Worth

Some ideas are too good to ignore.  Movies without sex or romance or action are handicapped at the box office, but some of us like to understand the world a little better.  9/11 was a game changer and we are still feeling the effects.  At the time the news was overwhelming and it seems that much was either overlooked or forgotten.

 The strongest reaction seemed to be to seek revenge, but it turns out there were other concerns.  For me "Worth" (2021) pointed out what politicians and their wealthy supporters were very concerned about.  The big concern was that if all the dependents of the dead and injured sued, the economy would crater.  At one point we learned that Congress had passed laws to prevent suing the two airlines involved.  At another point we learned that lawyers representing the big earners who had died, campaigned to raise levels of compensation.  John Ashroft agreed it was best to avoid a Republican in charge of compensation as it would likely attract a lot of criticism not matter what was decided.

We are introduced to Ken Fineberg in a classroom setting where he is pointing out that all lives can be reduced to a number after a death.  Later we learn he has had a lot of experience with major disasters and understood the normal process.

 Fineberg himself recognized the national dilemma and felt obligated to give his expertise for free.   One of his graduated students was in the south tower when it was hit.  He assembles his team and they put together protocols.  He is interrupted to take a call from the President.  First we notice that the call has been set up by a secretary, then George Bush gets on to thank Fineberg and comments that he will receive a lot of garbage and while we are digesting the importance of a presidential call he hangs up.   

We soon meet Charles Wolf, whose wife died.  He seems very reasonable, but makes it known he does not approve the plan.  Fineberg is confident that emotions will die down and the people will recognize the deal is reasonable to help them move on.  

We learn that many victims lived in non normal circumstances.  One man had not yet had a chance to form a civil union with his now deceased partner.  We learn about one widow who didn't know her husband had had two children outside their marriage.  We learn that many injuries from the cleanup people were not revealed until deadlines had expired.  Lots of emotion from a variety of survivors.

Ken Fineberg had talks with Charles Wolf who had much more support and tried to adjust the rules and understand the situation.  Fineberg had been told they needed 80% compliance or nobody would be compensated which meant disaster for the economy.  The response was very slow, under 50% with only a few months to go.  Wolf finally decided that the adjustments justified his support.  In the end 97% did comply. 

How much is a life worth?  There really is no fair way of assessing and Fineberg always claimed he was seeking a just solution, not a fair one.  Underneath it all was the need to protect the overall economy while satisfying basic needs.  As a small sideline we become aware that the Bush administration is getting set to invade Iraq.

The film tries to cover as many aspects of the compensation issues as practical.  They succeeded in bringing compensation into a better understanding.  

Films that do such a good job are the result of quality contributions from numerous people.  Here are only a few.

Sara Colangelo was director.  Her first film, a short documentary "Halal Vivero" was a national finalist at the 2006 Student Academy Awards.  Her film credits include "The Kindergarten Teacher" (2018).  She has also been a writer, producer and some technical skills.

Max Borenstein, wrote the script. He has been writing for films since 2003, but has also been a producer including for this film and a director.

Marc Butan was another producer with such film credits as "The Lost City of Z" (2016), "The Zookeeper's Wife" (2017), "Ad Astra" (2019) and "The Trial of the Chicago 7" (2020).

Brad Dorros, another producer with such film credits as "Spotlight" (2015) and "Collateral Beauty" (2016).       

Anthony Katagas is a leading producer of independent films.  His credits include  "The Next Three Days" (2010), "The Immigrant" (2013), and "12 Years a Slave" (2013 for which he was awarded the Oscar).      As a sideline he played goalie for he Greek national team at the 2018 National Lacrosse Championship.

Michael Sugar, another producer has film credits for "Rendition" (2007), "Big Miracle" (2012). "The Fifth Estate" (2013),  "Spotlight" (2015 for which he received an Oscar), "Collateral Beauty" (2016) and "The Report" (2019).  Check:  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2020/05/the-report.html

Tony Parker was a co-executive producer.  Better known to me as an all star NBA athlete winning 3 titles and helping France win the European championship, along the way winning more than one MVP title.  His film credits include "Shock and Awe" (2017).  He is the executive producer for an upcoming document, "The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu."  

Nico Muhly composed the music.  His credits include "The Reader" (2008), "Margaret" (2011) and "Me and Earl and the Dying Girl" (2015).  Two of the characters show a strong interest in opera.

Pepe Avila del Pino was the cinematographer with credits that include  "Ozark" (2017), "The Kindergarten Teacher" (2018)   A surprise to me is that it was filmed in Oregon.

Michael Keaton  who played Ken Finestein was born Michael John Douglas and early in his acting career he changed to Michael Keaton to avoid being confused with a more famous actor.  He had been a stagehand for "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood" in 1968.  His acting credits include:  "Batman" (1989), "The Paper" (1994), his Oscar nominated "Birdman or(the Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)" (2014), "Spotlight" (2015) and "The Founder" (2016).

Amy Ryan plays Fineberg's veteran assistant.  Her credits include "Capote" (2005), "Gone Baby Gone" (2007), "Win Win" (2011), "Birdman or (the Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)" (2014), "Bridge of Spies" (2015) and "Beautiful Boy" (2018).  Check  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2016/05/bridge-of-spies.html

Stanley Tucci plays Charles Wolf.  His acting credits include "The Pelican Brief" (1993), "Big Night" (1996 also as co-writer), "Road to Perdition" (2002), "The Terminal" (2004), "Shall we Dance?" (2004),  "The Devil Wears Prada" (2006), "The Lovely Bones" (2009), "Spotlight" (2015) and "The Children Act" (2017).  Now he is more popular than ever with "StanleyTucci: Searching for' Italy."

Shunori Ramanathan played Fineberg's graduated student.  Her film credits include "The Big Sick" (2017).

After digesting the movie a bit you will be left pondering what is a life worth and the difference between fairness and justice.  A thoughtful move with a little history you might have overlooked or forgotten.

As usual the first mention of a film has been bolded that I have seen.

TORTURE: ITS REPERCUSSIONS FOR THE REST OF US

The infamous torture report came out recently with a harsh reality check for the CIA. Not only did they torture, but they lied about it.  They certainly have their defenders who maintain that valuable information was obtained that protected American lives.  The report itself denies that claim.

In my nightmares it is hard to deny that torture would force many people, including me to give up their secrets.  Real spies and soldiers undoubtedly have more courage than I possess, but there is a limit to how much even the best of them could endure.  Nonetheless there are doubts as to its effectiveness.

We all have heard of confessions under duress.  Sometimes we assume that the person really was guilty and would otherwise have lied with a straight face if questioned.  All too often we learn later that they were in fact innocent.  This suggests the idea that people will say anything to stop the torture and too often their confession may not be true.  It may not be true because of a deliberate strategy of the victim to mislead.  It may not be true because of a deliberate strategy of the victim's overseers.  It may not be true because the victim really doesn't know.  It may not be true because the victim feels it is safer to agree with the accusing tormentors than fight.

When we are desperate, we resort to desperate measures.  After 9/11 there was fear everywhere that terrorists could strike at any time in any place.  We lowered our standards and I don't just mean our leaders, but also ourselves.  Many of us thought quietly to ourselves and some spoke out loud that nothing should be held back in our quest to find out what the terrorists were planning.  If someone died or suffered it served them right for being involved with terrorists.

Whether information gained from torture is useful or not there are other concerns, really costs involved.  We know that many of our enemies don't hesitate to torture and brutalize anyone they capture and assume that they would no matter what we do.  Is that really always true for every one of our "enemies"?  We are creatures of habit and respond to peer pressure, but we all know stories of people who resisted doing bad things and tried to rectify injustice.  World War II with the Holocaust produced significant people who were repulsed by the Nazi brutality and did what they could to shield its victims.  We know there were Americans who protested their own brutality in recent times. Is it not possible that by setting a good example other humans similar to ourselves would feel more resistant to abuses of power by their own side?  What about our front line combatants (in or out of uniform); do we not care about them?

We know that Al Qaeda and other extremists felt that American and allied abuses were very helpful for recruiting fighters.  It is very possible that the latest release of information will be used as a tool by our enemies.  In fact it seems very likely that the new recruits have killed many innocent people.  On the other hand our confession may give credibility to our claims of avoiding future torture.

All that said, politics can be a dirty business and we will see plenty of evidence in the near future. John McCain for all his faults has put things in perspective.  He understands the inhumanity of torture.  However I suspect other Republicans will use the release of this report to prove how soft and foolish the Democrats are and that Obama is a secret Muslim.  We all know that governments do what they feel needs to be done to protect their citizens and often publicly stated rules are bent and kept under cover.  Innocent people die and suffer in "national interests."  In chess, victory is given when one side is able to disable the king--everyone else is killed or captured, but not the king.

I recently read an article by Juan Cole where he recounted several instances of the American Founding Fathers that demonstrated they were against torture.  George Washington was aware that the American rebel prisoners had been killed by the British, but refused to allow revenge.  His thinking and that of other founders was that they were superior ("exceptional" if you will) to the old European way of doing things.  This has been twisted to the idea Americans are superior and can do whatever they want to protect their interests.

Like many I feel somebody should pay for the lies and distortions.  Many actually profited out of these false and brutal things.  Inevitably most will get away with it.  I hope the Americans learn a few lessons and can appreciate that they are all complicit.  I don't exempt us Canadians and other allies as in various ways we are scarcely better.  Sometimes it is very easy to be self-righteous, especially when one is on the outside that we are better people, but the truth is human nature is universal although our particular circumstances are randomly different.

I applaud the courage required to present the report and hope it is a small step for civilization.

Photo:  taken by the Huka Falls in New Zealand.