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I wonder how many people under the age of 35 could tell you who Henry Kissinger was. Some might know that he was an important U.S. diplomat in the late '60s and '70s, but would they also answer that he was the U.S. Secretary of State during the Nixon and Ford administrations? Would they realize that he won the Nobel Peace Prize for ostensibly bringing peace to Vietnam even while he secretly ordered the wholesale bombing of North Vietnam and Cambodia? Would they know that he helped direct the overthrow of a democratically elected government in Chile? And would they be aware that some journalists believe he should be tried for the war crimes of
torture, assassination, and mass murder?

The Trials of Henry Kissinger is a new documentary. Its inspiration is a book by Christopher Hitchens, one of the aforementioned journalists, and it explores the issues of how Kissinger came to power and whether he is, in fact, culpable of war crimes. Though the topic might seem dry, the documentary is an entertaining and thought-provoking film.

The documentary form has been manipulated in a variety of ways this year-from the funny, discursive Bowling for Columbine to the observational ABC Africa. Trials, though, is a straight-forward, talking-heads documentary. It combines archival news footage from the '60s and '70s with present-day interviews of people who either worked with Kissinger or covered him.

As any good biographical documentary does, it starts at the beginning, with Kissinger's birth in Germany and leaving for America in 1938. It lightly traipses over his academic career and the years he spent with the Rockefeller Foundation as a foreign policy analyst, one who made his name advocating limited thermonuclear war. The documentary slows down in 1968 when Kissinger was both a participant in the Paris peace talks to end the Vietnam War and a secret advisor to the Nixon presidential campaign. The ability to play for both the Johnson and Nixon camps was only the first of Kissinger's shrewd if unethical backdoor dealings.

The centerpiece of the film is an examination of how the Nixon administration, with Kissinger in charge of its foreign policy, finally
extricated America from the war in southeast Asia. It's not a pretty portrayal, and it forms the core of the argument that Kissinger should be
prosecuted for war crimes. It also provides a wonderfully concise history of those years. Even those completely unfamiliar with the Vietnam War should find this relatively easy to follow; and the description of U.S. involvement in the overthrow of Chilean president Salvador Allende is clear.

While Hitchens's book is a polemic, the documentary tries to be more balanced. It goes out of its way to interview people who sympathize with Kissinger, including Alexander Haig, one of Kissinger's key aides during that time. Nonetheless, these interviews have the effect of undermining Kissinger's own position. Haig has never been known for his wisdom and tact under fire, and here a probing interview only serves to buttress the anti-Kissinger side.

A more pointed argument, though, is whether any of this is relevant. Kissinger is pushing 80 years old, and only the most radical pundits think it's even possible that he could be tried for war crimes. So is this just a spitting match over events that happened 30 years ago?

The Trials of Henry Kissinger makes an effective case for why this is still important--not an actual war crimes trial but the importance of
international justice and holding public figures accountable. What does it mean for a country to bomb cities and civilians? How has the idea of international justice changed over the last half century? How culpable are political figures for the results of their decisions? Can a U.S. president legitimately claim to be ignorant and innocent of the effects of his war decisions?

These, of course, are extraordinarily relevant issues for us today. Though the movie was made before the drums of Iraqi war started beating, it's not hard to connect the events of the Vietnam era with the present day. And the film's history lesson should hopefully provide a strong note of caution for those who blithely argue that an Iraqi invasion would be swift and benefit the entire Middle East. The horrific example of Cambodia (the most stirring part of the movie) should not be forgotten.

All of this assumes that Trials is doing more than preaching to the choir. Unfortunately, the target audience for this movie is already
convinced, and those who would benefit most aren't likely to trek up to the Music Box. Despite all that, there's still something exhilarating about hearing this viewpoint expressed, even in a small documentary. As the corporate control of media becomes even tighter and the opportunities for progressive voices to speak become even more limited, any chance to speak up for those destroyed by history should be welcomed. The Trials of Henry Kissinger is a fast-paced and provocative view of history, a perspective we rarely have the chance to hear.

J. Robert Parks 11/30/2002