Die Kommandozentrale (1993)

Die Kommandozentrale: Directed by Chris Hegedus, D.A. Pennebaker. With James Carville, George Stephanopoulos, Heather Beckel, Paul Begala. A documentary of the Bill Clinton 1992 presidential campaign and the organization who ran it.

“There is a moment in 1964u0026#39;s u0026quot;The Best Manu0026quot; in which Gore Vidalu0026#39;s script has Henry Fonda watching a presidential convention on television. The audience bursts into prolonged applause. Fonda rises to his feet and remarks, u0026quot;There will now follow four minutes and thirty seconds of a carefully choreographed spontaneous demonstrationu0026quot; (or something like that). The scene was evidently intended to instruct the audience that not everything in a presidential campaign or, by extension, in politics is what it seems. Weu0026#39;ve come a long way, baby. That audience is now a LOT more — well, either u0026quot;sophisticatedu0026quot; or u0026quot;cynical,u0026quot; depending on your view of human nature.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eu0026quot;The War Roomu0026quot; covers the Democratic side of the 1992 presidential campaign and election in which, youu0026#39;ll remember, Bill Clinton was pitted against George Herbert Walker Bush and Ross Perot. Kids — Clinton won.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eSome of the calculation that went on in the war room, the collective name for Clintonu0026#39;s campaign staff presided over by James Carville and George Stephanopoulis, surprised even me. Iu0026#39;ll give one example, with rough quotes.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eCarville is sitting around with his dozen or so co-conspirators and one of them brings up the idea of flooding the floor at the Democratic convention with signs in favor of gun control. u0026quot;Weu0026#39;ve only got twelve hours,u0026quot; somebody says, u0026quot;so where are we going to get signs?u0026quot; u0026quot;Canu0026#39;t we get the people to print the signs themselves?u0026quot; Somebody says, u0026quot;No, no. That way youu0026#39;re going to get a scattered couple of signs. Some will be red on white, other will be white on blue. It will send a mixed message. I just donu0026#39;t think it will have the same impact as a whole SEA of identical signs all over the floor.u0026quot; Theyu0026#39;re talking about this problem as if theyu0026#39;re trying to solve it for the delegates and visitors on the floor of Madison Square Garden — just being helpful, you know? — whereas the WHOLE THING is their own idea! For all they know there may not be a single gun-control thought among the multitude of Clinton supporters, let alone enough to create a sea of signs! They carry on in the same way about most of the issues of the time and most of the current events. Bushu0026#39;s campaign is having its posters printed in Brazil. Can this fact somehow be turned against them? Not that the other side is virgin pure. Stephanopoulis has to deal with someone on the phone, evidently a journalist, inquiring about a rumor that Clinton has had a child by a black prostitute. Curiously similar to the rumor circulated about McCain when he opposed Bush during the 2004 primaries. In McCainu0026#39;s case, the rumor was accompanied by photos of u0026quot;the black child,u0026quot; who was actually a Bengladesh girl that McCain and his wife had adopted. Nineteen ninety-two was only thirteen years ago but things have gotten a lot dirtier in that time.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAs a movie, u0026quot;The War Roomu0026quot; is informative, shot casually as the events transpired. There are no long speeches. But itu0026#39;s unfocused too and the editing sometimes leaves out important developments, which we learn about later. I suppose this can happen when youu0026#39;re just pointing the camera around and not providing a voice-over. And the film makers must have faced the additional problem that there is no logical narrative to the story. Stuff happens, abruptly and unexpectedly. Itu0026#39;s not the careful reconstruction of an historic contretemps, like u0026quot;The Thin Blue Lineu0026quot; or Ken Burnsu0026#39; u0026quot;The Civil War.u0026quot; The candidates aside, the most memorable people in the film are James Carville, George Stephanopoulis, and Mary Matalin, Carvilleu0026#39;s opposite number on the Republican side. The two of them are from different political poles. Someone should be doing a cinema verite copy of their MARRIAGE. But they have a lot in common too. Theyu0026#39;re thick-skinned, devoted, have a sense of humor, and are animated. Carvilleu0026#39;s face is so curiously constructed that it looks devilishly lively even in repose. He comes from an old New Orleans family. The hospital for lepers at Carville is named for his ancestors who founded it.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eI canu0026#39;t say I like George Stephanopoulis too much. He looks like the president of my senior class in high school. Heu0026#39;s self-contained, intelligent, thoughtful, clean-cut, handsome, and is much younger than I am. I could live with all the other stuff, but his youth is inexcusable. Iu0026#39;d have liked him a lot better as a stuttering, kyphotic octogenarian who was able to touch the tip of his nose with the tip of his tongue. And his hair was styled so boyishly that I didnu0026#39;t like THAT either.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe personality thatu0026#39;s most memorable is Carvilleu0026#39;s though. He sits there smiling on election eve and begins imagining what Clinton would say at his concession speech should Bush win. And between the chuckles he spins out an improvised, absolutely spot-on by-the-numbers speech for the Governor. I would like to congratulate President Bush on his victory tonight and assure him that all of us are behind him and that this will be a better America with our help and Godu0026#39;s and my family most of all my wife Hillary and Chelsea and all those of you who have worked so hard on this campaign Iu0026#39;d like to mention So-and-So and our prayers are with the President and let us all cooperate now and move together towards a greater American co-prosperity sphere, no not that, but a more prosperous and happier American which with Godu0026#39;s blessing and blah blah blah. I couldnu0026#39;t stop laughing.”