Sickness to The Brink of Death
Nixon (1995) HQ "Do you ever think of death, Dick?"
"Oliver Stone's talents as a Director may be erratic
but they shine at full strength in the richness
of this scene depicting an uneasy agreement
between President Richard Nixon
and CIA Director Richard Helms.
Stone's trademark of combining aesthetic precision
with playful creativity gives this scene
a spinning prism-like effect,
flashing light into a myriad of
shadowy and suggestive areas.
However the historical inaccuracy
of Oliver Stone's works is often held up.
My view is that watching a film
is like experiencing another person's dream.
A film cannot really re-create people or events.
It is inherently too subjective.
Stone's "dreams" make me especially curious
to know more about historical figures
and events and in that sense
I appreciate them.
I do not watch them expecting to see "what really happened".
Hopkins is a puppet, Stone a puppeteer
creating questions and intrigue.
Like them, we have to find Our Own Truth
about Nixon and Helms..."
