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Secret Honor (1984)

Robert Altman
Philip Baker Hall
Anamorphic widescreen
Dolby Digital 5.1
DTS
Trailer(s)
Featurette(s)
Documentary
Audio commentary
Deleted scenes
Concept art / storyboards
Multi-angle feature
Quote
Richard M. Nixon (Philip Baker Hall): You see, Your Honor, I know that the whole story could never be told during my lifetime, because the nation could not have stood the whole story.

Plot summary
A fictionalized former President Richard M. Nixon offers a solitary, stream-of-consciousness reflection on his life and political career - and the "true" reasons for the Watergate scandal and his resignation.

Film review
A director unwilling to compromise in any way, Robert Altman was hardly able to get any pictures made throughout the 1980s, the massive success of most of his 1970s work notwithstanding. Finding himself out of favor with the studios, the maverick director instead taught film classes in this period, while directing the occasional theatrical adaptation once every few years. Most of these low-budget pictures were confined to a single set, but none were as boldly stripped-down as one-man play Secret Honor, in which then-unknown actor Philip Baker Hall ranted and raved for 90 minutes as a psychotic, increasingly incoherent Richard Nixon intent on spewing his gall in what seems like a single sentence.

Any film dedicated to a single actor's performance as a notorious former president can be little else than an actor's tour de force, but Altman does a standout job of guiding the viewer's attention through an unusually demanding piece. More a critical investigation of Nixon than a parody, there is still little for the viewer to identify with in this paranoid, incessantly profane little man who curses those who caused his downfall while clearly despising himself above all. Compared to Anthony Hopkins' performance in Oliver Stone's better-known biographical film, Hall's performance is less accessible and less sympathetic, but no less fascinating and certainly no less skillful.
Version control
Available on DVD only from the Criterion Collection in a region-free release.

Picture and sound
Shot on 16mm stock as part of a course Altman was then teaching as a film professor, the fullscreen image is framed at its original fullscreen aspect ratio of approx. 1.33:1. Due to the nature of the film stock and the low-budget shooting conditions, film grain is abundant throughout, as are various forms of background artefacts. Fortunately, the print is otherwise in mint condition, but the limitations of the source material make it no better than a mediocre transfer.
The original mono sound mix is presented in Dolby Digital 1.0, and although fidelity is limited, the monologue is intelligible nearly all of the time.

Added value
With a film that is both relatively obscure and that also raises quite a few questions, it is gratifying to find that the Criterion Collection has included a wealth of extras that shed light on numerous aspects of the film and its background. Easily the most engaging supplement is a newly recorded 21-minute interview with sole actor Philip Baker Hall, who played this part on stage, and was finally able to start a successful film career after this first film appearance.

Equally informative is Robert Altman's audio commentary, in which the director discusses how the project came together in his familiar avuncular style. A second commentary track features writer Donald Freed, who delves more deeply into the play's thematic background. The final supplement consists of over an hour of TV speeches by Richard Nixon at key moments in his political career. Having seen Hall's courageous interpretation of Nixon in the film, one does hunger for this kind of fascinating real footage of the man himself.

Dan Hassler-Forest

Reviewed: December 2, 2004

Click here for IMDB info on Secret Honor.

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