The Post won nothing but a nomination at the 2018 Oscars. What is this historical-case-based movie on?
Among the many high-quality films in Oscar 2018, The Post impressed me the most but it won no award but nomination. It was not a beautiful fantasy love. It was not about human nature. It was a real history. It was “A war”.
Directed by Spielberg, starring by Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks, the opposing sides of the “war” are the Nixon administration and the American press.
Meryl Streep acted Katharine Graham, who was the publisher of the Washington Post, there are similarities between these two ladies. (credit to Niko Tavernise/20th Century Fox)It was the most dignified era of journalists. It was a time when practitioners knew exactly what to do. It now seems like an idealist Romantic dreams interweave.
The film is based on the famous Pentagon document incident in the history of the United States. In 1971, the New York Times received a 7,000-page Vietnam War study from the Corner Building. This highest secret document clearly shows that the U.S. government knows that launching the Vietnam War is a wrong decision. But it has been lying to the people in order to obtain the support of the people for the Vietnam War.
The New York Times published it after the study and made public the behind-the-scenes truth of the U.S. government hoping to end the Vietnam War.
However, under the pressure from the government, the New York Times finally stopped reporting. The Washington Post, a local newspaper, took over the banner and fought for freedom of the press and the truth.
We have to admit that Spielberg is a master of choreographers as well as a good relater of historical events. “The Post” did not fall into the routine of traditional biographical films. There was a compelling and detailed portrayal of the choice between the characters and the eye-catching historical events. The Post also uses real video recordings and low-saturation colors to create a sense of history as much as possible.
Also, there are many fragments within the film revealing the injustice status of women in that era. For instance, when it comes to politics, all women automatically exit to the next room to discuss fashion, and even newspaper publishers are constantly suffering from shareholders. Their contempt, in the eyes of many people, Kay itself is not capable of qualifying for the position of the publisher.
In the film, Katharine attended meeting of the Washington Post. Surrounded by group of men, her words didn’t matter in such a man-dominated era. (credit to Niko Tavernise)Katharine Graham’s challenge is on focus throughout the whole story. It was an era in which a white male dominated everything. Katharine Graham was nothing more than a fictitious decision, where all the major decisions were made by her board directly. She also tried to maintain her voice and dignity in this neglected environment.
The end of the film is a godsend, where the last shot of the film completely coincides with the first scene in film “all the President’s Men”: The guards discovered the “thief” in the Democrat National Headquarters building in Watergate. It indicates that the real war between angry Nixon and America media just begin.
As line says, “News is the first rough draft of history.” “The only way to assert the right to publish is to publish.”
Salute to freedom of press.
Degree of recommendation: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
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