The Fog of War exposes a sort of autobiography taught through important lessons from former Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara. These eleven lessons serve as the chapters of this documentary, directed by filmmaker Errol Morris (Thin Blue Line, A Brief History of Time). The film follows McNamara’s extraordinary life, from his earliest memories as a child to his recollections of the Vietnam War, Cold War, and Cuban Missile Crisis.

The film opens with archival footage of McNamara preparing for a television interview almost forty years ago, showing sharp humor and wit. Morris then jumps ahead to McNamara, at 85, looking directly into the camera. His eyes show a sense of sadness as he stares for a moment, but then begins with an introduction that shows the same humor and wit that he showed in his prime. Morris is heard off-camera giving McNamara some guidance, but it is clear that McNamara knows exactly what he wants to say. McNamara appears to stare at the audience through the entire film because of Morris’ special camera device called the Interratron, which allows the interviewer and subject to look directly at each other while the subject looks into the film camera. McNamara’s presence is undeniably strong because of this technique.

While this film explores events in history preceding the lives of many current college students, the life lessons taught are very pertinent. Morris subtly drops these lessons through title cards during the film, backed by stories directly from McNamara. These stories are woven together in a fashion that ignores a steady timeline, yet they can easily be followed.

Some of these stories give humorous insight into McNamara’s political beginnings, while others show his harsh lessons in war tactics. The most powerful of these stories are the details surrounding the firebombing runs over Japan before the U.S. dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The incredible visuals created by Morris mirror McNamara’s stories throughout his intense explanations. Morris shows statistics comparing the amount of damage the U.S. caused overseas to the damage it would have done to cities in the United States. McNamara’s sincerity makes these statistics hit home, literally. It is difficult to understand the devastation caused by war until insight like McNamara’s is shown

There is a very important themes to remember while watching this documentary. Robert S. McNamara was a man dominated by the numbers and statistics he learned through his education and brief career in business. His explanation of the planning and execution of war tactics were dominated by numbers, but the life lessons were dominated by emotion. Rule #1: Empathize with your enemy. Rule #2: Rationality will not save us. These are only two examples of how the documentary values the importance of emotion in times of war.

By the end of the film, it is somewhat difficult to hear Robert S. McNamara’s personal views on the wars in which he was involved. Errol Morris struggles to get a confession out of McNamara, but comes up short. This has no bearing on the film as a whole, however, since the message is strong and clear - as the final chapter states, “You can’t change human nature.”