- Michael Snyder looks at 2 documentaries.
- The Unknown Known
- And The Square
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David: Michael Snyder, our resident film critic, stops by every once in a while to recommend documentaries that we should all be catching. Today, you have two for us, The Square and The Unknown Known directed by Errol Morris. The Unknown Known stars the matinee idol and Defense Secretary who brought democracy and liberation to Iraq, and things are going swimmingly over there lately, Donald Rumsfeld. Tell me about The Unknown Known.
Michael Snyder: The heinous Donald Rumsfeld. Hey, hey, the opinions expressed here are mine.
Donald Rumsfeld was Secretary of Defense in 2003 and planned the invasion of Iraq.
David: The views here expressed are those of KPFK management and the listeners.
Michael Snyder: How dare you put words into their mouths when I have plenty from my own. Errol Morris is a terrific documentary filmmaker who directed a movie called The Fog of War about Robert McNamara’s career and one of the most controversial wars in the history of the United States, the Vietnam conflict.
David: We should point out Vietnam was controversial. The war in Iraq was not controversial. Everybody agrees it was the worst thing this country has ever done.
Michael Snyder: Certainly came out over time that it was a war waged behind a fallacy. It’s said…
David: You mean a lie?
Michael Snyder: Well, say what you will, but Donald Rumsfeld has had a career in Washington as a bureaucrat. Has served a variety of Presidents during that career and seemingly thinks he has never done a wrong thing or made an error in the entire history of his professional career.
Any inquiries that are made, whether they’re about the morality of the war in Iraq or certain things that were done in previous administrations, are met with a very glib, confident and, I think one person said ‘sphinx like demeanor,’ particularly when Rumsfeld is caught in a contradiction – which happens on a couple of occasions in the course of the film. The camera is trained directly on him. He must have ice water in his veins. It’s a remarkable and chilling…
David: Any remorse, any remorse?
As President Reagan’s special Middle East envoy, Rumsfeld met with Saddam Hussein in 1983.
Michael Snyder: …chilling look… It seems that he has none. There is a period where he talks about visiting wounded veterans in the hospital. He seems to weep crocodile tears. I really wonder how this man sleeps at night. But, then again, watching him in the cold unflinching gaze of the camera’s eye it’s probable that he has no problem sleeping.
David: Does he weep for the 1,000,000 Iraqis who died?
Michael Snyder: Next to no remorse. Basically, he doesn’t seem to have any kind of regrets whatsoever about everything that happened…
David: If he had to do it over again would he still go in?
Michael Snyder: I believe so. You know, again, Errol Morris does what he can to get as much as he can out of Rumsfeld on camera. Music by Danny Elfman, by the way, that’s very effective, and there’s a lot of archival footage throughout. It was very compelling.
Rumsfeld also served as Defense Secretary under President Ford.
David: Is there anything sympathetic about Rumsfeld? There was something sympathetic about McNamara in The Fog of War…
Michael Snyder: No. It appears that there’s virtually nothing sympathetic about Rumsfeld in this movie.
David: You know, those two cops in Orange County were acquitted yesterday for murdering a homeless guy. Apparently, it’s next to impossible for a cop to do time for murder. It’s impossible for a defense secretary in this country to be wrong or brought up on charges of war crimes.
People with the most lethal power in America rarely, if ever, get tried for murder. Yet, our prisons are filled with 2,000,000 Americans, but they don’t seem to find room for cops or defense secretaries. Onward!
The Square…
Michael Snyder: Well, this is sort of the flip side. The Square is a documentary all about Tahrir Square which is where many of the demonstrations and the most significant rallies have occurred during this period of time basically over the past ten years or so.
Director Jehane Noujaim has done an amazing job telling the story, and this is a very complex one, by utilizing first person accounts. The very, very different people, including an actor, Khalid Abdalla, who was in United 93 and The Kite Runner.
Protestors in Egypt’s Tahrir Square are the subject of The Square.
One of the most amazing things about this film, other than the frankness with which the interviewees reveal their feelings and try to explain the why and how of what they’ve done, is you still walk away from this thinking this is a riddle wrapped in a conundrum. On one hand they wanted to overthrow Hosni Mubarak and his repressive regime and bring about democracy. In order to accomplish that the military had to take control.
So, you have a junta in charge. Then, when democracy comes to the fore and you have a choice– the choice is between a regime just like Mubarak’s or the totally nonsecular theocratic regime of the Muslim Brotherhood. It’s like you’re damned if you do and you’re damned if you do.
In any case, it was a very compelling and educational experience to watch this film for me. As we know, in the summer of 2013 Morsi, who was brought in basically as kind of a figurehead with ties to the Brotherhood, was overthrown. Where do we go from here in Egypt? That’s the question.
David: Where do we go from here? What about the silent majority? There are extremists on both sides in Egypt, but there are more people in the middle. Are they being represented?
Michael Snyder: I believe that the folks being interviewed in this movie are more centrist than you would think. They’re not crazy radicals. They want to bring democracy to Egypt.
David: Yes, democracy. We had a jury in Orange County vote, and they acquitted those cops. Maybe some cultures aren’t ready for democracy, like ours. Thank you, Michael Snyder.
Michael Snyder: You’re welcome, David.
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