Wormwood

Love Errol Morris, but far too much time spent on dramatic non-enactments of men pensively staring at each other. An important story that needs to be told, and could have been told more effectively with half the screen time.

This is a great true story, yet another one, of unethical actions taken by our government agencies that took someone's life - and of course nobody has been held to account. For me the docudrama thing just doesn't do it. On top of that that is some borderline amateurish editing. The entire thing should have been half the number of episodes but instead they drag it out to the point that I'm on episode five (of six) and, knowing what happens, to make it though the last two is a complete chore.

First the director, of whom I am a fan, is to be congratulated for bringing this important story to the screen, a sad and terrifying chapter in our history that is larger than the Frank Olson story itself and even the MK Ultra program. That said, he seems to have been constrained by production values demanded by post-Breaking Bad audiences: technical and artistic overkill, relentless musical tension, and genre-bending, when the story itself is not only mind-boggling but well-documented and essential history that is little known or understood. The length (as has been noted) is far more than necessary to tell this story. A two hour movie or a two part series would have been a more effective use of the raw material. I am however pleased to see the Frank Olson story presented with great respect, although the documentary parts were, to me, far the most compelling than the drawn out contemplative sequences. (I loved seeing footage of the confessions of US military personnel, captured in Korea during the war, to having dropped bio-warfare bombs on North Korea counterposed to their recanting the same confessions when back in the US, suggesting that the brainwashing may not explain these confessions.) I do wonder if Netflix pressured the producers to come up with a six part series for their own reasons. The full history of US intelligence black operations since World War 2 could probably fill many decades of screen time, should our media choose to bring such history to the light of day. I would love to think that this is only the beginning of such an essential exploration.

This needed to be edited down. I value the gradual unveiling of information in the order it was revealed historically. That is how it unfolded for one affected family.

There are way too many minutes of re-enactment, especially the rendering of details that the storytellers say are missing. At times, the re-enactment footage is re-used! Additional footage comes from productions of a Shakespeare tragedy. So it feels as if the Shakespeare OR the re-enactments would have been indulgence enough. Why feature both?

I was curious. This answered some questions. Wish it had done so more quickly.

Loved this! Another classic Errol Morris but with a twist. Heartbreaking family tragedy set against the backdrop of shady CIA history. Suspenseful and thought-provoking.