SXSW REVIEW: OUR NIXON And The Expectations Of Intent

WATERGATE IS A PERMANENT FIXTURE OF MODERN AMERICANA.

YOU CAN PICK YOUR ANGLE: SOME SEE IT AS THE HERALD TO THE AGE OF CYNICISM, SOME SEE IT AS THE DIVISIVE BREAK IN THE TRUST OF FUNCTIONING GOVERNMENT, SOME SEE IT AS A SHAKESPEAREAN TRAGEDY MADE INCARNATE. WHATEVER NARRATIVE YOU LEND TO THE EVENT, IT INESCAPABLY REPRESENTS THE TURNING POINT IN THE STORY OF AMERICA, WHEREIN WE MOVED FROM THE OPTIMISM OF THE POST-WAR BOOM AND THE HOPE OF '60'S COUNTER-CULTURAL REVOLUTION TO SOMETHING MUCH DARKER AND UNINVESTED.

THE STORY IS ALSO HELPLESSLY FAMILIAR. TO ANYONE WHO HAS HAD THEIR PERIOD OF FASCINATION WITH WATERGATE, THERE MAY SEEM LITTLE LEFT TO ADD. BY THIS POINT WE ALL KNOW THE PRINCIPALS AND THE FAMOUS EVENTS ALONG THE TIMELINE. BUT TO THE UNFAMILIAR, HULK ADMITS THAT ANY DOCUMENTARY COULD SEEM REVELATORY. IT IS SIMPLY THAT KIND OF SUBJECT. THESE TWO EXTREMES PROMPT AN INTERESTING QUESTION; HOWEVER, WE HAVE TO SIMPLY ASK: WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF RETURNING TO THE WATERGATE SUBJECT MATTER?

OUR NIXON EXISTS THANKS TO THE PUBLIC UNEARTHING OF OVER 500 HOME MOVIES TAKEN BY NIXON’S INNER CIRCLE, INCLUDING H.R. HALDEMAN - NIXON'S CHIEF OF STAFF, JOHN EHRLICHMAN - WHITE HOUSE COUNCIL, AND DWIGHT CHAPIN - PERSONAL AID TO THE PRESIDENT. THESE NAMES ARE FAMILIAR TO MANY AS THOSE WHO FIRST TOOK THE FALL IN THE WATERGATE SCANDAL, BUT THEY WERE ALSO APPARENTLY OBSESSIVE HOME MOVIE TAKERS. THE FOOTAGE WAS ORIGINALLY CONFISCATED IN THE LEGAL PROCEEDINGS AND HAS BEEN HELD BY THE U.S. GOVERNMENT FOR OVER 40 YEARS. AND NOW WITH THE RELEASE OF THE FOOTAGE, IT IS THE KIND OF MATTER OF HAPPENSTANCE THAT SIMPLY BEGS FOR A DOCUMENTARY, WHICH ARE SO OFTEN FOUNDED ON THE NATURE OF LUCK AND TIMING.

THE RESULTING DOCUMENTARY IS CERTAINLY INTERESTING. THEIR GOAL SEEMS SIMPLE: USE THE DEEPLY INTIMATE FOOTAGE TO ARTICULATE A MORE PERSONAL VIEW OF NIXON THROUGH HIS CLOSEST ADVISERS. AT TIMES IT SLAM DUNKS THAT PREMISE. FROM THE OPENING CREDIT SEQUENCE - SET IN THE STYLE OF A '70'S SITCOM REVEALING ALL THE PRINCIPAL CAST MEMBERS, TO ALL THE BEHIND THE SCENES FOOTAGE OF NIXON'S FAMOUS CHINA TRIP, AND TO SOME GREAT MOMENTS OF NIXON THE SQUARE - LIKE HIS COMPLAINING ABOUT THE SUPPORTIVE PORTRAYAL OF HOMOSEXUALITY ON ALL IN THE FAMILY (HE SEEMS AGHAST THAT EVERYONE THINKS ARCHIE BUNKER IS WRONG).

BUT THE FILM CAN'T HELP BUT TRUDGE UP THE SAME OLD WATERGATE BEATS. WHICH IS PROBLEMATIC BECAUSE THE PERSONALIZING MISSION OF THE DOCUMENTARY LEAVES ONE TO WISH THEY HAD SIMPLY MORE TIME TO EXPLORE THE RELATIONSHIPS OF THE FOUR MEN TO GREATER EXTENT. AND WHILE YOU DO GET A DECENT SENSE OF WHO THEY WERE, MANY OF THEM HAVE PASSED ON, MEANING THAT ALL INTERVIEWS ARE CONSTRUCTED FROM ARCHIVAL FOOTAGE. WHILE IT MAY SEEM DEEPLY UNFAIR, ONE IS LEFT TO WONDER WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN IF THEY INTERVIEWS WERE ABLE TO ZOOM IN ON THE OUR NIXON MISSION STATEMENT. AND BY JUST STICKING TO THE FOUR MEN AND NOT GOING TO ANYONE ELSE WHO COULD HAVE ADDED EXTRA INSIGHT TO THOSE RELATIONSHIPS, THE FILM CAN'T HELP BUT FAIL TO REALIZE ITS MISSION. NIXON'S ADMISSION OF LOVE FOR H.R. DURING THEIR PHONE CONVERSATION SHOULD FEEL ALTERNATELY LIKE A CATHARTIC MOMENT AND A KNIFE IN THE BACK, BUT INSTEAD IT FALLS FLAT IN A FILM THAT SEEMS LIKE IT COULD NEVER TRULY GET TO WHAT IT REALLY WANTED TO BE ABOUT.

WHICH IS NOT TO SAY THAT OUR NIXON ISN'T COMPELLING OR WELL-MADE. IN FACT, THE FILM SIMPLY FLIES BY WITH REASONABLY AMAZING FOOTAGE OF THESE FIGURES AT THEIR JOYOUS BEST. AND PERHAPS, WITH WATERGATE BEING THE AFOREMENTIONED PERMANENT FIXTURE OF MODERN AMERICANA, IT WAS AN UNAVOIDABLE SUBJECT. TO SEPARATE FROM THE SPECIFICS OF THE CHAOS WOULD SEEM LIKE AN INFORMATIVE INJUSTICE.

SO PERHAPS WHAT MAKES THIS ALL WORTH TALKING ABOUT IS THAT THE CENTRAL CONUNDRUM OF OUR NIXON KEYS INTO THE VERY PURPOSE OF DOCUMENTARY FILMMAKING. IT WAS A FILM THAT WAS BORN FROM THE SURREAL PROFUNDITY OF THE FIND. AND SO WHEN WE WORK BACKWARDS FROM THE UNEARTHING OF THAT FOOTAGE, THE IDEA IS TO TRY AND FIND SOMETHING OF INSIGHT THAT MATCHES THE PROFUNDITY OF THE FIND, EITHER BY ARTICULATING SOMETHING NEW OR BY ENHANCING THE FOCUS OF THE MATERIAL ITSELF.

IT MAY SEEM LIKE A RIDICULOUSLY HIGH STANDARD AND HULK ADMITS SO, BUT THAT IS THE NATURE OF INTENT AND EXPECTATION. AND SO WHAT SHOULD FEEL LIKE A TRIUMPHANT UNEARTHING OF A DEEPLY PERSONAL STORY OF THE FOUR MEN CAUGHT IN THE GREATEST POLITICAL CROSSFIRE WE'VE EVER KNOWN, BECOMES A STORY THAT ALMOST GETS THERE, BUT ULTIMATELY BECOMES JUST ANOTHER SHADING OF A PERMANENT FIXTURE IN MODERN AMERICANA.