Review of The Fog of War (2003) by Martin K — 05 Aug 2010

This well-structured documentary on the former US Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara paints a favourable picture of a controversial politician without over-extolling the man or sweeping his shortcomings under the carpet.

Quite exceptionally, this documentary doesnâ??t seem to present the left-wing, critical view on war matters, but allows McNamara to openly comment on the subject, defending his (right-wing) views in a sometimes (unfeigned) emotional way, yet admitting mistakes were made since this is sometimes inevitable.

The inevitability of failure, misjudgement and cruelties is illustrated by the metaphor used in the title of the documentary: war is like a fog â?? it is an excessively complicated matter which is never fully insightful for anyone.

In hindsight one can always conclude some things had better been done differently. I particularly liked the structure of this film, which is like a pastiche of interview clips with McNamara himself, historical footage and lessons to be abstracted from McNamaraâ??s words.

This variety ensures a viewing experience without boredom. Since â??The Fog of Warâ?? presents a sincerely respectful portrait of a now deceased politician without ignoring his blunders (like the moment he said in front of the camera that the Americans were making good progress in Vietnam, knowing the opposite to be the case), this documentary is very watchable for both the pro-war and the anti-war crowd.