Interrogating the subject: Errol Morris's The Fog of War

An imaginative and thought-provoking feature-length film, The Fog of War (FOW) is also highly controversial. ² Apart from the fact that it premiered in 2003, the year of the contentious US-led war on Iraq, it reignited controversies over the policies and legacy of its subject, Robert Strange McNamara (1916–2009). A partaker in mid-twentieth-century US wars, hot and cold, McNamara was and remains one of the most divisive figures in US public life. The immediate reception of the film reflected not only historical disagreements over the Cold War and Vietnam but also admiration for the film's ability to speak to both contemporary and perhaps even universal questions. Director Errol Morris (b. 1948) was accused of being too lenient on McNamara, of uncritically allowing his interviewee to present a self-serving, historically inaccurate and hand-wringing narrative. ³ On the other hand, the film won an Academy Award for best documentary and has been praised as ‘a stunning historical work’ in the pages of The American Historical Review. ⁴