What The Critics Say

"The interviews were filmed a year before the war in Iraq. That so many of McNamara's lessons have come into play imbue "The Fog of War" with an eerie clarity." Jeff Strickler MINNEAPOLIS STAR TRIBUNE "This brilliant, uncompromising film should be seen by everyone." Ken Hanke MOUNTAIN XPRESS "It will knock you for a loop like no other movie this year." Peter Travers ROLLING STONE "A stunning documentary about former secretary of defense Robert S. McNamara that casts new light on his role in major American political events of the 20th century." Desson Thomson WASHINGTON POST "It is a profound examination of the troubling proposition that good or well-meaning people can help create horrible and evil events -- and be swept along in the turmoil they unleash." Michael Wilmington CHICAGO TRIBUNE

"With The Fog of War the human frailties of power and policy are brought into focus with our current situation. Who else is freaked out?" Jimmy O FILM SNOBS "A warning beacon about fog conditions that never subside but only shift to American military involvement in other parts of the world." Lisa Schwarzbaum ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY "Not only fascinating, it's important." Jeff Vice DESERET NEWS SALT LAKE CITY "An important and compelling film about the hubris of fallible men with unlimited power -- at once an eye-opening exploration of 20th-century history and a grippingly cautionary manifesto about current events." Shawn Levy OREGONIAN "Now, in Errol Morris' fascinating documentary, an 85-year-old McNamara looks squarely into Morris' camera and, with his eyes occasionally yielding tears, rehashes his life with a mixture of guilt, pride, candor, sadness and self-delusion." Jack Mathews NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

At A Glance

""The Fog of War" is a fascinating documentary, both an examination of the forces that guide nations and a portrait of an old man who slipped through his own fingers." Rob Thomas CAPITAL TIMES

Errol Morris isn't afraid to admit that he, like many of his time, protested against the Vietnam War. "I demonstrated against the war as an undergraduate at the University of Wisconsin and as a graduate student at Princeton," he said. "Although these demonstrations were after he [Robert S McNamarra] had left office, they were very much protests against the war in Vietnam." So why a film featuring the former Secretary of Defence? "I started to think about making the movie in 1995 following the publication of his book "In Retrospect". I found the book endlessly fascinating. But for me it raised more questions than it answered." How was that? "The book has been described as a "mea culpa" and as a "confession," but I found it different and far stranger than that," he explained. "It's not so much an apology as an attempt to understand how he and many others blundered into a disastrous war. There's no question that McNamara now feels that the war was wrong. But I wanted to know his own feelings." And was it an easy job getting him to do the film? "In fact it took very little convincing. I started talking to him in the spring of 2001 right after his book Wilson's Ghost was published. I honestly think when I called him that he thought I was part of the book tour. He loves coming to Cambridge. He loves going to Harvard and seeing the places where he used to live." And he was good to his word, even though he had some reservations? "Two days before the interview he called saying that although he had agreed to come up, it really didn't make much sense. He didn't really know why he had agreed to come. It was a bad idea. He went on and on but after going through a fairly extensive list of reasons as to why he shouldn't do the interview, he said, "But I said I would do it, so I will." And he did." And was the plan to make a full length feature documentary or had you envisaged something shorter? "I had in my mind that I was going to make a feature film, but I was worried about the interviews. It's not like I was talking to someone who has never been interviewed before. It's the exact opposite. He's someone who has literally been interviewed by thousands of journalists. He is not a person who is unsavvy or naïve in any way. And I was worried that he was going to give me the same interview that he's given everybody else." So were you ever in awe of him during the filmings, because he had to come back didn't he. It wasn't all done in one hit was it? "I was aware of his reputation for brilliance, and I wanted to show him respect on some very basic level," Morris says. "Is he really as bright as they say he is? Maybe it comes back to my suspicions about government in general. We've certainly been disabused of the notion that our Presidents have to be on the ball. Yet when I heard the tapes of the recordings that Kennedy made of discussions about the Cuban Missile Crisis, I felt that I was listening to a very smart, dedicated and accomplished group of people arguing the issues." His reaction to the first edited footage, how was that? "He liked what we had done, so yes, he came back." Then what happened? "We filmed another set of interviews and I asked him about Vietnam and more questions about the firebombing. I had the list of the Japanese cities and the companion cities in the U.S. That was set up by us. One of the most striking moments in the film is when he goes through that list of 67 cities." It's a very powerful moment isn't it? Morris agrees. "Hearing McNamara raise all of these ethical issues and questions about a war which most of us see as morally unambiguous is very, very powerful. What I like about The Fog of War is that it has proved possible to make a movie about events, events that are removed from us by 40, 50, 60 years but which are very much about today." I believe you made a concious effort to use archival materials that hadn't been used before. "We made enormous efforts to avoid using the same material that's been seen in thousands of other films," he said. "There is a lot of new material from the firebombing as well as the story of McNamara's early involvement with the war and his advising President Kennedy to pull all of the advisors out of Vietnam. A lot of the re-enactments of the Gulf of Tonkin are shots that came from the National Archives." And the firbombing footage and those tapes, where did they come from? "The B-29 footage is from a film called "The Last Bomb". Kennedy recorded Security Council and Executive Committee meetings, LBJ selectively recorded his phone conversations from the Oval Office." Can I ask what were your thoughts when McNamarra spoke about forgiving people for making the same excuse more than once? "At the heart of "The Fog of War" is this belief in human fallibility. It's one of the things that McNamara says at the very beginning of the movie. People make mistakes. People make the same mistake sometimes 2, 3, 4, 5 times. To me, the idea of people doing things because they're confused or guided by false beliefs makes the world a scary place." So is there a conclussion we can draw from that or have you one of your own? "I suppose it's the sense that we have learned nothing from the past, which makes the 11th lesson in the movie even more powerful and ironic." And that is? "That you can't change human nature," he says, "that this is the way we are;.confused, bellicose, and sometimes crazy. Essentially, we may all be fucked." The Music of Philip Glass

One powerful aspect of "The Fog Of War" which cannot be overlooked is the haunting soundtrack. Created by renown composer Philip Glass it is as memorable as the film itself. When asked why he chose Philip Glass, Errol Morris explained; "Well, no one does "existential dread" as well as Philip Glass. And this is a movie filled with existential dread." That dread rises and falls in beautiful time to the onscreen images. So who is Philip Glass? Born in 1937 he was introduced to the classics thanks to his father Ben Glass who owned a radio repair shop. His father would bring home records which didn't sell well. These happened to be recordings "of the great chamber works, and the future composer rapidly became familiar with Beethoven quartets, Schubert sonatas, Shostakovitch symphonies and other music then considered "offbeat". It was not until he was in his upper teens did Glass begin to encounter more "standard" classics." Philip Glass took up the violin at age six, the flute at eight and as a frustrated 15 year old high school student applied for admission to "the University of Chicago, passed and, with his parent's encouragement, moved to Chicago."

Here "he supported himself with part-time jobs waiting tables and loading airplanes at airports." By age 19, Glass had graduated from the University of Chicago [majoring in mathematics and philosophy] and moved to New York and attended the Julliard School. By age 23 had studied with Vincent Persichetti, Darius Milhaud and William Bergsma. His ambition was to become a composer. By 1974, "he had composed a large collection of new music, not only for use by the theater company Mabou Mines [Glass was one of the co-founders], but mainly for his own performing group, the Philip Glass Ensemble. There is no doubting his ambition has been fulfilled as the screen covers below show. Glass's "critically acclaimed film scores include: Kundun, directed by Martin Scorsese [1998 LA Critics Award, Academy, Golden Globe, and Grammy nomination for Best Original Score] and original music for The Truman Show directed by Peter Weir [1999 Golden Globe Award for Best Score]. No doubt the future will bring more great compositions and hopefully more awards for composer Philip Glass. The Fog Of War Interactive Website

The ideal companion to the movie or this review. Visit the interactive website. Pick a year and up pops Robert S McNamarra to deliver an insightful dialogue on the period. Definately a must see website. To visit "The Fog Of War" website just click the front page image above.

The Verdict "If you thought "Bowling For Columbine" deserved its Oscar at last years Academy Awards, then wait until you sit through "The Fog Of War" this years Oscar winner for Best Documentary. It's insightful, chilling, moving and most entertaining. This is a film everyone should see. A real lesson in history and the mistakes we continue to make." Directed by Errol Morris Run Time 106 minutes Rated PG [AUST] Copyright ©2004 - Sony Classics - All Rights Reserved Copyright © 2004 - Impact Internet Services - All Rights Reserved