Review of The Unknown Known (2013) by Kevin L — 23 Feb 2015

With a man who's been scrutinized for so many decades it's difficult to view anything about this with objectivity. Help should come from the director, Errol Morris who is one of the best documentarians. And yet, as he asks his questions there's a clear hostility, with an accusatory tone. The problem with well-edited interview footage is that it's difficult to tell what spurns such a tone, frustration or aggression. Then there's that slick smile Rumsfeld has when answering questions, which in some contexts comes across as callas. A half century of being in politics, it's easy to develop such a look, and here we have the chance to visually study it, reading the face of a man who helped develop military strategy during the most tumultuous times in American foreign policy.

Throughout this interview Rumsfeld rereads memos from his entire political career (the man wrote everything down), then each word of it feels questioned by Morris. Definitions of words pop up on the screen, as Rumsfeld rigorously focused on the proper wording to justify his point of view. But when the questions become hard his response is an aw-shucks "I'll be darned if I know.".

By the end of this he seems more wistful than contemplative. Less devious, and more devoid. And calling him 'Machiavellian' gives and old stubborn man far too much credit.