The Fog of War
Buy or rent this DVD. It is really amazing.
It's Robert McNamara describing his experiences as Secretary of Defense under Kennedy and Johnson, and during the Viet Nam era.
You end up watching this man, a "talking head," for so long. While there are a handful of shots of him driving what looks like a Ford Taurus past the Pentagon and a number of other government landmarks, almost all footage showing a contemporary Robert McNamara seems to be a single-camera setup.
He is trying to be honest, but does not promise to be self-revelatory.
Others speculate that it is his shot at redemption. If you know his work at Ford, you know that he's not really a redemption kind of guy. Rather, he's more a scientist or engineer. He want's to contribute to a growing body of knowledge. He's [obviously] not afraid to make mistakes, so long as they are cataloged and recorded. So long as we all learn from them. That's why he made this film.
There are moments of emotion - for example, when he talks about John Kennedy's death. But it's not a confessional. He says more than once, "I'm not going to go into this," because it relates to private matters.
Watch his eyes. Watch how hard it is for him to do what he feels so strongly compelled to do: somehow add meaning to his experiences by teaching us. The pain his eyes express sometimes is at once awful and compelling.
I don't think he made this movie to earn absolution. He's the kind of guy who would claim absolution as a matter of right. No, he wants us to learn, and to enable that by as much lucidity and honesty as he can muster.
Most leaders don't care enough about us to take this effort. As much as a reasonable person could hate McNamara, I thank him for trying to teach us.
It's like hearing someone already in hell trying to offer a word of warning.
It's Robert McNamara describing his experiences as Secretary of Defense under Kennedy and Johnson, and during the Viet Nam era.
You end up watching this man, a "talking head," for so long. While there are a handful of shots of him driving what looks like a Ford Taurus past the Pentagon and a number of other government landmarks, almost all footage showing a contemporary Robert McNamara seems to be a single-camera setup.
He is trying to be honest, but does not promise to be self-revelatory.
Others speculate that it is his shot at redemption. If you know his work at Ford, you know that he's not really a redemption kind of guy. Rather, he's more a scientist or engineer. He want's to contribute to a growing body of knowledge. He's [obviously] not afraid to make mistakes, so long as they are cataloged and recorded. So long as we all learn from them. That's why he made this film.
There are moments of emotion - for example, when he talks about John Kennedy's death. But it's not a confessional. He says more than once, "I'm not going to go into this," because it relates to private matters.
Watch his eyes. Watch how hard it is for him to do what he feels so strongly compelled to do: somehow add meaning to his experiences by teaching us. The pain his eyes express sometimes is at once awful and compelling.
I don't think he made this movie to earn absolution. He's the kind of guy who would claim absolution as a matter of right. No, he wants us to learn, and to enable that by as much lucidity and honesty as he can muster.
Most leaders don't care enough about us to take this effort. As much as a reasonable person could hate McNamara, I thank him for trying to teach us.
It's like hearing someone already in hell trying to offer a word of warning.
posted by John Bernat @ 9:01 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home