The Post

seen on 22 January 2018

Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks star as the owner (Katharine Graham) and editor (Ben Bradlee) of The Washington Post in this film directed by Steven Spielberg concerning the crisis of publishing the Pentagon Papers in June 1971.

The film opens with Daniel Ellsberg (Matthew Rhys) taking part in a night sortie in Vietnam as an 'observer'; later while flying back to the US he is summoned to give an opinion to Secretary of Defense Rob McNamara (Bruce Greenwood), who apparently uses his answer as support for disengagement, but in a press conference gives a contrary endorsement that all is going well. This, we are led to suppose, provokes Ellsberg to photocopy the entire report (7000 pages) which McNamara had commissioned, which clearly showed that consecutive US administrations from Truman onwards had misled the public about the government's intentions in Vietnam.

The narrative arc of this prologue is extremely economical, but very effective since the film is not really concerned with Ellsberg's personal story, but rather with the conflicting loyalties and priorities of the press, and more particularly of the rocky dynamics at the Post which was in the process of floating its managing company (previously a family business) on the Stock Exchange. 

The bulk of the film therefore follows the story of the Post's access to the leaked report and the questions this raises about links between the higher management of the press and the political elite (many politicians are frequent guests at Katharine Graham's parties, and Robert McNamara himself is a close personal friend), and whether such friendships fatally compromise journalistic independence. Equally important is the transition of Graham herself from a somewhat reluctant and ill-at-ease presence at board meetings - all too easily relying on male friends and mentors to speak for her when she cannot exert her own authority - to a determined decision maker finally able to stand her ground.

Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks both give strong performances ably supported by many other less well known (at least to me) actors in the secondary roles. The fundamental question of the freedom of the press and its constitutional guarantee gradually but clearly emerges from the story which has many of the trappings of a thriller even though the outcome is well-known (the paper did publish, and was vindicated by a 6-3 Supreme Court decision against the government's attempt to prevent publication). With typical flair, Spielberg combines an exciting story with the nuanced portrayal of character development as both Bradlee and Graham react to the changing circumstances swirling around them.

Historical events are inevitable streamlined to provide clarity and maximum dramatic impact, but this allows the potential costs at a personal level to be exposed (many of the protagonists could have been imprisoned if the judgements had been unfavourable), and it makes overall for a very satisfactory film and a timely reminder of the importance of press freedom when the integrity of the 'third estate' is being perniciously questioned by those in political power.