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32 of 33 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Connections I hadn't made before.,
By
This review is from: The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers (DVD)
Dan Ellsberg, the reader probably knows, is the analyst who leaked the Pentagon Papers to the press during the early 1970s. The Vietnam war had been raging, and all of a sudden the mainstream press had access to secret documents that showed, first, that plans had been in place for invasion of Indochina from the time Truman was in office, and that from Truman on, presidents had been lying to us up to and including the alleged attack of two US ships on the Gulf of Tonkin in 1964 which caused the real explosion of that war.
What many people don't know about Dr. Ellsberg is that he was an officer in the Marine Corps before he went into the academic world, then became a Rand Corp. analyst. The most interesting element of the film is the process of watching Ellsberg change. He even examined a little of what led him into the Marines, wondering, he thought, whether he could make it. He ended up being the only 1st lieutenant overseeing 211 other Marines in a rifle company. While there, he still seemed to believe in "the system." Early in the film, it seemed like it may go into a pscho-babble direction, i.e., diagnosing why he did what he did, But that wasn't, fortunately, taken too far. But while working for the system--being part of that system that perpetuated the war-- his conscience began to bother him. He talked with others, notably Tony Russo, who encouraged him to follow his conscience. The film went from a silhouetted "actor" portraying Ellsberg on the phone, or in discussions with others, to an occasional animation. But the animation wasn't frivolous. Some of it was, for example, of his kids and he xeroxing the top secret papers, the police coming to the door on an unrelated incident, and Ellsberg almost embarassingly describing how the police had no idea what was going on right under their noses. Throughout the film, there were graphics of a reel-to-reel tape player accompanied by the "surtitles" of what President Nixon was saying, to Henry Kissinger, to Al Haig, and to others, the profanity for which Nixon was notorious, and how he was going to get Ellsberg, etc. etc. Another interesting perspective of Ellsberg on the press's reaction to what his use of tangible figures to describe the war: he'd tell reporters how much bomb tonnage was dropped in Vietnam, and compared it to Hiroshima. (At the very beginning of the film, someone, I don't recall who, stated something about the most overbombed country in history or something to that effect; the amount of bombing we did over that little country was beyond anything that had been done before, even on developed countries!) But the press didn't seem to make note of those figures, something measurable by which to evaluate the damage we were inflicting on Vietnam despite how often Ellsberg cited them. There may have been a little more adoration of Ellsberg than was appropriate. But my saying that is as much speculation, and I guess some of my own skepticism coming out. For instance, Ellsberg had been anxious to get the material published in the NY Times, and pressed them to release it. Then the FBI was on the prowl for him. But he wanted more and more elements of the press to get it. The film made it look like it was his strategy, or tenacity, that caused seventeen publications, including the Philadelphia Inquirer, the LA Times and others, to release more of the papers. My skepticism leads me to think there was as much chance to that many publications getting access to the information, but, again, perhaps I'm speculating. When the FBI finally caught up with Ellsberg and Russo, they were on trial for long terms, in Ellsberg's case, for up to 115 years. But during the trial, it turned out that the government had been bugging Ellsberg for years before the Pentagon Papers were even an issue. The government had bungled the case so badly that a mistrial was called, and Nixon responded with his usual comments. What intrigued me most about the film is the connections that it made between the release of the Pentagon Papers, the Watergate incident, and the eventual downfall (resignation) of Nixon. At least according to the film, they were closely related with the Papers release having catalyzed the whole process. Shelving my skepticism for now, until it's challenged, I'll buy that contention of the film. Again, it's not a connection I'd made before but it sure seems logical after seeing this film which should be shown to every class in high school or college dedicated to the study of the Vietnam conflict.
22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Whistle-blower's Whistle-blower,
By
This review is from: The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers (DVD)
No government really likes a whistle-blower, especially when that person blows the façade off a seemingly until then justified war. There is something in the ethos of Western civilization that, whether the exposure is done for good and without expectations of remuneration or evil, would rather not know the messy details of what goes on in the backrooms and is as likely to `shoot the messenger' as those who created the vast illegality. The word "snitch" comes to mind. However here in this documentary based on the life and times of one Daniel Ellsberg and his brave, no heroic, efforts to get the truth out is well done, well thought out, and worthy of commemoration.
For a younger generation not familiar with the virtual civil war that was going on in American society in the latter stages of the Vietnam War this will serve as a primer, of sorts. Virtually every institution from the local PTA to the White House was subject to analysis and to questioning about the purposes of its existence. Although such intense scrutiny only lasted for a short while it provided enough political space for the previously seemingly non-heroic ex-Marine Daniel Ellsberg to do his expose, for the mainstream mass media, like the "New York Times", "Washington Post", and "The Boston Globe" very connected to the governmental levers of power, to take a chance on publishing the whole of Ellsberg's discoveries. And, frankly, with the partial exception of Watergate there have been very few subsequent efforts like this from inside the establishment. Needless to say, most of this documentary is driven by the highlights in the case from initial attempts of Ellsberg to get the expose published to the courts and, ultimately, the decision to dismiss the criminal charges against him brought by a rabid and vindictive Nixon administration. This film has none of the fawning over of its main figure that "Fog Of War" has, the so-called documentary of the late, if unlamented, former Defense Secretary, Robert Strange McNamara, who as fate would have it originally commissioned "The Pentagon Papers" giving his take on his handiwork. This production is like a breathe of fresh air in comparison. Whatever you may think of whistle-blowers in other contexts, here hats off to Daniel Ellsberg. Thanks, brother.
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Seeing this is a clear view of the past and a glimpse into the future,
This review is from: The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers (DVD)
Recently, I viewed this film in a Portland, Oregon theatre, with Dr. Ellsberg in person conducting a Q&A session following the film.
Reviewed from any direction, this is an excellent piece of personal reportage. Meticulously researched, truthfully written, realisticly but creatively shot, and marvelously edited, this is a serious and highly responsible documentation, not only of an important period of American history, but also of the broad and deep failure of this generation of leaders in positions of responsibility to "do the right thing." And, it may well be a predictor of what can happen to the future of presidential leadership, if well-informed, highly responsible and conscientious citizens and the mainstream media don't take our roles seriously, and act to preserve the values on which this country was founded. Timme Helzer, Professor and Consultant Organizational Leadership and Change
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