The Unknown Known (PG-13)

synopsis

This documentrary offers a mesmerizing portrait of Donald Rumsfeld, one of the key architects of the Iraq War, and a larger-than-life character who provoked equal levels of fury and adulation from the American public. Rather than conducting a conventional interview, Morris has Rumsfeld perform and expound on his "snowflakes," tens of thousands of memos (many never previously published) he composed as a congressman and as an advisor to four different presidents, twice as Secretary of Defense. These memos provide a window onto history-not history as it actually happened, but history as Rumsfeld wants us to see it. Morris makes plain that Rumsfeld's "snowflakes"-whether intended to elucidate, rationalize, obfuscate, or control history-are contradicted by the facts.