'The Unknown Known': Morris' portrait of Rumsfeld one we already knew
Acclaimed documentarian Errol Morris achieved something rare with 1988's The Thin Blue Line: He helped show how a man had been convicted of a murder he did not commit. And in the process he proved that a documentary could be as gripping, and bankable, as any Hollywood thriller.
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Acclaimed documentarian Errol Morris achieved something rare with 1988's The Thin Blue Line: He helped show how a man had been convicted of a murder he did not commit. And in the process he proved that a documentary could be as gripping, and bankable, as any Hollywood thriller.
Morris turned to political history with his Oscar-winning 2003 masterpiece The Fog of War, a comprehensive and exhaustive chronicle of America's wars from World War II through Vietnam, pieced together from 20 hours of interviews with former U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara.
What distinguished that film was its subject's willingness to expose himself and his decisions to critical inquiry. He showed us American policy not only at its best but also at its blundering worst.
Morris has no such luck with his companion piece, The Unknown Known, about Donald Rumsfeld's controversial turn as President George W. Bush's defense secretary.
The Unknown Known - the title is a play on one of Rumsfeld's February 2002 ruminations about "known knowns," "known unknowns," and "unknown unknowns" - fails to capture much more about his role in post-9/11 foreign policy and the war on terrorism than the Bush White House's well-worn official explanations.
Working off some of the more than 20,000 memos Rumsfeld wrote while at the Pentagon, an eager, earnest Morris tries to hold Rumsfeld to account for the blunders, cover-ups, and atrocities critics say were committed during his watch.
Morris even brandishes the infamous "torture memo" authorizing harsh treatment of prisoners, which has been denounced by some as a sign that America has abandoned its previous moral stance on torture.
Yet we get little in response from Rumsfeld but a demonstration of his cunning at parrying, dodging, and twisting queries.
One wonders why he agreed to sit down with the director.
As such, it's hard to know whom to blame for this futile exercise: Morris or Rumsfeld.
The Unknown Known ** (out of four stars)
Directed by Errol Morris. With Donald Rumsfeld. Distributed by RADiUS-TWC.
Running time: 1 hour, 43 mins.
Parent's guide: PG-13 (violent images, language, adult themes, brief nudity).
Playing at: The PFS Theater at the Roxy.
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