Fog Of War

Year: 2003

Grade: B+

Country: USA

Director: Morris

Review

there’s a lot to say about this one. morris is a great filmmaker; he and moore are the best in the documentary business right now. i don’t know all that much about robert mcnamara, but he proves himself to be ripe for the morris treatment. more about that on my review below. i’ll just say that this film is really simple in its structure, but is complex in its content. morris breaks the film up into several chapters in order to frame the following information for the viewer. this kind of film is absolutely invaluable because it allows a former secretary of defense partly responsible for the deaths of thousands of people a chance to discuss the past in a frank manner. i honestly can’t think of a better way to learn from the past. in other morris films the main character is balanced by interviews from contrasting individuals or people on the other side of the aisle. in fog of war morris allows mcnamara to speak for himself, and he’s remarkably introspective and candid. morris does balance things a bit by showing popular contemporary reactions to his policies in the form of newspaper clippings or political cartoons, but his ideas are mostly left raw for the audience to decide and since he is frank about his mistakes and failures i think it’s fine that morris omits interviews from his opponents. a very worthwhile film that couldn’t have come at a better time. better than capturing the friedmans, but probably won’t take home the oscar.

Watched in theater