The Fog of War (2003) vs. Knight Without Armor (1966)

[Curtis, baby]

The Fog of War (Errol Morris, 2003) vs. Knight Without Armor (Borislav Sharaliev, 1966)

Vote for either x2003 or x1966 (italicization unnecessary).

The deadline for voting is 12 a.m. EST on Tuesday, March 26.

If you need access to the films, please let us know.

[Curtis, baby]

@FLABREZU @Mario Gaborovic please upload your films to the appropriate thread in the Resources subforum!

[karl]

x1966

Already seen both. Fog of War is a very fine picture of a guy with an understandably deeply troubled conscience (conscience being such a rarity in a politician), but Knight without Armor's a little classic. Can't sum it up better than some person on Mubi:

Most my-papa-is-strong-and-cool-but-purges-our-beloved-teacher-in-the-name-of-socialism-my-mama-is-kind-and-wise-but-may-be-a-dangerous-spy-with-something-secret-or-prohibited-i'm-not-unhappy-but-not-happy-I-don't-know-why-ly heartbreaking film all the time.

[rischka]

seen both too but i probs should watch fog of war again

[mesnalty]

x1966

I like The Fog of War but I don't think Morris pushes McNamara enough. It works in The Unknown Known because Rumsfeld manages to hang himself, but McNamara's apparent thoughtfulness is seductive, and needs more pushback. Still never less than engaging. Knight Without Armor had a nice balance of whimsy and sadness, so it gets my vote.

[ItsUhhMee]

x1966

[kanafani]

x1966. Knight Without Armor was not earth-shattering but it was pleasant enough, plus that is the kind of rarely seen movie that makes such a cup a fun exercise.

[john ryan]

x2003

[Brotherdeacon]

x1966. McNamara should have been tried for crimes against humanity. To see Erroll Morris throw puff-balls was worse than shallow film-making, it was ethical complicity. Knight Without Armor captured lively youth with scenes and humorous montages which any viewer may reminisce alongside, no matter how diverse the details may be--also helping us to remember the seriousness often involved, be it with sword duels, a Capra-esque Uncle's confidences, or an unsuspected spy. Some worthy editing. I'm happy to just see a Bulgarian film from the 60's, let alone one so universal. Deeper than many of the more famous Iranian kids films, though all share necessary censorship subterfuge.

[arkheia]

x1966

My thoughts have been a little scattered lately so most of my writing feels, to me at least, a little inconclusive or not fully thought out so take these thoughts with a couple grains of salt. anyhow…



It took me a couple days to sit with my thoughts on Fog of War but I couldn’t come to any satisfactory conclusions about it and ultimately just got tired of dedicating valuable brain space to McNamara. The film made me reflect on the formal constraints of ‘talking head’ documentaries and how Morris’ reverent fixation on McNamara creates a kind of vacuum removed from everything else around him. Maybe one could go back to Dreyer’s La passion de Jeanne d'Arc and trace the lineage of maintained close-ups holding the viewer in constant reverence to the subject’s image.

Morris’ delicate handling of McNamara strives to maintain an impartial tone; weighing moments of ugly callousness against quavering sensitivity and supplying historical records (legal documents, archival footage, etc.) to underline his testimony. The camera tellingly remains slightly askew yet devoutly fixated on its subject, rendering its surroundings fuzzy and ultimately of little relevance as its principle interest lies in carving out a confessional space from the anomalous setting, searching for moments where the exterior cracks and the subject reveals more of themselves than they would ordinarily feel comfortable. Like with any director’s process of coaxing a performance out of an actor or actress, there’s a certain give-and-take in satisfying the performer’s image while also trying to pry something out of that psychological cocoon. Morris’s even-keeled approach to portraitures of controversial political figures may ultimately be more demonstrative of an ostensibly ‘even-handed’ methodology which ultimately ends up molding itself to its subject by having little to say and much to listen. More to this point, I found these two related articles to be of interesting relevance:

https://www.vulture.com/2019/03/why-is- ... entor.html

https://www.fastcompany.com/1663105/err ... nterrotron



I enjoyed Knight Without Armor more, tenderly directed with equal dashes of The Little Fugitive’s neorealism and The 400 Blows’ new wave flourishes. Keeping in mind Evgenija Garbolevsky’s thoughts in The Conformists: Creativity and Decadence in the Bulgarian Cinema 1945-89, mainly that “the child hero becomes a filter for revealing the problems of the adult world”, there’s something a touch self-reflexive in seeing how in the film the stories that children fill their heads with (Don Quixote, Robin Hood, etc.) became the ways in which they interface with the larger world around them.

[Curtis, baby]

i watched THE FOG OF WAR... won't have time to watch KNIGHT WITHOUT ARMOUR before this closes (in ~90 minutes), but it's not like my vote would matter

anyway, i agree that mcnamara is a criminal. i disagree that the movie lets him off the hook. the movie, imo, portrays him as such without ever pointing the finger, which is maybe more remarkable and interesting than merely calling him out. "am i a war criminal?" he asks. then he falls all over himself trying to convince himself he's not for the next hour and a half. he fails! he knows it! enjoyed this movie

[Curtis, baby]

Voting closed! Knight Without Armour (1966) wins!

[MatiasAlbertotti]

I couldn't make it. Still have to watch Knight Without Armor.