Documentary Movie Reviews

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The Fog of War (2003)

Rate: 3
Viewed: 5/17

FogW
5/17: I started with Path to War and found it illuminating.

Then, I searched for any other films on the subject which yielded the documentary The Fog of War. When I learned who the director was, I cringed...really hard.

Errol Morris isn't a competent documentary filmmaker. He's the master of the art of manipulation and deceptive editing. Think of Nanook of the North. The Thin Blue Line is a very good example of what I mean: showing the same story and useless close-up shots of mundane objects repeatedly while withholding important information until it's ready to be released.

Another trouble with The Thin Blue Line is the lack of respect for victims. You do not ever, in any circumstances, put a criminal in the limelight. It's exactly what happened with the Vidor killer when he was allowed the freedom to say and behave as he pleased. Errol Morris will do it again with Robert McNamara for The Fog of War. He simply lacks credentials. This time, he lets McNamara control the interview by answering any questions he thinks that are appropriate and avoiding the tough ones which is always a sure sign of a bad interview.

When I think of the worst Americans ever in the history of the United States, Robert McNamara comes to my mind. In the documentary, he admitted that he should've been tried as a war criminal. Of course, no shit. The people knew that already during the 60's-70's. Armed with zero knowledge of the historical conflict in Vietnam, Robert McNamara used statistics to play war games and had no concept of countless lives that were being destroyed because all he cared was whether his projections were met or not. If not, then he would readjust them that's based on new data.

Another mistake of the documentary is how one-sided it is. Robert McNamara is a proven liar (remember the USS Liberty cover-up?), having lied to the public repeatedly and misled the officials about the state of the Vietnam War. How am I supposed to know he's telling the truth? Psst, he's not.

Fuck the lessons. The whole thing is a damn joke: irrelevant and disrespectful to the victims of the war. Even worse is the MTV-like editing job. How can Errol Morris have any shred of credibility by presenting the useless razzle–dazzle graphics while dealing with a serious matter? Does he realize more than three, maybe four, million people died in the war?

All in all, Robert McNamara goes down in history as one of the world's largest mass murderers; notice how he cried not for the people who died in Vietnam but for JFK, having selected the "most beautiful spot in Arlington National Cemetery" for his grave site.