The Post
The Post (Spielberg 2017)
Set in the early 70s, this may be a period piece by definition but this film could not be more timely or more relevant. With our 1st Amendment under constant siege from the petulant child currently in the White House, we need this reminder:
"the press was to serve the governed, not the governors.”
Spielberg's palette of softly imbued grays, blues and browns in the newsroom provides the ideal backdrop to showcase the gilded incandescence of Streep's Graham. She is a ray of sunshine against the stormy clouds of gun metal suits, steely typewriters and silver streaked hair.
Perhaps not quite the masterpiece of Lincoln, this latest addition to Spielberg's canon of American history is no less important. Through Hanks and Streep, Odenkirk and Ryhs, Whitford and Paulson, Spielberg weaves a civics lesson every American citizen should learn. Though not an overtly politically biased message (after all the Pentagon Papers indicted administrations from both sides of the political aisle) what Trump supporters see in their reflection when the gaze into this looking glass should scare them shit(hole)less.
Journalism in America is under attack, as news outlets are increasingly accused of delivering “fake news.” The Post serves as a reminder that the truth is an increasingly rare commodity and the brave journalists who pursue it should be applauded not demonized.
Streep, Hanks and Spielberg — Hollywood's Holy Trinity
