The Unknown Known

Errol Morris' study of Rumsfeld is done with respect for its subject, and exactly for that reason it works as an intelligent character assassination.

Doesn't get very far beyond what was already clear, that Rumsfeld's political approach was a combination of self-marketing and Mafiaesque collusion and corruption. As stylish as one expects from this filmmaker, but the interviewee really has little to offer beyond a very thin, rather psychopathic, charm, as the film traverses his superficial rationalisations of a series of well-known events. Elfman's score is serviceable but does not reach the heights achieved by the Glass-Morris collaborations.

This is Morris' second stab at an interview-only style documentary. 'Fog of War', his first, won much acclaim because it's subject, Robert MacNamara, seemed to be genuinely interested in revisiting and questioning his own actions. It was a soul searching journey through the tough decisions that shaped world history. 'The Unknown Known' fails because Rumsfeld is a hostile subject, unwilling to admit to any wrong doing. Little truth is served, making the exercise tedious and rather pointless.

An exercise in semantics, rhetoric and of course denial. If you're looking for an investigation of character or policy this is more of a series of opaque inferences, which is frustrating but what would you expect from Donald Rumsfeld. Almost exactly the anti-Fog of War.

He's highly intelligent, devilishly clever, and a magnificent liar - makes for a pretty good interview.

Interesting portrait of Rumsfeld, but very condensed. I felt it could have been twice as long. This particularly documentary format feels like a mismatch from what we ought to know about Rumsfeld, Bush, and the Iraq War. It constantly recenters on Rumsfeld when I would have liked to hear his take on what was going on in the administration.

Like a shaggy dog story leading up to one of the most vicious punchlines in political history.

Donald Rumsfeld could have been an interesting person to interview but Morris does not get much out of this. Rumsfeld is barely challenged on the things that happened while he was in office and jumping from topic to topic does not work because of that. We don't get to know Rumsfeld as a real person. The only glimpse of that is through his obsession with words and the meaning of words but this point is repeated over and over also visually to very little effect.

It was never clear why we should be interested in the Pentagon's PR man talking in circles. Someone like Herzog in this exploration would philosophize about the subject without disrespecting them, to give the viewer a point to relate to. The unfitting choral background music was distracting, and the cover poster and the final question and response speak to the unfortunately pointless feeling of it.

this dongle bumsmelled guy kinda sucks, huh?

bu tarz belgesellerden "gerçeği" *ortaya çıkarması* ve gazetecilik yapması beklentisi oldukça problemli. morris odağındaki öznenin performatif yönünü gayet isabetli biçimde kullanıp kendisine çeviriyor belki ama esas olarak yaptığı haklı olarak nefret objesine dönüşmüş bir siyasinin kendini meşrulaştırma sürecine bakmak. iyi/kötü üzerinden ilerleyen siyaset "diskurlarının" aksine zihinsel bir ferahlık sağlıyor sadece bu dahi.

feels a bit passive at the start but builds. would pushback work or just end up with a proverb regurgitation? fake news is as old as time.

Great, but a bit of a missed opportunity. Rumsfeld is such an interesting character, and I wish Morris would've pushed him to actually answer some questions. (I know Rumsfeld is incapable of this, but a better sense of the way his mind works could've been worthwhile.) Nevertheless, it's not as damning as I would've liked.

Initially, I was frustrated that Morris didn't press Rumsfeld more often, particularly on some of his most non-sensical claims (i.e. the contrast he makes between assassination and an act of war--really?). However, Morris' intent seems more subtle (and perhaps more effective) than that--the filmmaker allows Rumsfeld to present his own version of things, all in the service of revealing the absolute muddle of his opaque thinking.

Like *The Fog of War*, the film provides a good opportunity to get inside the head of a key political actor in American government. Unlike *Fog*, this film seems less organized and sprawling, with Morris taking too passive a role; he could have pressed Rumsfeld in a few key moments, but inexplicably did not. I would still recommend it for those interested in foreign policy. ps69

This completes what you might call a trilogy, starting with "Fog of War" and "Standard Operating Procedure", where Morris criticizes the Iraq war. At least on paper, bagging Rumsfeld for a feature-length interview is the project's climax. Morris does a better job getting what he wants from Rumsfeld through his cunning, but decidedly dignified and civilized baiting, than any of Rumsfeld's own waterboarding interrogators did with Al-Qaeda terrorists. I still liked the aforementioned films better.

A great portrait of how the public Donald Rumsfeld works. The way the docu tries to put everything he says in a bad light and failing miserably at it is pretty embarassing though.

Ahh, it's frustrating to not have more in-depth explanations and study around Rumsfeld who has such a controversial role in US history. Rumsfeld could use more push-back against his revisionist explanations and give us understanding of how he arrived to his actions. That empathy and thought process is the heart of what could've made this documentary a classic. Instead, that evil Rumsfeld mf-er gets away with it once again.

Those expecting a critical evaluation of Rumsfeld's actions over the years will be disappointed because Errol Morris isn't as concerned with that as he is with presenting Rumsfeld's view of himself - which makes this infinitely more interesting.

A little Donald Rumsfeld goes a long way.

Not as captivating as The Fog of War but still does a reasonable job of giving an inside perspective on historical events.

Put any politician's face on the screen for 90 minutes and I'm all in, no questions asked. The fact that it's Errol Morris is just icing on the cake.

Treads around key subjects as a press/camera trained Rumsfeld would only give away so much. Leans on incompatibilities comparisons with his comments in office for any kind of tension. Rumsfeld could easily shoe horn himself into a tutor job teaching logic.