Errol Morris' Fog of War

In the same way that people apply Sun Tzu's Art of War to practical use, I feel like the eleven lessons that make up the structure of Fog of War have similar application but for a culture where combat is generally avoided.

In the film, McNamara looks back on his role in major points of 20th Century conflict and grapples with his successes (the Cuban Missile Crisis) and his failures (Vietnam, the fire-bombing of Japan) and attempts to explain what is important to learn from those events in hindsight. As he meets with former foreign opponents to openly discuss history, he discovers that they had very different national interests than the Cabinets McNamara was part of had assumed. Instead of Sun Tzu's "Burn the bridges", Morris and McNamara present "Empathize with your enemy", referring to how nuclear war was avoided in the Cuban Missile Crisis and ultimately the United States' failrue to control the situation in Vietnam. While McNamara is not saying that conflict is always avoidable, his thesis in the film is that the time we spend in war can be minimized with practical values, with an understanding of the flaws of human nature, the flaws of reason.

Fog of War is masterfully shot, edited and scored and is an incredible insight into conflict in the 20th Century. Definitely a documentary deserving of its Academy Award.