The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara
Directed by Errol Morris
This film is essentially an interview with 85 year old Robert Strange McNamara, former US Secretary of Defence, serving Presidents John F Kennedy and Lyndon B Johnson.
McNamara is an engaging and fascinating character and he takes us through pivotal events in his life, from his university years to his service in World War II and his time as Secretary of Defense, where he talks of the Cuban missile crisis and the shambolic tragedy of the Vietnam war. McNamara makes no apologies for the decisions he made, and he admits that he made mistakes.
Everyone does. He tries to help us understand why they were made in an attempt to prevent the same mistakes being repeated. We see a man grappling with his doubts, particularly over Vietnam . While McNamara does reveal some interesting facts, he remains guarded on the major mistake of Vietnam and his somewhat delicate working relationship with Lyndon B Johnson.
Morris weaves an intriguing and compelling portrait of this confident, intelligent and analytical man through the use of rare archival footage, a suitably ominous Philip Glass soundscape and clever editing. The Fog of War is an amazing piece of documentary filmmaking. It puts a remarkably human face on the decisions made by world and military leaders in times of conflict, and due to human nature, will unfortunately be relevant for a long time to come. In short, a brilliant film.
Jonas Lloyd
