Alan J. Pakula/USA/1976; R4 (2-disc SE)
Warner Bros, NZ$19.95 | Reviewed by Jacob Powell

WATERGATE is a ubiquitous term in our socio-political vocabulary. Take New Zealand’s “Corngate” scandal as one example of the influence it has had on the western world. Despite this I suspect many, including me, have no idea about the details of the story to which the term relates. Sure, I knew it had something to do with President Nixon getting impeached – the first American President in this situation – but I really had no idea why.

All The President’s Men unearths much of the mystery surrounding the infamous Watergate scandal, and does so in dribs and drabs. Director Alan Pakula tells the story of the two Washington Post reporters, Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, who broke a story bigger than either would have had imagined. Proceedings evolve as they slowly piece together a puzzle that becomes more sinister the higher it climbs up the administrative chain.

Not being up to speed with the details made this a little confusing, but also made me attend more closely; the beauty of DVD, I repeated several scenes before moving on. While I may have also struggled initially with the pacing and length of the film, at arms length I can see that this actually mirrors, to some degree, the experience of the two protagonists on their search for ‘the truth’.

To help balance the pace Pakula, through judicious use of lighting and sound (music and background), creates an atmosphere of continually escalating tension that bridges the felt lack of physical action.

Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman have a great onscreen chemistry as the two leads, and the film’s enduring success owes plenty to their performances. Throughout, Pakula highlights proficiently the sometimes frustratingly slow, almost accidental, route along which the story emerged.


ROBERT REDFORD, who provides the disc’s commentary, seems to have had more to do with the film’s creation than just being a lead actor – though I can’t find him credited as other than that. He focuses less on the technical aspects of the production and more on the surrounding story – and it is no less interesting for this. Redford talks us through his experience (pre- the full extent of the Watergate scandal breaking) of following the well-worn presidential campaign trail whilst researching for another film. Hearing offhand comments about the how deep the Watergate affair went and the lack of consequences piqued his interest, compelling him to research the majority of the press material reported, leading him to Woodward and Bernstein. Apparently he managed to set up a meeting with the duo, and get them on board for a movie idea (after the completion of their book), and ended up tagging along on the end of the investigation itself. This is crazy, slightly unbelievable stuff. It certainly makes sense that he took on one of the lead roles.

Redford also touches upon his general ethos when approaching film projects, particularly actual historical subject matter. He likes, he says, to bring to light details that have been glossed over, that lead to an event or are the partial making of a person. Evidence of this can be seen in his recent project The Motorcycle Diaries (as executive producer) where the pre-revolutionary Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara chronicles some of his formative experiences travelling the Southern American continent.

Several times Redford calls into question the current American political situation with incredibly thinly veiled allusions to the Bush administration, inferring that some of its decisions require a Watergate-type inquiry. As much as I may agree, this does become a little annoying and made me think he should use a more direct forum to espouse these views.

Having experienced All The President’s Men and the accompanying commentary, I feel like I have much better appreciation of the events that challenged America’s view of its ultimate “Chief” and the strength of its democratic process.

Disc Two reveals further insight with four featurettes (including specific pieces on Woodward and Bernstein and the so-called "Deep Throat" informant).