Hanks and Streep bounce off one another brilliantly in a story that showcases the true purpose and power of the press
Spielberg's biopic begins as American soldiers apply camouflage paint to their faces at an army base amongst convoys and tents. As they walk in silence through the wet jungle they are suddenly bombarded by open fire and landmines detonating all around. This image is the flashback of Daniel Ellsberg, who watches on as the Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara lies to the US press about the ongoing success of the Vietnam War. This speech appears to be the final straw for Ellsberg, leading him to steal a highly classified 7,000-page document detailing the role of the United States in Vietnam from 1945 to 1967.
Cut to Washington D.C. 1971, where Katharine Graham (Meryl Streep), the publisher of the Washington Post is discussing the imminent proceedings of the paper entering the US stock market. She appears to be a woman under stress, as she carries a pile of papers haphazardly into a restaurant to meet the Executive Editor of the paper Ben Bradlee (Tom Hanks). In a room full of suited men smoking cigarettes, Graham is undermined by Bradlee as they discuss the current position of The Washington Post and its need to establish itself as a prominent player in the industry that produces content that can rival the larger newspapers.
However, this looks unachievable when in the days following The New York Times publishes a groundbreaking story containing details of the 30-year long coverup about political and military involvement in Vietnam by the US government. It appears that the highly classified study was made at the request of Robert McNamara, a close and personal friend of Graham, causing her to have conflicting feelings around her personal life and her social responsibility as the owner of a newspaper.
Eventually, the story becomes a gripping and suspenseful drama
Soon after publishing, it is announced that The New York Times will be taken to court and that they have been banned from further printing any information on the subject by the government. This restraint leaves a huge opening for The Washington Post to continue the exposé, as Bradlee puts it, they’re “back in the game”. The chemistry we see between Hanks and Streep is second to none, as they grapple with the hypothetical idea of publishing the content of the report and the implications this would have on the paper should they manage to gain access to the documents. But hypotheticals soon turn into reality as reporter Ben Bagdikian flies back from Boston with copies of the report in a seat belt next to him after meeting whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg.
From this point onwards, the film really begins to gather pace, as handpicked newsroom reporters arrive at Bradlee’s house to decipher the information written in the report. As they sit amongst the thousands of white papers strewed across the living room floor, we gain a palpable sense of the gravity of the situation at hand. With only ten hours until the paper goes to press, the legal, financial and personal implications of publishing have to be considered at lightning speed by those involved. As the lawyers plead towards the protection of the paper and Bradlee defends their right to publish in the name of the free press, Graham is left with one of the most difficult decisions in newspaper history.
As many factual biopics are, this film is somewhat slow at first, giving the audience context of the political climate during the Nixon administration in a somewhat dragged out and uneventful way. But eventually, the story becomes a gripping and suspenseful drama about the responsibility of a free press and the effects that the Pentagon Papers had on the US government's relationships with the media and the American public. Secondary to its central themes, the film also touches on the misogynistic attitudes of the 1970’s that made many underestimate the power and tenacity of Katharine Graham who was often the only woman in the boardroom. Overall, this film is a superb dramatisation of a major event in modern history, which with two of Hollywood’s best actors at the helm, was highly enjoyable.
The Post is screening at Broadway Cinema until Thursday 1 February
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