The Trials of Henry Kissinger
Picture: C+
Sound: C+ Extras: B- Documentary: B
Have there been many figures more controversial than Henry
Kissinger? Being connected to Richard
Nixon did not help, but beyond that affiliation, Kissinger has played the media
and people in power like no other. He
was heavily involved in the Vietnam debacle and has been accused of many other
things. Eugene Jarecki’s The Trials
of Henry Kissinger (2002) goes all the way in the ultimate of
accusations. It asks us to consider
that Kissinger is a war criminal, guilty of genocide.
However, the film is even smarter than that, further
asking its audience to consider what is allowed because of not only political
status, but also celebrity. What
unthinkable, unspeakable things will the masses allow because they think (or
have been brainwashed into believing) is fine to do, and by whom. With the recent Kobe Bryant scandal and the
twists that have occurred even before the trial, including blind faith in him
and a would-be hitman against his accuser, how much of this legacy and many
other celebrated uglinesses we se everyday stem from the Kissinger legacy?
At the heart of the documentary is what Kissinger did in
1968. With a peaceful settlement of
Vietnam at hand, did he purposely bitch this so genocidal operations could
continue into their bitter conclusion?
With the syndrome and failures that resulted, is this also Kissinger’s
fault? You can see that the danger here
is to vilify the man, but the documentary is much more thoughtful, going into
much detail for its 80-minutes-long duration.
One of the most interesting aspects is the issue of
Judaism. Jarecki and producer Alex
Gibney bring it up, from where they are personally concerned, to how Kissinger
was perceived because of it. This
Jewish Elite (Capitalist & Power) welcomed him as a standard of success,
something to be used as an example for children facing anti-Semitism to
consider in their inevitable battle against it. Actual anti-Semites could hide behind him, saying that they were
not against Jewish people because they supported him, when the opposite was
true. The media could show him all the
time, implying that anti-Semitism was not the problem it actually was and still
is. This would all especially be convenient
to those supporting Vietnam, saying 1) winning the war and being for Judaism
was almost one and the same (sounds familiar now, doe it not?) and 2) being
Jewish is just fine as long as you are incredibly successful and do not show it
much. Talk about the wrong messages to
send!
This is also hilarious, because Kissinger’s unquestionable
image (or at least that image in which integrity is supposedly the biggest
part) being so blatantly scrutinized turns this into a comedy, even when the
subject mater is dead serious. Part of
this comes from knowing the facts in advance.
It can also be about a mix of comedy and horror. Some of what happened to him recently,
highly ignored by the big media outlets, makes this all the more amazing &
amusing.
The anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image is above
average, offering a variety of videotaped and filmed clips in both black &
white and color. The new interviews
look to be shot in the PAL video format.
The Dolby Digital 2.0 goes between Stereo and Mono, but the stereo is
nothing too strong. Extras include the
humorous trailer, a photo gallery, Gibney/Jarecki filmmaker interviews, an
audio commentary by those filmmakers, and an “After Effect” segment from the
Sundance Channel that just expand upon this gem of a work.
There is much more, but it is again one of those cases
where to say more would ruin things, but for those so impressed with Michael
Moore’s ambitious Bowling for Columbine, The Trials of Henry
Kissinger offers a fascinating flip-side alone just to the issues of power
and media in this country, then how they are abused. You will not be disappointed.
- Nicholas Sheffo
