Anyone expecting Errol Morris' documentary consisting of interviews with former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld to either condemn or redeem him will be disappointed. The Unknown Known has little interest in judging him, but instead simply asks "Who is this guy?" It seems like an odd question, and possibly an irrelevant one considering his massive impact on our government and the "War on Terror", but it leads to insights that are much more interesting than a more confrontational interview would reveal.
Much of the film is narrated by Rumsfeld himself; reading selections from the thousands of memos he wrote or recorded during his entire career. The most interesting ones focus on language and definitions; showing Rumsfeld's obsession with not necessarily information, but the phrasing of information. He talks us through various parts of his career (though with some omissions) but what Morris is really focusing on is Rumsfeld's version of these events. Occasionally he will refute something Rumsfeld says, to his face or by showing a clip that proves him wrong, but mostly Morris is content to just let Rumsfeld's statements hang in the air, instead focusing on his mostly paradoxical demeanor. The poster of The Unknown Known asks "Why is this man smiling?", and that's a question that the viewer will often be wondering. Rumsfeld's dopey smile appears at the most inappropriate times, as if he considers his checkered career sort of as an inside joke.
When I was a kid and the Monica Lewinsky situation was making headlines, I remember President Clinton was lampooned for dodging a question by asking for the definition of "is." That ridiculousness is Rumsfeld incarnate; he redefines words to suit his agenda, and then retroactively changes those definitions when criticized as if his first definition never existed. His media presence during the Iraq war was all about dodging questions by nitpicking at journalists' word choices; their questions, when interpreted through the "Pentagon dictionary", were nonsensical, and therefore he did not have to answer them. Cue goofy smile.The Unknowwn Known is an attempt to unpack the man behind the buzzwords and philosophy, and see if there's anything there. It turns out that Rumsfeld unwittingly provides an answer himself when asked why he agreed to the film, and while I won't spoil it, I will tell you: it ends with that damn smile.
