The Post

We’ve got to the stage where any historical event can be canonised in celluloid. Some strike as barrel scraping but with certain films it’s amazing to think how it’s never been shot before.

The Post is one to file under the latter category; of course, with the Watergate scandal just around the corner (something brilliantly alluded to here) The Pentagon Papers are less discussed in the public eye, but these events lit the touch paper on the press calling out its officiators and are of vast importance.

In short; the American government produced ongoing exposes on the Vietnam War and knew almost from the very beginning that it was a war they couldn’t win. They, of course, continued sending troops throughout different administrations and were still in the midst of conflict when these documents were stolen and then leaked to the national newspapers.

The New York Times received an injunction for publishing stories about the finding of this material with The Washington Post needing to decide whether to publish specific details of the documents, whilst at the same time going public on the stock exchange.

A sharp scripted, newsroom drama The Post is easily comparable to fare such as Spotlight; worthy, historical material given a fresh twist by dramatising the press’ investigation rather than the events themselves. Any film like this will have emotional heft based on its contents but needs acting performances to match and Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks deliver here in spades.

Playing very much to their strengths but worthy of the awards nod’s sure to come their way the two heavyweights play off against each other perfectly as they argue the incredulities of the government’s meddling of the free press. It’s a triumphant moment when the papers go to print and the lies exposed.

Steven Spielberg, directing here, is the master of plot propulsion and tension. It’s against type for him but perfectly paced using lovely boomerang-ing camera work at key moments in the news room and opening the film with a short vignette of soldiers in Vietnam.

The Post is another winning document of a crucial moment in history; a eulogy to the free press. As Streep beautifully puts it here: “The press is the first draft of history.” Well, Spielberg’s film is the polished final version of this story.

4 stars ****