Original Title: The Fog of War. Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert McNamara; Director: Errol Morris; Year: 2003; Country: USA; Runtime: 107 minutes

Synopsis: The life and character of Robert McNamara is rich enough to provide new insights about the history of the United States, and particularly about some episodes of the Cold War, from the perspective of someone who experienced it first-hand. Such experience is portrayed through an intimate-like interview and framed in eleven "lessons" extracted from a brilliant business and political career, stretching from the interwar period to the beginnings of the 21st century: policy analyst in the US Army Air Forces during World War II, executive of Ford Motor Company (1946-1960), the first president of this firm from outside the Ford family (1960), Secretary of Defense (1961-1968), and President of the World Bank (1968-1981). His views on the war against Japan, the rivalry with the URSS, the Cuban missile crisis, and especially the US involvement in the Vietnam war are rich and insightful, as well as deeply controversial sometimes.

Somewhere between truth and lies...

Josep Ibáñez

Associate Professor of International Relations, Universitat Pompeu Fabra
 

The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara is probably one of the best political documentary films ever made.