going into this movie, i had the expectation that the filmmakers were going to present the argument that the old adage, "what you don;t know won't hurt you," doesn't hold true when it comes to the government. reading some other reviews, it seems i wasn't the only one with this idea. but, after watching the film, it not only doesn't necessarily go with that side, it doesn't necessarily take any side.
the documentary revolves around the initial formation of the c.i.a. and the secrets involved in the cold war and following. it keeps going back to this unexplained plane crash in 1948 and the ensuing case of one of the widows of one of the civilians on board (Mrs. Reynolds) vs.the u.s. government. the case was to sue the government for the accident report. the government stated that it didn't have to reveal what happened because top secret tests and equipment were on board. the courts ruled in favor of the government in 1953, and according to one of the interviewees, over 600 cases have used that trial as precedence for the government keeping things a secret.
yet, instead of the filmmakers using this and other evidence against the government, painting this demon in the background and foreground of our lives, they went ahead and interviewed several retired government officials, including some from the c.i.a. and n.s.a. this balanced with interviewing reporters and historical archivers without the use of a narrator forces the viewer to come up with their own conclusions about governmental secrets.
thus, the film battles between reporters making the claim that the public has the right to know (citing the reports of the lack of w.m.d. findings, the Unibomber discovery after newspaper reports, and the Abu Ghraib prison scandal) and the government officials making claims for secrecy (citing Osama bin Laden's satellite phone taps gone after public reports, and the Lebanese bombings of the American embassy and the following bombing of the marine barracks). there are a few officials who make the claim that secrets should be evaluated, and then there are some that say everything should be kept a secret. but once again, there's a balance to the interviews.
the documentary revolves around the initial formation of the c.i.a. and the secrets involved in the cold war and following. it keeps going back to this unexplained plane crash in 1948 and the ensuing case of one of the widows of one of the civilians on board (Mrs. Reynolds) vs.the u.s. government. the case was to sue the government for the accident report. the government stated that it didn't have to reveal what happened because top secret tests and equipment were on board. the courts ruled in favor of the government in 1953, and according to one of the interviewees, over 600 cases have used that trial as precedence for the government keeping things a secret.
yet, instead of the filmmakers using this and other evidence against the government, painting this demon in the background and foreground of our lives, they went ahead and interviewed several retired government officials, including some from the c.i.a. and n.s.a. this balanced with interviewing reporters and historical archivers without the use of a narrator forces the viewer to come up with their own conclusions about governmental secrets.
thus, the film battles between reporters making the claim that the public has the right to know (citing the reports of the lack of w.m.d. findings, the Unibomber discovery after newspaper reports, and the Abu Ghraib prison scandal) and the government officials making claims for secrecy (citing Osama bin Laden's satellite phone taps gone after public reports, and the Lebanese bombings of the American embassy and the following bombing of the marine barracks). there are a few officials who make the claim that secrets should be evaluated, and then there are some that say everything should be kept a secret. but once again, there's a balance to the interviews.