Good historical chronicles

Rating: 6/10 (14 January 2006)

Washington DC 1972. Strange burglars are arrested in the Watergate building. With an apparently insignificant story begins the biggest scandal ever in the American politics, which led to President Nixon's resignation. Two men are at the heart of the scandal, two hungry reporters without whom not much would have happened Woodword and Bernstein. As Chief Editor Ben Bradley summarizes, "Now hold it, hold it. We're about to accuse Haldeman, who only happens to be the second most important man in this country, of conducting a criminal conspiracy from inside the White House. It would be nice if we were right." The story of their investigation is here told soberly, step by step. It is not that easy to follow, and like in 'J.F.K', you'd better have a quick and good memory of names. But it shows quite well why the press is called 'the fourth power' Says Ben Bradlee again: "Nothing's riding on this except the, uh, first amendment to the Constitution, freedom of the press, and maybe the future of the country. Not that any of that matters, but if you guys f... up again, I'm going to get mad. Goodnight" Of course, while watching this movie, one should be careful to dissociate it from more recent events. Woodword and Bernstein would be much less credible if we were to remember that they have been conspicuously absent from the scene these last few years, even though the Watergate looks like a kiddie joke compared with what has been going on lately at the White House