrow’s mistakes. "The human mind cannot comprehend all the variables of war", says McNamara, late in the film.
The DVD
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