Fog of War, The
1/2

Errol Morris's The Fog of War could have easily been a political film. It could have served as an assault on its subject, Robert S. McNamara, letting him speak while attacking him behind his back. It could have been an attack on the Vietnam War, or World War II, or War in General. Or it could have been an opportunity for McNamara to defend himself for his involvement in WWII and Vietnam, blaming others for what happened. But it isn't any of these things; instead, it is a consistantly fascinating and involving documentary about McNamara's life and what he has learned throughout.

The credit for the film's success has to be shared by both documentarian Errol Morris and McNamara. Morris, for asking the right questions and never letting his political views get in the way, and McNamara, for speaking openly and candidly on a variety of topics.

The Fog of War is the result of over twenty hours of interviews with McNamara, the Secretary of Defense for both John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson. McNamara's childhood is touched on briefly, but the majority of the film takes place between his involvement in World War II and his resignment/firing from his position under LBJ. Very few of Morris's words are heard, so what we are left with is one long narration from McNamara, spiced up with news footage, recorded conversations, and plenty of Morris's interesting visuals (including an oft-repeated shot of dominoes falling on a map of south-east Asia).

One would be excused for thinking that 106 minutes of hearing someone talk, but McNamara is lucid and intelligent, even at 85, and he is always a joy to listen to. His words resonate with wisdom and experience, and we find ourselves respecting everything he says, whether we agree with him or not. He admits his mistakes, criticizes some of those he worked with, and examines the difficulty that comes with being the most powerful nation in the world.

The film is structured into "Eleven Lessons" from McNamara's life, with each one beginning a new section of the film. This method is both interesting and tiring, as some of the lessons, as thought-provoking or timely as they may be in context, don't seem particularly impressive when written out on the big screen. When McNamara discusses them, we listen with interest; when we see them, we roll our eyes.

There is one topic on which McNamara refuses to comment, and that is why, after leaving the Johnson administration, he did not speak out against the Vietnam War. McNamara realistically sees this question as a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" scenario, and he states that he would rather be damned if he doesn't. I both understand and respect his position on this, but I can't help but wish that he had expanded on the topic a little.

Still, this is a minor quibble in the face of the torrent of interesting facts and thoughts brought out by McNamara. Many of the points he makes are especially fascinating in the context of what is currently happening in our country. He states that if the United States had lost World War II, he would have been tried as a war criminal; but since we won, nothing happened. "What," he asks, "makes something moral if we win but immoral if we don't?" Particularly timely is this statement about Vietnam: "If we can't persuade nations with comparable values of the merit of our cause, we'd better re-examine our reasoning."

With stuff like that in here, I can't help but think that maybe some of those in power would do well to see this film and take its Lessons to heart.

© 2004 Matt Noller