If
yesterday I declared Gus Van Sant’s Elephant as the best film I’ve
seen so far this year, then Errol Morris’ The Fog of War takes the
prize for best documentary. Please understand, I’m not trying to overdo things
with superlatives – it is still only October.
The Fog of War is a first person account of Robert S. McNamara, former
Secretary of Defense and arguably the architect of the Vietnam War. The entire
film is from his point of view, interviewed in his mid-80s with a great deal of
wits about him, and it offers very little contextualization. He’s the ultimate
unreliable narrator. His accounts of being opposed to the war in Vietnam are
typically out of step with many history books. No matter the truth, he’s lived
a full life – from a child of the depression to Harvard to World War II to
President of Ford to Secretary of Defense (leaving in disgrace) to President of
the World Bank.
As in all his films, Errol Morris combines interviews with archival footage and
staged images. It’s an amazing conglomeration of reality and distortion set to
a score by Philip Glass and held together by editors Karen Schmeer, Doug Abel
and Chyld King. Morris’ films go beyond typical documentary filmmaking – a
document of events – and enter into a world of composition. They’re genuine
works of art.
-Copyright 2003 by Jamie
Stuart