All the President's Men

Having watched The Post last night it was appropriate to watch All The President's Men this afternoon. The Post finishes with the Watergate break in , with the same shots as All The President's Men begins with.

Spielberg's film echoes the earlier film in other ways and has a somewhat similar arc - will the story be printed? Pakula's film being much closer in time to the actual events has a grittier, less cleaned up look (they still had to build a replica newsroom). It is also interesting to see two portrayals of the Ediitor, Bem Bradlee, by Jason Robards and Tom Hanks. Katherine Graham, the paper's owner, who is played by Meryl Streep in The Post was cut from the President's Men.

Cumulatively these films are a damming account of the state of the USA government in the 60's and early 70's. Although Watergate is probably better known in the UK, the Post has more of an emotional punch as it is suggested that if the Pentagom Papers had not been covered up, the USA would have pulled out of Vietnam earlier and many (American) lives would have been saved.