This film is what a documentary should be:
(1) It teaches you something. I think I know quite a bit about American history. I'm 47 years old, so I lived through the Vietnam war -- and I paid attention to current events. I studied U.S. history as a graduate student, too. Yet I still learned a great deal from this film, particularly about the second world war and the Cuban missle crisis. (2) It is well edited. Errol Morris did an excellent job of selecting the portions of his extensive interviews with Robert McNamara that best represented what McNamara had to say. It is clear that his subject was someone who thought carefully even as speaking, since the editing suggests that a lot of pauses were cut out to create a smooth flow of thought on McNamara's part. (3) The choice of archive footage complements the commentary very well, illustrating the point and providing additional information as well. Particularly chilling was the montage of photos and captions that Morris selected to show while McNamara was describing the firebombing of Japan during World War II. (4) While it has a point of view, the film does not hammer you over the head with it, a flaw that I find a bit off-putting about the recent spate of popular documentaries by Michael Moore and Morgan Spurlock.
This is a truly outstanding documentary. It should be required viewing (along with the special features on the DVD)for anyone interested in U.S. military policy. If only we had paid attention to McNamara's lessons before invading Iraq, perhaps we would not be spending $200 billion and 1,000 soldiers' lives going it alone . . .
(1) It teaches you something. I think I know quite a bit about American history. I'm 47 years old, so I lived through the Vietnam war -- and I paid attention to current events. I studied U.S. history as a graduate student, too. Yet I still learned a great deal from this film, particularly about the second world war and the Cuban missle crisis. (2) It is well edited. Errol Morris did an excellent job of selecting the portions of his extensive interviews with Robert McNamara that best represented what McNamara had to say. It is clear that his subject was someone who thought carefully even as speaking, since the editing suggests that a lot of pauses were cut out to create a smooth flow of thought on McNamara's part. (3) The choice of archive footage complements the commentary very well, illustrating the point and providing additional information as well. Particularly chilling was the montage of photos and captions that Morris selected to show while McNamara was describing the firebombing of Japan during World War II. (4) While it has a point of view, the film does not hammer you over the head with it, a flaw that I find a bit off-putting about the recent spate of popular documentaries by Michael Moore and Morgan Spurlock.
This is a truly outstanding documentary. It should be required viewing (along with the special features on the DVD)for anyone interested in U.S. military policy. If only we had paid attention to McNamara's lessons before invading Iraq, perhaps we would not be spending $200 billion and 1,000 soldiers' lives going it alone . . .
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