The Post

Director: Steven Spielberg

Nominated for: Best Picture; Best Actress

My initial overwhelming impression of The Post is that the 1970s were really a very brown decade – everything is muted and kind of muddy. But then I actually paid attention to the film and that just morphed into the background. Despite there being a lack of jeopardy as The Washington Post is still going strong to this day it is still a very tense film and I did get goosebumps on a number of occasions.

I didn’t really know much about the historical events that are the driving force of The Post which is unusual for me as I’m fascinated with the Vietnam War so try to learn as much as I can about it. The study of the Vietnam War, and the events leading up to it, that was undertaken and forms the epicentre of this film was, as stated in the film, meant to be a historical piece of work that was read years after the war when there had been the chance to gain some perspective on it. I would argue that even 40+ years after the end of the Vietnam War there is still little chance to get any useful perspective as it was such a divisive war. I mean even Matthew Rhys’ character, Daniel Ellsberg, the whistleblower, says that “the first priority was to avoid a humiliating U.S. defeat, which took up to 70% of the reasons for the U.S. escalation of the war.” There is still a sense of shame about Vietnam – people are still unwilling to talk about that war, especially their experiences.

I can definitely see The Post being a contender for Best Picture given the current political climate in America but then the question becomes should it win because it is making a political statement or should it be judged on the narrative and acting? I’m also not surprised that The Post has come out when it has – it’s very much a product of the time it was filmed in. If Donald Trump was a smart man (and there’s a lot of evidence that he really isn’t!) he would see The Post for the warning that it is. I mean the similarities with Richard Nixon are quite disturbing. Nixon’s response to this was to take the Press to court – something that had never been done before. He alienated the Press and paid for it with the abrupt ending of his Presidency – he massively underestimated the power of the press and that’s something that Trump is also doing. His response to unfavourable stories was to band certain media outlets from the White House. Here’s hoping he goes the same way as Tricky Dicky.

Tom Hanks is once again stellar in his performance as Ben Bradlee. He’s made something of a career in playing still-living figures and he always does them brilliantly. Mind you I am a serious Tom Hanks fan – I don’t think I’ve ever seen a Tom Hanks film that I have disliked. There’s just something intensely likeable about him.

Meryl Streep likewise is brilliant as Kay Graham and is worthy of yet another Oscars nomination. She really comes into her own throughout the film. It’s great to watch her find her voice within such a male dominated field over the course of the film – another echo to the current situation as women are still having to fight to be heard within the film industry in particular.

The type setting room and print room for The Washington Post are amazing. They are such clever skills that have pretty much been lost due to the modernisation of the whole print process. As such you know that the people working those machines in the film are most likely real news boys thanks to the efficiency of their actions – there’s no way you can learn that in enough time to make it so smooth without having done it in a previous job.

I love that the film ends with Tricky Dicky’s imminent humiliation with the teaser of the Watergate Scandal straight after Graham says she never wants to be involved in something like the Pentagon Papers ever again.