THE WORLD ACCORDING TO DICK CHENEY
US, 113, 109 minutes, Colour.
Directed by R.J.Cutler.
This very interesting documentary was made within five years of the end of Dick Cheney’s eight years as vice president for George W.Bush.
At the time, the first year of President Obama’s second term, those who shared Dick Cheney’s hawkish views, especially about Iraq, weapons of mass destruction, the invasion, will listen to his words, look at his face and expressions, and be supportive. Those who do not share Cheney’s views will listen to him, his calm presentation of what he believed, his methods, and might well be appalled.
The film does fill in some of his background, from Wyoming, dropping out of Yale twice, drinking, arrests, love for Lynne who made demands on him, eventually leading to his rehabilitating himself, marrying her, studying, political science, and a meeting with Donald Rumsfeld when he was in his early 30s, leading to work with President Gerald Ford and a constant presence in Washington. (For some further elaboration on this period and his actual ups and downs, they are treated in the feature film about Cheney, Vice, with Christian Bale.)
This documentary highlights the impact of 9/11, the fact that Cheney was in Washington while George Bush was in Florida, his handling of the situation on the spot. Then there is his attitude towards Al Qaeda, the link with the Iraq, hostility towards Saddam Hussein, collecting the evidence of weapons of mass destruction (including the spurious information about Iraq buying uranium from Africa), the advice to the President, the speeches in Congress, the vote and discussion, the invasion. There are some graphic pictures of warfare in Iraq.
There is also a treatment of the torture of those interned at Guantanamo Bay, waterboarding, other torches, Abu Grabe. There are consequences for Donald Rumsfeld, hostility towards him, leading to his resigning from his post – and the film featuring Dick Cheney’s eulogy of Rumsfeld on this occasion, praising his greatness as Defence Secretary and as a personal friend.
It is clear that Dick Cheney was a fairly single-minded Hawk. His antipathy towards middle eastern countries, the invasion of Afghanistan, the buildup to the invasion of Iraq, the toppling of Saddam Hussein is very clear and spoken directly, without hesitation, seemingly without scruple. A great deal of attention is given to his dislike of having to go to Congress (remembering Gerald Ford’s rather humiliating treatment after his pardoning of Nixon). Cheney manipulates behind-the-scenes, alienates the attorney general and his assistant, keeps the president in the dark. However, this backfires on Cheney and the bonds between the president and the vice president cool considerably.
As expected, Cheney has no regrets and would do everything over again in the same way.
The film grows in interest as the years passed and there is the opportunity to look back over the events and the characters in the Bush administration.
The Dir, R.J.Cutler, has a strong record of substantial documentaries.
(There have been many feature films about Dick Cheney and the Bush administration, with Richard Dreyfus in W, Christian Bale in Vice. Operation Secret, with Kiera Knightley, is interesting in terms of British intelligence and weapons of mass destruction. There is The Green Zone in the aftermath of the invasion of Iraq and the issue of weapons of mass destruction. As regards the torture issue, there is The Report that was prepared for the American Congress, Zero Dark Thirty leading up to the capture of Osama bin Laden, the Mauritanian and issues of torture in Guantánamo as well as Alex Gibney’s Oscar-winning documentary, Taxi to the Darkside.)
