Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #81070 in DVD
• Released on: 2003-08-19
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Formats: Color, DVD, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 80 minutes

Amazon.com
Even as it preaches to those who will relish its witch-hunting zeal, The Trials of Henry Kissinger makes a potent assertion that the legendary diplomat and former Secretary of State is guilty of crimes against humanity. Produced for the BBC, seductively narrated by actor Brian Cox, and based on the scathing book by Christopher Hitchens (a Kissinger-bashing journalist featured heavily here in talking-head interviews), this film is clearly biased against its target, but there's ample documentation to support its claims that Kissinger prolonged the Vietnam war and orchestrated the illegal and indiscriminate bombing of Cambodia; supervised the 1973 coup against democratically elected Chilean president Allende; and played a role in U.S.-backed atrocities in East Timor. Expert interviews on both sides of the political fence (but mostly damning Kissinger) make this a compelling, information-packed example of situational ethics in action; additional viewings simultaneously deepen the film's conviction and reveal the weakness of its one-sided embrace of Hitchens. Either way, this is essential viewing for anyone interested in the labyrinthine machinations of international power. --Jeff Shannon

From The New Yorker
A brisk, half-convincing trial in absentia of the former Secretary of State. The movie asks: if Milosevic and Pinochet have been hauled before courts, shouldn't Kissinger also be held legally responsible for what his Cold War policies led to in Cambodia, in Chile, and in East Timor? The movie, funded by the BBC, is based on Christopher Hitchens's 2001 book, and Hitchens, who has a fondness for moral melodrama, figures prominently in the movie, backed up by the sombre British journalist William Shawcross, the investigative reporter Seymour Hersh, and a variety of jurists and former Kissinger aides. The producer-director team of Eugene Jarecki and Alex Gibney employ the usual mosaic style of film journalism, in which short interview and newsreel fragments are joined together with voice-over narration (spoken by Brian Cox). The method of pointed assemblage is useful for conveying a great deal of information quickly, but it's inadequate for a subject of this gravity, which requires the patience and thoughtfulness of Marcel Ophuls. -David Denby
Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker

Customer Reviews

DUBROOM.com Review
When George W. Bush wanted to appoint Henry Kissinger as chairman of the 911 Whitewash comittee, a lot of people stood up and protested over this blatant and arrogant choice of the elite.
After all, Henry Kissinger is the kind of guy who has to check out with his lawyers before he enters a certain country, because there are so many charges against him all over the world.

For those who wonder why, this movie could answer a lot of your questions. You will see what Henry Kissinger has done over the years, his involvement in world politics and the games he played behind the scene.

The cynicism of power
Inspired by Christopher Hitchens' magazine articles and book, THE TRIALS OF HENRY KISSINGER is a fascinating indictment of its title character. It's a fairly traditional documentary, following a rough chronology of events and employing a voice over narrator (Brian Cox.)
Understandably enough, Kissinger wanted no part of this project. His chief accusers are a pair of pit bull investigative journalists, Hitchens and Seymour Hersh. To their credit, the filmmakers follow each accusation with either an archived taped response of Kissinger answering the charge in another forum and/or a rebuttal by former aides and associates, including Alexander Haig, Brent Scowcroft, William Safire and Kissinger biographer Walter Isaacson. Indeed, given the high powered wordsmiths in this one it's Haig who delivers the best line when at one point he leans forward in his chair and calls Hitchens a "sewer pipe sucker."
Kissinger's major crimes, the actionable and the other, are all treated here. Included is his duplicitous behavior while negotiating a peace agreement with North Vietnam while a member of President Johnson's negotiating team - Kissinger funneled information to the Nixon campaign, which may well have tipped the close election to our last Quaker president. The complex story of Kissinger's involvement in Vietnam and the secret bombing of Cambodia are treated, as is his decision to wiretap his aides, the Indonesian invasion of East Timor and finally his involvement in events leading up to overthrow of Chilean President Salvador Allende.
I wouldn't say THE TRIALS OF HENRY KISSINGER is balanced (as director Eugene Jarecki and writer/producer Alex Gibney rightly claim in the "Making Of" special, Kissinger has had 25 years to burnish his image and bury the evidence; this is the other side of the story) nor is it entirely convincing. It deals with issues much too complex to develop in a mere 80 minutes.
I was a little surprised to note that this traditional documentary comes with a commentary track. It's already filled with talking heads and archive images, but I found the commentary just as interesting as the movie. Jarecki and Gibney know their subject and provide many insights into not only the issues involved, but background on material used and rejected.

Fine Line Between Greatness and Criminality
I remember growing up and having no qualms whatsoever about the greatness of Henry Kissinger. I mean, that's the popular mythology: a brilliant man devotes his life to public service, and helps to forge the tough, realist diplomacy that helped America win the Cold War. But as one gets older, and learns how to learn, the facade of many national myths slides to the floor, and what's left is often cruel and ugly. This film lays bare the disparity between what we want to believe about ourselves, and what is actually true. The brilliant German expatriate diplomat is actually a deluded, homicidal madman, drunk on the hooch of power. Kissinger is the perfect illustration of how secrecy and centralized power are the ultimate evils of a democracy, no matter how sincere the original intent. Buy this DVD, then share it with your friends.