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Apologies in advance for my semi-ignorant comments on today's film - and probably Friday's and Saturday's, for that matter. This is an incredibly detailed story about a very complicated event that many, many people remember very well, which happened before I was even born. And as such, I find it difficult to follow, despite William Goldman's exquisite screenplay. I'm not terribly familiar with all the players (even though the movie heavily condenses the book's cast of characters), and I find myself pausing, Googling, and rewinding a lot to help myself keep things straight. And even then it's questionable. So most of what follows is kind of general, because I don't particularly like it when I get shown up on facts. :P
All the President's Men
Also, my view of this movie is rather skewed by what I know of screenwriter William Goldman's experience in writing this film. He may have won a well-deserved Oscar for his efforts, but he has said that if he had his career to do over again, he would not have taken this job. He was jerked around and kept waiting for several months after submitting a draft, and when he finally got a meeting with Woodward and Bernstein (along with Redford), Bernstein had written his own frakking script (with the help of his then girlfriend Nora Ephron) - a version which, among other examples of narcissism, cast himself as quite the ladies man (according to Goldman). And though I think the dramatic and tense tone of the film is just right, I do love Goldman's original idea to start the film with one of the botched burglary attempts. Goldman's original concept was to concede that the audience knows the story already and to try and tell it in a different and interesting way. And I think this must have led to his choice not to end the film on the big victory. Everybody knows what happened - even people like me who don't know all the names. Everyone knows Woodward and Bernstein were vindicated, and that their articles exposed the scandal that caused Nixon to resign and the rest of the house of cards to fall. So what we're left with is a shot of Woodstein typing like madmen, while in the foreground sits a television broadcasting Nixon's second inauguration, followed by teletype headlines telling us the rest of what happened. Simple, unassuming, and brilliant.
This film, more than any other film, I think really underlines the important role the press plays in politics and in our world. Here was a blatant example of the people America trusted with the governance of its affairs engaged in criminal activity and a labyrinthine cover-up of massive proportions that thirty-two years later is still not fully understood. And two nobody reporters smelled something funny and asked questions. They did their jobs, period, and it changed America. You can argue whether or not the country's a better place for it, because it certainly added to America's cynicism, but then again, you can't really argue that, because it taught us how valuable the truth and the transparency of our government really are.
What I love about this movie is that, even though I don't know a lot of the details and find the specifics very hard to follow, it doesn't really matter, because at its core the story is very basic. Woodward and Bernstein run into closed door after closed door. "Oh yes, Mr. Bernstein, Howard Hunt checked out a lot of materials on Senator Kennedy. ... Oh, wait, no he didn't - someone did, but it wasn't Howard Hunt. I don't even know who Howard Hunt is. ... Bernstein? I never spoke with a Mr. Bernstein!" Every time they get one step ahead something pushes them two steps back. Every lead brings them closer to the truth and yet further away. And everything they write that ends up in the paper is rebuked by people with bigger microphones than theirs.
And yet eventually, as it always must, the truth (or most of it) will out. Woodward and Bernstein get the facts by the sweat of their face, as it were, and when the story tying the scandal to the White House Chief of Staff breaks on the front page of the Washington Post, the White House gives the paper a right public spanking. Editor-in-chief Ben Bradlee (man, do I love Jason Robards) stands by his reporters, and if there were any doubt that the story is true, Deep Throat warns Woodward that their lives are likely in danger. Jackpot.
Fun stuff: I love watching this film with a 21st Century perspective, because that newsroom feels almost prehistoric. It's exhausting to think how hard people had to work for stories back then with no internet and no cell phones.
All the President's Men
Also, my view of this movie is rather skewed by what I know of screenwriter William Goldman's experience in writing this film. He may have won a well-deserved Oscar for his efforts, but he has said that if he had his career to do over again, he would not have taken this job. He was jerked around and kept waiting for several months after submitting a draft, and when he finally got a meeting with Woodward and Bernstein (along with Redford), Bernstein had written his own frakking script (with the help of his then girlfriend Nora Ephron) - a version which, among other examples of narcissism, cast himself as quite the ladies man (according to Goldman). And though I think the dramatic and tense tone of the film is just right, I do love Goldman's original idea to start the film with one of the botched burglary attempts. Goldman's original concept was to concede that the audience knows the story already and to try and tell it in a different and interesting way. And I think this must have led to his choice not to end the film on the big victory. Everybody knows what happened - even people like me who don't know all the names. Everyone knows Woodward and Bernstein were vindicated, and that their articles exposed the scandal that caused Nixon to resign and the rest of the house of cards to fall. So what we're left with is a shot of Woodstein typing like madmen, while in the foreground sits a television broadcasting Nixon's second inauguration, followed by teletype headlines telling us the rest of what happened. Simple, unassuming, and brilliant.
This film, more than any other film, I think really underlines the important role the press plays in politics and in our world. Here was a blatant example of the people America trusted with the governance of its affairs engaged in criminal activity and a labyrinthine cover-up of massive proportions that thirty-two years later is still not fully understood. And two nobody reporters smelled something funny and asked questions. They did their jobs, period, and it changed America. You can argue whether or not the country's a better place for it, because it certainly added to America's cynicism, but then again, you can't really argue that, because it taught us how valuable the truth and the transparency of our government really are.
What I love about this movie is that, even though I don't know a lot of the details and find the specifics very hard to follow, it doesn't really matter, because at its core the story is very basic. Woodward and Bernstein run into closed door after closed door. "Oh yes, Mr. Bernstein, Howard Hunt checked out a lot of materials on Senator Kennedy. ... Oh, wait, no he didn't - someone did, but it wasn't Howard Hunt. I don't even know who Howard Hunt is. ... Bernstein? I never spoke with a Mr. Bernstein!" Every time they get one step ahead something pushes them two steps back. Every lead brings them closer to the truth and yet further away. And everything they write that ends up in the paper is rebuked by people with bigger microphones than theirs.
And yet eventually, as it always must, the truth (or most of it) will out. Woodward and Bernstein get the facts by the sweat of their face, as it were, and when the story tying the scandal to the White House Chief of Staff breaks on the front page of the Washington Post, the White House gives the paper a right public spanking. Editor-in-chief Ben Bradlee (man, do I love Jason Robards) stands by his reporters, and if there were any doubt that the story is true, Deep Throat warns Woodward that their lives are likely in danger. Jackpot.
Fun stuff: I love watching this film with a 21st Century perspective, because that newsroom feels almost prehistoric. It's exhausting to think how hard people had to work for stories back then with no internet and no cell phones.