The Fog of War

Summary

“In the case of Vietnam, we didn’t know them well enough to emphasize. There was a total misunderstanding as a result.”

In my opinion, Errol Morris is one of the finest documentarians to ever practice the form. From the outset of his career, he brought a special intelligence to his films. With Gates of Heaven and Vernon, Florida he focused on quirky slice-of-life stories. His film A Thin Blue Line was a brilliant piece of investigative journalism that quickly had its style imitated by television programs (the film used reenactments to illustrate its points, which became a popular template for other programs.) With A Brief History of Time, Morris focused his camera on the life and teachings of Stephen Hawking. With Fast, Cheap, & Out of Control Morris focused on people working in strange professions. In my eyes though, his true masterpiece came in 2003 with his film The Fog of War, which won the Academy Award for Best Documentary in 2004. 

The Fog of War finds Errol Morris sitting across from former Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara. McNamara served under Kennedy and then Lyndon Johnson during the escalation of the Vietnam War. McNamara had released a fascinating memoir called In Retrospect (which I am currently reading) which served as a mea culpa and as an explanation of the reasoning behind decisions that cost so many lives over the course of the war. Struck by the candor of the memoir, Errol Morris decided to create a film in which he could ask questions directly of McNamara with his unflinching camera taking in his responses. What emerged was one of the best films ever made about war and the processes that go into wartime decisions. The Fog of War is also one of the best anti-war films ever made, joining the ranks of films such as Paths of Glory and Hearts and Minds.

The story of McNamara is fascinating. Robert Strange McNamara worked his way to the top of his class as a child by pushing himself as hard as possible. His hard work and dedication allowed him to attend college at Harvard. He quickly proved himself to be one of their most capable students. He returned to Harvard in 1940 to teach. When Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, McNamara and his other colleagues from Harvard were brought into the military to use analytical approaches towards examining military practices. McNamara and his colleagues were the backbone of the Office of Statistical Control. Of particular importance was McNamara’s recommendations regarding bomber flying procedures and bombing strategies which maximized destruction in Japanese cities. He left the military in 1946. After the war, McNamara, along with his group of colleagues from the Office of Statistical Control, was hired by Henry Ford II to help the Ford Motor Company. While there he helped Ford turn around their company and increased their safety standards (his efforts were responsible for the inclusion of seatbelts in all Ford vehicles.) After rising to the presidency of Ford, McNamara was convinced by John Fitzgerald Kennedy to leave behind his exalted salary at Ford (including options nearly $3 million a year) and work as his Secretary of Defense (at roughly $25,000 a year.) The next seven years saw McNamara work through a controversial tenure in that position which navigated through the Cuban Missile Crisis, the transition of power from Johnson to Kennedy, and oversaw the escalation of the Vietnam War. McNamara resigned from his position in 1967 when Lyndon Johnson rejected McNamara’s recommendations to freeze troop levels and halt bombings in North Vietnam. He went on to serve as President of the World Bank until 1981.

The Fog of War puts McNamara’s voice front and center to explain the numerous hard decisions that were made and the reasoning behind them, while also expressing the mistakes that were made. Morris blends this narrative with archival clips of war footage and snippets of audio from meetings between McNamara and Johnson. The film is scored by Morris’s long term collaborator Philip Glass, who brings a properly ominous and driving rhythm to the film’s discussions. The revelations that are brought forward over the course of the documentary are exceptional. For example, in talking about the firebombing of Japanese cities, McNamara mentions that Curtis Lemay had said that if they had not been on the winning side, they likely would have been tried as war criminals. This sequence also shows the devastation caused to the Japanese cities and compares them to cities in America that were the same size. It is a brilliant way of making the audience truly understand the loss that the Japanese people endured from the war. Another example of amazing revelations would be when McNamara discusses exactly how close we actually came to full-on thermonuclear war in the Cuban Missile Crisis based on his discussions with Cuban officials decades later. Moments like this occur constantly over the course of the picture. If I was in charge of the public school system, this film would be mandatory viewing in high school. It brings history to life in a way that so few films manage. It’s truly tremendous.

The film is successful partially because Morris is not a fan of McNamara. McNamara knew that even before he allowed Morris to make a documentary on his life. Morris does not let McNamara off the hook for his actions, and tries to dive deeply into McNamara’s thought processes. While McNamara definitely steers the conversation occasionally, it will be surprising to the viewer how much candor McNamara shows onscreen. McNamara was a complicated man, and therefore, The Fog of War is a complicated film. 

In my estimation, The Fog of War is one of the greatest documentaries ever made. I can not recommend this film highly enough.

Video

The Fog of War arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Sony Pictures in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer. As can be expected, video quality varies because of the use of archival footage alongside interview footage which was shot on Sony HDW-F900 cameras digitally. Overall, I think that the film has been preserved to the best of Sony’s abilities. I am so glad that I can finally retire my dated DVD copy.

Audio

The Fog of War is presented in a DTS HD-MA 5.1 track. Given that the film is a documentary, it is not the most immersive track. Like all documentaries, the film is dialogue based. Some of the dialogue in archival clips can be of varying quality, but it is not difficult to hear clearly what anyone says in the film. The excellent score by Philip Glass has never sounded better.

Supplements:

• 24 Additional Scenes – these additional scenes are all wonderful. If you are a fan of the film, don’t dismiss these.
• Robert S. McNamara’s 10 Lessons From His Life in Politics
• TV Spots

Overall Scores:

Video – 4.5/5

Audio – 4.5/5

Supplements – 3.5/5

Overall – 5/5

The Fog of War is one of the greatest documentaries ever made. It is also one of the best films ever made about war and wartime decision making. Robert McNamara made numerous decisions as the Secretary of Defense that led to the escalation of the war and ultimately to a lot of pointless bloodshed. He also lived long enough to realize the mistakes he had made. In The Fog of War he attempted to at least explain the gaps in his understanding in order to help teach others how to avoid those pitfalls. McNamara is an exceptional subject for a documentary, and master documentarian Errol Morris never lets him off the hook as he interviews him. The level of candor in which McNamara discusses his successes and failures is admirable, and there is a lot to learn from the lessons imparted in the film. This has been on my list of my most wanted Blu-ray upgrades for years, and I am thankful to Sony for releasing the film on Blu-ray. The special features are in standard definition, but feature numerous additional scenes that could have easily been inserted into the film. This release earns our highest recommendation. I can not recommend this film highly enough. Check it out!

The film can be purchased at www.moviezyng.com.