One of the most important documentary filmmakers around, author in 1978 of Gates of Heaven, a work considered by many to be revolutionary, of A Brief History of Time, on the life of the English astrophysicist Stephen Hawking, and of two precious ‘civilian documents’ such as The Thin Line Blue and Mr. Death Errol Morris was honoured in the 56th edition of the Cannes Film Festival with the presentation of his latest work, The Fog of War, in the prestigious section of the Séances Spéciales. His new portrait is dedicated to one of the most controversial and important figures in US political history of the last fifty years, Robert McNamara, former president of Ford, secretary of defence with JFK and Lyndon Johnson and then for thirty years a leading figure of the World Bank. A Harvard University prodigy, McNamara began his political career very early, playing a leading role in planning the bombing that killed one hundred thousand people in Tokyo in 1945. Upon returning to the US, McNamara was called to a management role at Ford, becoming the first non-Ford president of the car company a few years later. His leap into the political arena came with J.F. Kennedy, who proposed that he become Secretary of Defense, after receiving his no at the Treasury Secretary. From that moment on, all the most delicate moments of American political life, such as the Cuban missile crisis, the emergency following the assassination of his friend JFK, and the turbulent events of the Vietnam campaign, were managed behind the scenes by the ubiquitous McNamara. The words of the protagonist are the common thread of the documentary that Morris has enriched with precious documents, photos, audio recordings and period films, precious pieces for the reconstruction of difficult years for the US and for the entire world. Morris's great documentary sensitivity also emerges in the way he manages to let the intimate dimension of McNamara, the man behind the mask, emerge between the words of the faithful servant of the State. The happy marriage with his wife Marg, met at university, the children, the killing of the 'friendly president', the conflicts with the family and with Johnson himself on Vietnam, the disappearance of his wife, the weight of political responsibility are the moments in which the political news leaves room for human warmth. A document of great historical and civil importance (fortunately purchased for Italy), The Fog of War helps to clear the fog that surrounds some key moments of the Cold War, focusing on some episodes that are nothing short of dramatic. How would you define the conversation between a frightened Lyndon Johnson who asks McNamara what to do in Vietnam?
Francesco Zippel
