The Fog of War

[TIEdup14]

The Fog of War (imdb)

The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara

This documentary by Errol Morris chronicles the life of Robert McNamera, US Secretary of War from 1961-1968. Set mainly during the Vietnam war, it proposes eleven "lessons" that McNamara has learned throughout his time serving the country in various aspects.

The style is pretty intense, Morris utilizes what he calls an "Interrorgator", which basically displays the interviewer to the interviewee on a screen in front of a camera. The effect is a one on one style that the viewer can feel-- McNamara is talking to you, not at you.

I'll be using this film in a project for my US History in Film class. Basically I need to pick a few scenes from this film and discuss them in a historic sense.

For those who have seen this film, I think I'm going to use the scene where McNamara talks about two very "telling" photographs of the President (LBJ) and himself at a conference table.

I'd appreciate some insight from those who have seen this film and suggestions on any other scenes that are particularly moving or even entertaining.

I also plan to briefly note the soundtrack used in this film as well (Philip Glass). Any comments about how you felt about its use would be fantastic.

Any general comments/discussion about the movie would be great as well!