Product Description

A dramatization of the relationship between Kissinger and Nixon during the six-month period in 1972-73 when Kissinger was negotiating an end to the Vietnam War and Nixon was grandstanding politically.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #31661 in VHS
• Released on: 1998-02-10
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of tapes: 1
• Running time: 100 minutes

Customer Reviews

Impressive
I'm probably not alone here, but I must confess that I often use politically themed movies as a bit of a history lesson. There are always going to be certain caveats that one must keep in mind--political bias, dramatic license, etc. But if one remembers that what one is viewing is indeed a fiction, usually some essential truths are revealed. In this case it would be the level of animosity that existed between Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger. The Amazon critic above describes it as a "love/hate relationship with emphasis on the hate." I'd go further than that. In this film, there is little evidence of ANY love (lost or otherwise) between these two powerful men.

It's hardly surprising that as paranoid a politician as Richard Nixon mistrusted Kissinger. And his privately referring to him as "my Jewboy" has been reported before. But this film makes clear that Nixon was ready and eager to rid himself of his superstar advisor as soon as the war was over. Beneath all the politicking and conspiring is an undercurrent of jealousy which characterized Nixon throughout his entire political career.

Director Daniel Petrie, who had previously won an Emmy for "Eleanor and Franklin," steers his actors beyond caricaturization (so easy a trap to fall into with figures like Nixon and Kissinger) and moves gracefully through a somewhat formulaic script. Scenes of backrooom politicking in Washington ring true, although those between Asian politicos (both in North and South Viet Nam) do not. The scriptwriters seem to understand the dynamics of Washington politics quite well, but end up portraying their Asian counterparts as being alternately inscutable or just American-style politicos with an accent.

The film is very well cast. Ron Silver is impressive as Kissinger, and Beau Bridges is surprisingly effective as Nixon (who would ever have thought?). The other actors, who play less well known figures in the Nixon adminstration, have an easier time of it, although Matt Frewer's Alexander Haig doesn't quite jibe with the image we came to have of the general during the Reagan yers. As portrayed, he's almost, well, sensitive, and certainly conflicted over his "double agent" status within the administration. Now that's where I need a further history lesson. The Haig I thought I knew seemed as Machiavellian as the next guy. Maybe Turner Broadcasting will tackle him someday.

A COMPLEX SUBJECT HANDLED WELL.
Lionel Chetwynd's excellent script, based largely upon Walter Isaacson's biography of Henry Kissinger, cogently limns a primary motive for President Nixon's National Security Advisor's desire for ending American military involvement in Vietnam: desire for private power. The film essentially addresses that period in 1972/3 when Nixon and Kissinger worked together, despite obvious tension between them, to bring the war to an end. The President did not want a peace settlement until directly before the 1972 election in order to enhance his chances of winning by a landslide, but Kissinger organized top-secret peace talks in Paris with both Vietnamese governments, raising a question as to his true goal in crafting an accord - peace or personal popularity? When negotiations among representatives from Washington, Saigon and Hanoi fail, bombing of civilian targets in North Vietnam follows, and we sense that Kissinger is opposed to such an action, since his espousal of earlier bombing attacks is not mentioned. Political machinations throughout the negotiation period engaging Nixon's staff, and the Pentagon, are well-drawn in a soundly organized script. Veteran director Daniel Petrie leads with his customary skill and periodically intersperses, to good effect, actual wartime footage amid the main element of this work: realpolitik. Although he has sporadic difficulty with emulation of Kissinger's Teutonic accent, one could not wish for a better characterization than that provided by latex bedaubed Ron Silver, who obviously not only studied but mastered the future Secretary of State's mannerisms. Skillful Matt Frewer answers the call, in this very well-cast production, as General Alexander Haig, and his performance is splendidly nuanced, in no small part due to Petrie's careful direction and the fine editing of Stephen Lawrence. Capable acting turns also come from Beau Bridges as Nixon and Canadian Ron White as H.R. "Bob" Haldeman, yet it is Silver's delivery of the line "I will bring peace despite all this deceit around me" which a viewer will recall as an example of the curious irony which marks this well-wrought film.

One of the best films ever made about Nixon and Kissinger.
I liked this film because because it was the first film to explore Henry Kissinger's life in the Nixon White House. It also depicted Kissinger's attempts to end the war in Vietnam and the frequent disagreements between Nixon and Kissinger. The performances in this film were convincing and realistic. I really enjoyed this film. I hope it comes out on DVD.