All the President's Men (1976)

Our lively and appreciative discussion on All The President’s Men (1976) also benefited from three of the group having US connections. It’s easy to take innovations like Zoom and the video conference Meeting Owl for granted.

Remarkably, it’s been 50 years since All The President’s Men was made and we did feel things were very different now. Themes such as disintegrating trust, the erosion of local US news, staff freelancing without loyalty to one newspaper and the role of social media, were all mentioned. These were all ideas that we didn’t explore two years ago when we previously saw the film. We also mentioned AI and how it was seeping into our lives.

We valued the authentic newsroom setting, with its constant clatter and movement and 24-hour dazzling bright illumination.  We talked about the film’s atmospheric use of light and shade, with darkness a threat and the only well-lit building being the White House.

The relentless pace of the film completely engaged us – we were full of praise for director Alan Pakula. We follow competitive reporters Bernstein (Dustin Hoffman) and Woodward (Robert Redford) on their investigative Watergate reporting, with fresh clues revealed to us as they learn them.  It made sense that the actors learnt each other’s lines so they could finish them. We share in their excitement of new discoveries. There is no back story of their lives to take the focus away from the investigation.

How things would be different nowadays. The reporters knocked on doors at the dead of night and people seemed willing to share the truth and give straight answers.  As well as Bernstein’s 1970s kipper tie, we relished this nostalgia.

The film of Reality Winner’s life was recommended and we warmly remembered the mid-1970s television series Lou Grant, starring Ed Asner.

Our verdict was that the film was “well scripted and there isn’t one dull moment.”  Maybe we’ll be watching the opening sequence of typewriter keys exploding against the paper, gunshot style, in another two years’ time.

Anne