User Reviews

A fictionalized former President Richard M. Nixon offers a solitary, stream-of-consciousness reflection on his life and political career - and the "true" reasons for the Watergate scandal and his resignation.

This comes down to one thing: an examination of the acting skills of Philip Baker Hall. Since the direction is so limited, it really cannot say anything good or bad about Robert Altman (who had already made his name by this point).

Hall's Nixon is something of a madman. He fluctuates through every range of emotion within 90 minutes, at times flipping between anger and suicidal tendencies. What a wild ride. Of course, the film is clearly marked as fiction... so we should not assume this person was in any way related to the real Nixon.

Made 11 years before Oliver Stone's "Nixon", with Anthony Hopkins, Robert Altman's direction of Philip Baker Hall in his gritty portrayal of Richard Millhouse on his last night in the Whitehouse, rehashing out all his problems over a bottle of scotch. Fumbling and bumbling around the office with tape machines and casting vague hints into the real motives and players behind the whole debacle. A very watchable and interesting film for anyone interested in Nixon/Watergate. A better film than Oliver Stone's version in spite of a much smaller budget.

"Secret Honor" is an actor's wet dream.

This screen adaptation of a one-man play stars Philip Baker Hall as Richard Nixon on the dark night that follows his resignation from the office of President of the United States. The film makes clear from the outset that it is not a representation of facts but rather a fictional exploration of the thoughts and feelings that may have been torturing Nixon at the time. Hall has the screen to himself and gives a fierce, if rather one-note, performance. The material isn't very deep and doesn't give Hall a lot of room to explore, but I suppose it succeeds on its own modest terms.

Robert Altman made this film at the apex of his disenfranchisement from the mainstream Hollywood system. He filmed it at the University of Michigan with the assistance of Michigan students, and the tiny budget and minimal resources show. It's not remotely cinematic, though Altman makes a solid effort to make it so. Though the action is confined to Nixon's private office, Altman frequently pans his camera over to a bank of security cameras that Nixon has trained on himself, so that much of the time we're watching an image of Hall on a T.V. monitor rather than Hall himself. The message is clear -- Nixon, and by extension any politician, is constantly performing, even in his most private moments. Once one takes the oath of the presidency, he can't ever stop being the president. How good a job would any one of us do under similar circumstances, and how harshly do we have the right to judge our leaders?

Admittedly, much of my lack of enjoyment of "Secret Honor" is my own fault. It made me realize how little I actually know about Nixon's presidency, which was over in the years just before I was born, and I wasn't able to understand many of the film's references. As is often the case, my knowledge of the more distant past is greater than events that have occurred within my lifetime.

Grade: B

A great film, if you can find it. I first saw it nearly ten years ago, and it still is fresh in my memory. This is a one man show (Hall is the only actor in the film) and an adaptation of a stage performance. The simple premise: Several years on from his disgrace, Nixon is in San Clemente and sits down with a bottle of Chivas and his old friend, the tape recorder, to spill his guts before he commits suicide. Hall is captivating in the role and his descent into drunken madness is a masterful performance. One of Altman's best. A bit of a history lesson, but one that is more interested in theater than in truth. Still, great theater reveals its own truths and there is plenty here to chew on.

I recently 'took a flier' on this movie when I saw the new Criterion DVD on the store shelf. I remembered really wanting to see it, as I am a big Paul Thomas Anderson fan (this film is where he saw Philip Baker Hall and decided he was the best actor in America), as well as a fan of Hall's performance in "Hard Eight", PTA's debut.

"Secret Honor", a film adaptation of the play, which also starred Hall, is certainly a worthwhile viewing, though I'm not exactly carried away with praises as some critics seem to be.

Hall certainly has more than a few exciting and inspired moments as former President Richard M. Nixon in this fictitious work that places him in his study for 90 minutes one night with alcohol, TV monitors, his mother's old piano, and various other elements that come into play.

But, for me, the piece just doesn't have much realism for a play/film that has a premise which is certainly plausible. Hall sputters and rages his way through what is clearly a very difficult role (Hall says in an engrossing interview on the disc that when he was originally offered the role, he turned it down, as he didn't think the role was possible for any human actor, let alone desirable), but the specter of Nixon does not seem to be evoked in much of an authentic way here for me. In this sense, I prefer Anthony Hopkins' Nixon (which ALSO has a whopper of an ending), because I feel the former President's dark, brooding core is masterfully portrayed by the Welsh actor.

Hall's bravado cannot be dismissed, however. I believe any real weakness from the piece comes from the original script itself, which places Nixon in a context I just don't feel he belongs. Why would Nixon take one night, years after the fact, to race through all of his misgivings about his fate, career, and life, in a rather traditionally theatrical way? That's just something that doesn't ring true for me, though some obviously disagree. I can't see Nixon doing many of the things that the script calls for. Truly taking on the awkward tag of "Political Myth" that it has may be of some benefit to viewers, though it's unclear what the term really means.

Altman has some very nice moves here, topped off with a stunning conclusion, which makes certainly makes this picture worth a look. At the end of the day, I'm happy to have it in my collection.

If you ever get a chance to see this film, grab it! Phillip Baker Hall doesn't simply portray Nixon, he inhabits him. The familiar hunched shoulders and odd poses employed by every Nixon impersonator, in Hall's hands seem less like imitation than brilliant artistic choices, revealing the inner struggles of a remarkable, tormented man. No disrespect to Anthony Hopkins, unquestionably a very talented actor, but his Nixon doesn't hold a candle to Hall's.

This is of course a work of fiction, but like the best fiction it lies in order to reveal a deeper truth. Nixon never made the tape we see him creating through the course of this film, but what is revealed through it is both psychologically and historically honest. The portrait that emerges is unsparing and sympathetic. Nixon emerges as a hero in a Greek tragedy with the same grandeur and the same tragic flaw.

Fans and critics both of Richard Nixon will find their judgements challenged by this complex, revealing portrait. Even someone who has never heard of Nixon couldn't help but be fascinated by this powerful, complex man.

Note to PT Anderson fans: According to Anderson, this was the performance that convinced him he had to work with Hall. It's no accident that Anderson's first full-length film, Sidney (or Hard Eight), was a showpiece for Hall's amazing talent.

Here's a monologue film based on a play written by Donald Freed and Arnold M. Stone about the reasons behind President Richard Nixon's departure from the Office, the motives behind Watergate and lots of other random thoughts by one of the most notorious politics of America. "Secret Honor" is a great opportunity to watch Philip Baker Hall carrying a film on its entirely, directed by one of the greatest directors of all time, Robert Altman.

In this fictional account, Hall plays a drunken/angry/mad/paranoid Nixon in all his forms, the man, the president and all, most of the time hiding his mistakes, blaming other people for them. All the distorted president's stream-of-consciousness is thrown on a recorder in which he keeps urging his aide Roberto to erase the most embarrassing and nastiest parts. The man rants about John Dean, Rockefeller, Kissinger, Eisenhower, his mom, the political networks called "The Bohemian Grove" and "The committee of 100" and their involvement with Vietnam War and Watergate. The trajectory of a simple man who became the most powerful, the man who lost his soul to gain the world to at the end lose it all is well evidenced when Dick tells in his tapes how he was a winner in life quoting something like this "I dream of failure that's why I succeed it." It's difficult to select his best moments on the film, there's so many.

The film is extremely difficult to follow as stream-of-consciousness usually are, it's complicated to see someone else's mind and the way they think, specially a person like Nixon, haunted by his demons while in many moments of his life. The reason of why "Secret Honors" works is purely because of the character the writers decided to follow in his darkest and bittersweet memories. To me, Nixon resulted in one of the worst nation leaders to ever walk on Earth but on film he's a terrific film character in the countless portrayals ever filmed. Hall joins a gallery of great Nixon performers like Frank Langella in "Frost/Nixon" and Anthony Hopkins in "Nixon", two heavyweight dramas with solid acting from actors who played Nixon like a Shakespearian tragedy. And he is like those tragedies!

In this one, Philip Baker Hall follows the same path James Whitmore walked in his Oscar nominated performance in "Give'em Hell, Harry", where he's the only actor on scene playing Harry Truman. Being the only and main force on a picture is extremely tough but Hall succeeds it, capturing all possible emotions inside of one persona, laughing, crying, shouting, babbling incoherent thoughts and words, cursing everybody and everyone. The play works because of him, way more than the drowsy text itself that among other things theorized about Nixon's escape from the Presidency in order to avoid more years of war to help his rich supporters getting drugs from Asia, and more years in the Office. His rant in the film's grand finale is amazing!

Since the screenplay is often sliced in too many rants, not respecting a certain order for at least fifteen minutes presenting political figures and events all the time, this must be watched only by viewers who know Nixon's background, otherwise you'll be utterly lost. This screenplay issue bothered me in terms of tracking down Nixon's way of thinking, to put my own reflections on what he was trying to mean with what he was saying. Order and organization is my motto in visualizing an idea or a film and that's why it gets a quite low rating in my evaluation, it might change some day, on a new view. 6/10

Sometime in the late 70's, the 37th President- Richard Nixon- decided to set the record straight. In his study, alone but for a bottle of Scotch and a loaded revolver, he sets the tape deck to record and starts to tell his tale. So begins a fascinating, illuminating and thoroughly candid monologue that explores what Nixon may have been feeling, what he was thinking; and why his presidency and very name became synonymous with scandal.

Robert Altman's 'Secret Honor'- based on the play 'Secret Honor: The Last Testament of Richard M. Nixon' by Donald Freed and Arnold M. Stone- seamlessly weaves fact with fiction to create a thoroughly believable and strangely compelling portrait of a man too often in film and television resigned to the realm of caricature and cast in black and white. The real Nixon was a man of immeasurable greys, and Freed and Stone's powerful screenplay lays that fact bare.

It is neither an overly sympathetic work, nor is it a scathing summation of Nixon's legacy. It is balanced, unbiased- in fact, surprisingly so, considering Altman's noted and vocal political leanings. It shows Nixon to be one full of contradictions and divided loyalties, a deeply paranoid man not comfortable with people, but still one who craved attention and demanded respect. He is not the villain most films make him out to be, neither is he a saint. Through their barbed, witty monologues, Freed and Stone show us Nixon's character like few other films have succeeded - or even tried- in doing.

Freed and Stone's writing is remarkable because it is so vitriolic and yet so sympathetic you begin to see Nixon not as some political figurehead or legend, but simply as a man; one of fallibility, doubts and self-interest like us all. Oliver Stone would try to do something similar with his 'Nixon' in 1995, but 'Secret Honor' was much more successful at bringing a complete, well-rounded portrait of the man to life.

Of course, 'Secret Honor' also benefits from having the late, great Philip Baker Hall starring as Nixon, delivering a tour-de-force performance that justifiably jumpstarted his career in film. He showcases the self-pity and ego inherent to Nixon's character in a subtle manner, while also imbuing the man with a sympathetic, humane streak. So perfectly does he capture Nixon's mannerisms, his presence, his vocal eccentricities, that it is as if the real President had possessed Baker Hall for the ninety minutes of the film's runtime.

Ranting and raving into his tape recorder, racing through the study in his red-velvet smoking jacket; at times you feel that you're watching some kind of documentary that the 37th President drunkenly agreed to take part in. Baker Hall's is an intense, incredible piece of acting that is not just the finest Nixon we've ever had on screen, it is one of the greatest performances in any Altman film point blank. That is not even to mention the fact that the film is a one man show, and Baker Hall keeps us glued to the screen the whole time.

Filmed on campus at the University of Michigan, 'Secret Honor' is simply, stylishly shot. Pierre Mignot's cinematography is fluid, unobtrusive work that has room for symbolism and visual metaphor, but is never pretentious. Stephen Altman's production design is texturally rich, though in a minimalist fashion. Nixon's study- the only location in the film- is decorated convincingly, containing the staples one might assume the 37th President would have: a piano, photographs from his career, various CCTV cameras; copious amounts of Chivas Regal. Though adapting plays to film can often be difficult in terms of visuals and staging; Altman's crew on 'Secret Honor' did a masterful job.

'Secret Honor' is a masterpiece of cinema, a sharply written, witty character study of one of the most notorious Presidents in history. It is not a politically biased work, though that doesn't mean it doesn't contain criticism of Nixon's policies and time in office. It is a film that is always believable and never melodramatic- an honest examination of the man's character; and as Nixon himself once said "honesty may not be the best policy, but it is worth trying once in a while." 'Secret Honor' is well worth trying.

Any individual is a puzzle, and Richard M. Nixon was no exception, rather living proof. To those who know him and his story (wether through a variety of books or personal experience or even through Oliver Stone's excellent "Nixon") this is a magnificent epilogue that instead of tying all loose threads together, reopens wounds and reformulates old and tired questions.

The film is a mix of fragments of a complex and important life (one that helped shape the modern world) and an equally complex mind. Since only a very long (and impossible, given the obvious budget) running time could grace this with a tight sense of structure, the performance becomes the binding element, which is the key element of this picture. Whether you are interested in history, Nixon himself, character suffering, paranoia, film or acting, this is a must-see, if only for the brilliant performance by Philip Baker Hall. His portrayal of Nixon blows Anthony Hopkins's away in terms of accuracy and is a mighty challenger in terms of acting alone. He may be less sympathetic than Hopkins, but such was one of the real Nixon's flaws (in interviews the real Hall is quite charming!).

Turning a play - especially a one-man-show - into a film is quite a challenge, but Altman, through simple yet effective means (notably the use of security-camera monitors and portraits), cranks up the intimacy and paranoia, ending the film in an uneasy and dark manner that would never be conceivable on stage.

In fewer words, suffice to say that this unusual little film is in truth a giant in movie-making resourcefulness and talent. Unmissable.

I love many Altman films, but was disappointed by "Secret Honor." Described as a work of "fiction" that uses Nixon as a "character," it still depends heavily on actual facts from Nixon's life to succeed and there is the constant danger of blurring fact and fiction. It's a claustrophobic experience in that it's basically a one-man show put on film, despite the introduction of some elements such as video monitors on the set to make the production slightly more cinematic.

I attended a presentation of the film after which the director made some comments. Seeing Altman in person was fascinating. His dedication to developing and completing the project was impressive. He said that he had chosen not to open up the play and that he'd mount the production in the same way today. I disagree with his choice, as did the woman who posed the question, but they both were gracious, which is something to see these days. I also think the play on which the film is based is overwritten. Some people in the audience seemed to be under the impression that merely because a film has a lot of dialogue it instantly qualifies as art. If a film has only one character and is pure monologue, the speeches must be brilliant throughout. That was not the case here.

Even as a work of "imagination" the film didn't ring true to me. Would a lawyer really say to himself that if he had actually gone to jail for Watergate, at least he would have been free after the experience? Lawyers know that's not true: Having served your time doesn't extinguish the public record; and Nixon was, by many accounts, a brilliant lawyer and a brilliant man, but there's the tragedy.

Even little details at the start played false. Nixon is seen as a bumbler who can't even insert a blank tape into his tape recorder. From what I understand, he was pretty anal compulsive, so as a bit of character definition, that business made no sense. I also didn't understand what he was doing wearing a velvet dressing gown if he was working in his office in a law firm. Other small details are dated: Alger Hiss did in fact spy for the Soviets, whether or not Nixon was out to get him as was suggested at the perjury trial.

Still, the portrait of Nixon was a far more complex and generous one than might have been expected for 1984. As an offering in this highly charged political season, "Secret Honor" is worth seeing. P.B. Hall's performance is very strong, although I kept saying to myself throughout, that's the man from "Magnolia." For me, the best section was when Fictional Nixon took himself to task for destroying Helen Gahagan Douglas's political career by suggesting she was a communist when she ran against him from California for a U.S. Senate seat. There seemed to be a deep undercurrent of affection. But am I the only one who thought the piece also was suggesting that Nixon may have been latently gay?

"Secret Honor" is not one of Altman's best. For Nixon mythology in cinema, my favorite is still Oliver Stone's "Nixon."

SECRET HONOR should be seen by everybody with an interest in Richard Nixon. It may not be what he was really like, but it is a weird and unforgettable portrait of this man. Philip Baker Hall delivers one of the best screen performances I can ever remember in this one man movie. The movie takes place on the day before Richard Nixon is going to resign, and sits around drinking scotch and yelling into a tape recorder about everything in his political life. He blames Castro, Kissinger and anyone named Kennedy for all the problems in his life- while never accepting resposibilty for any of it himself. He's a man entrenched in denial. The movie utlimately makes Nixon look like an idiot- a man who has no idea what he was doing. This is one of Robert Altman's best films- an utterly amazing film.

"You, ladies and gentlemen of the American jury, shall look at the face that is under the mask!" - Philip Baker Hall (Richard Nixon)

It takes 12 minutes for Robert Altman's "Secret Honor" to really get going, the audience having to endure some terribly dated TV music and lots of theatrical posturing by Philip Baker Hall, but once the actor begins his meaty monologue, it's hard not to be transfixed.

Hall, of course, plays former president Richard Nixon. Recently disgraced by the Watergate fiasco, he prances about his private office with a loaded gun and a glass of whisky, spewing scorn at the Kennedy's, Helen Douglas, Henry Kissinger and a mysterious group called both "The Committee of 100" and "The Bohemian Grove".

Employing students from the University of Michigan, and a script that sticks religiously to a stage play by Donald Freed and Arnold Stone, "Secret Honor" is a fairly small scale project for Altman. Still, there are at least four interesting things being done.

The first is the film's location. Altman doesn't use his small set with the same gusto that Stone does in "Talk Radio", Hitchcock does in "Rear Window" or Lumet does in "12 Angry Men", but he does add his own little flourishes here and there. For example, Altman surrounds Nixon's room with wall-mounted pictures of past presidents and places a huge bank of security monitors to one side. The effect is such that Nixon, whose monologue takes the form of a courtroom plea of defence, is addressing a jury that is at once himself, we the audience and those political figures he both admirers and detests. There's therefore a sense of profound scrutiny, Nixon waging a war for his own innocence, politicians over his shoulders, a security camera in his face, a national audience behind his back and a bank of monitors recording his every move.

The second interesting thing is Hall's performance itself. Unlike Stone's "Nixon" or Ron Howard's "Frost/Nixon", "Secret Honour" is categorically not an attempt to portray some "ultimate truth" of Nixon. Instead, Altman creates something more fragmented; a creature with different faces, facets and feelings. Altman demonizes as he humanises, deconstructs as he constructs, each of Hall's anecdotes serving only to further muddy the water. Altman's Nixon is both raging bull and wounded child, Altman content to create a portrait that is as baffling as it is complex.

The third interesting thing is Nixon's insistence that it was a mysterious group of powerful figures who orchestrated and mismanaged his career. He calls them "The Bohemian Grove", a cadre of economic power brokers to whom Nixon is nothing more than a paid lackey and perpetual outsider. Even as he damns them, Nixon mourns that he was never fully accepted by this group.

The fourth interesting thing is Nixon's insistence that he staged Watergate deliberately in an attempt to get himself out of office. This claim is filled with ridiculous reversals. The honourable president made himself guilty, he says, committed a deliberately obvious crime, not because he was a paranoid, power hungry mad man, but because he was too noble, too just and great, to associate further with the cartels, criminals and deplorable politicians who were pulling his strings.

Watergate thus shifts from becoming a criminal act, to an act of nobility. Nixon, the man so used and abused that he had to sacrifice his own career for the greater good. Poor boy.

7.9/10 – This is essentially filmed theatre. Still, Hall delivers a fascinating monologue that is both riveting and demented. Incidentally, Altman pretender Paul Thomas Anderson would use actor Philip Baker Hall extensively throughout his filmography, casting him in "Sydney", "Magnolia" and "Boogie Nights". Worth one viewing.

An adaptation of a stage play, "Secret Honor" is the tour de force performance of actor Philip Baker Hall. At the time he made it he'd had a distinguished stage career in New York but was barely known in movies and television. While he doesn't look or sound very much like Nixon he totally inhabits the character and rages around the set swilling Scotch and experiencing nearly every emotion you can think of.

The story is of course totally fictional but in some respects Hall and the writers may have gotten closer to the core of who Nixon was than any other film ever did. Nixon is without a doubt the most enigmatic man ever to be President and "Secret Honor" is a fascinating study revealing what made the man tick.

Even if you don't care for Nixon or political movies, this movie is worth watching for Hall's performance alone. There's never a moment in the movie, in which he's on screen every second, where he doesn't completely rivet the viewer's attention. The movie didn't make Hall a star but it started getting his name out. A young P.T. Anderson was a huge fan of the movie and later struck up a relationship with Hall which led to Hall appearing in a lot of Anderson's movies such as "Magnolia" and "Boogie Nights".

Former President Richard Milhous Nixon (Philip Baker Hall) is alone in his study talking into a tape recorder. He has his closed-circuit TV setup, his drinks and a gun. He talks to and about the portraits on the walls. His rants are rambling as he reflects on his life and what has happened to it.

I'm not a fan of one-person plays that get transferred to the big screen. It starts from a deficit where it doesn't have the danger and the immediacy of a live show no matter who's doing it. The other problem is that this is a fictional account. It tells the audience right away that this is all fake. It's like an alternate universe and it's hard to say how much truth can be gleamed from this movie. Robert Altman can't do much more than point and shoot in this film. PBH is a great actor and I have great praises for his work. It's an interesting film to see him act but it's not much more than that. I rather have a well researched documentary about Nixon.

The best film ever made on Nixon, or any president. A film which is an entire monologue by Philip Baker Hall, one of the best character actors of our time. While, like Anthony Hopkins, he doesn't LOOK like Nixon, his performance helps you look beyond it. As he staggers around the oval office, cursing his enemies and talking to ghosts, staring into his monitors, you get the resonance of the real Nixon, and you even begin to feel sorry for him. It opens the myth of Nixon wide to reveal a man beneath the icon, and is a simultaneously thrilling and dramatic film. Altman's film has been out of print for at least a decade, but it far surpasses Oliver Stone's film and is worth watching for anyone who ever wanted to appreciate Nixon as anything other than a monster.

Any comments about this film should be prefaced by a simple, undeniable fact: Despite the genius and talent of Robert Altman, this film succeeds solely on the shoulders of Philip Baker Hall. Sure, he looks and sounds absolutely nothing like Richard Nixon, but any discerning viewer quickly realizes that it doesn't matter. Hall embodies the role, inhabiting every paranoid quirk and arrogant mannerism of our 36th president; and as the film's only star, it's a 90-minute testament to his skill and abilities. (In my opinion, Hall is the most underrated actor in Hollywood today, by far.) With that said, I would much rather see "Secret Honor" as a play, which is how it was originally written. This doesn't mean that Altman's adaptation is bad; on the contrary, it's one of the finest pieces of cinema I've seen in some time, and definitely one of Altman's best. But the director's constant focus on props takes away from any emotional investment we're supposed to feel. Still, I give this 9 stars out of 10--I highly recommend it to anyone interested in different forms of film-making.

PS: Anyone who claims this film is politically misguided missed the point entirely--it's not meant to be a political observation or satire, but only a way of understanding. Nixon left us with so many questions and so few answers, this so far is our only way of trying to comprehend...

Richard Nixon, a man known for many things, amongst which trying to reach out to the "silent majority" of America, while plunging the country further into war and getting into one of the big cover-ups of the nation, is given a character here. It's not necessarily the man altogether, but like Oliver Stone's Nixon, it's an interpretation given a blood-life by way of Donald Freed and Arnold Stone's script (which is maybe the 2nd best thing about the film), Robert Altman's peering, sometimes paranoid, but tight compositions, and Philip Baker Hall. This actor is one of the unsung masters of character acting, even when he sometimes can only just be 'himself' in the roles. Here his inhabitance, more than portrayal, of Nixon captures (as Antony Hopkins did in his own way) the soul of the man dead-on.

It's a one-man film, so that Hall's work here has to be better than top-notch, it has to be engrossing. Nixon as a political being, family man, lawyer, and practically professional liar, are given shape here by his near-movie length confession into a tape recorder. This could be a tricky thing for Altman and Hall to pull off, but for pretty much the entire film they do. One thing I loved was how sometimes Altman would cut-away from his actor and get shots on Nixon on the security monitors installed in his office/room (where he spend the duration of the film in). There were also some very evocative, powerful shots of Hall as Nixon reflected against the window, this being even closer to Nixon- a ghost or some other entity- than Hall.

But in the end, even for all that Altman could do (which is really just to let the camera roll and maybe give Hall a word or two when needed), it is really Hall who has all the credit going for him here. What works best about what he does here is the time he takes, how his acting is made almost like music- he'll speed up, get frustrated/angry/cynical in his own sometimes scrambled recollections of the past, then slow down in self-shame asking to erase parts of the tape (to whomever may be listening, if at all). Here is a man whom in real life was a smart man, but also paranoid to a fault, with as many personal demons as detractors, and who could always be counted on to be pushing forth a lie to the American public. Hall gives him life here, in this "fictional" account as a tortured, flawed, drunken leftover of days gone by. That sometimes it becomes even more moving than expected, and revelatory, makes it all the more clear why it still remains Hall's landmark in his career (among others, like in PT Anderson's films), and that for Altman it's dark, brooding, and like a Bergman film, does NOT make it's doomed subject into a one-dimensional being.

Not to say too much about Secret Honor: just know that it is an amazingly written monologue with amazing acting by Philip Baker Hall and amazing direction by Robert Altman. One might accuse Hall of overacting, but you should remember that this is stage acting. It's exaggerated, but that's the way stage acting works. Of course, Richard Nixon was pretty damn insane, so maybe this isn't overacting at all! The writing builds a lot of pathos for Nixon, which you wouldn't expect, while not letting him off any hook. And the ending kicks a lot of ass. F*ck 'em!!! The third best Altman film I've seen, after Nashville and 3 Women. 10/10.

P.S. - It was a bit difficult to understand, since I am not 100% familiar with Nixon and the era. If you don't know anything about this stuff, just avoid it.

(for the Laserdisc notes: aspect ratio is 4:3)

It's interesting to know some background of the film. First, Secret Honor began as a stage play written by Donald Freed. Altman toured it around the country. These notes are derived form the commentary tracks on the laserdisc.

The filming occurred while Altman was in residence at the University of Michigan. The set was constructed in a residence hall and video cameras were installed so that students could observe the production. Graduate students in the film program filled many of the technical positions.

The play was shot on 16mm film, which was then enlarged to make 35mm release prints. Consequently, the photographic quality is rather flat. There's no denying the power and accomplishment of Philip Baker Hall's performance, however.

Secret Honor was never going to be a hit, it was a monologue spoken by Richard Nixon, played by an actor in his film debut. These types of films don't get big, at least at first. Of course, the actor in question is Phillip Baker Hall, who Paul Thomas Anderson would later frequently use in his films, making him a household name. The film is often spoken about as a hidden gem, known by Altman fans as one of the greatest character studies probably ever filmed, containing a masterful performance. It's a bit of shame that this hasn't reached cult status as of yet, it really is a standout film.

By the mid-80's, the Nixon era was done, Carter had had his chance to turn the nation into a more progressive nation, only to be unsuccessful as Carter wouldn't win the presidency for the second term, losing to a conservatist. The shadow of Nixon still loomed over the nation, he had been talked about as a wicked and a deceitful figure, a complete crook with no redeeming qualities; a man who single handedly tore down a nation with his corrupting actions. If this all seems hyperbolic, go read some of Hunter S. Thompson's political articles of the time. Sure, Thompson was at the very opposite of Nixon in the political spectrum, but his comments do give pretty good insight on how the people on his side viewed the former president. Secret Honor is probably the first movie to try and understand the actions of a man that arguably ruined political discourse and widened the gap between the political poles.

Altman doesn't want to give a positive image of Nixon, nor does he want to give a completely negative image of him. He views him as somebody who can't control his feelings, his rants may start polite and considered but then swing into violent and hostile movements and phrasings. It's a study of a man who's torn himself apart, he feels blame and remorse for what he did but also complete hostility towards the people who took him down. Nixon isn't shown as an evil man, rather as a somewhat pathetic man with a chip on his shoulder, who's capable of evil things. Altman doesn't want to demonize him, he doesn't want to see him as a one-dimensional bad guy, Altman is trying to understand someone who, in the eyes of many, stood on the wrong side of history.

Obviously, the script is barebones, it's set in one room and, as said before, includes a single monologue as the narrative. The film is all about Philip Baker Hall, he gets to rant and rave, go over the top without hesitation and he nails it. Saying it's one of the most detailed and most complex performances of a historical figure seems almost like cheating though, there aren't many films about historical figures that dedicate themselves this much to their central figure. Hall also shows his comedic skills as well, as the film includes a lot of Altman's trademark nuanced, deadpan comedy, especially early on with Nixon struggling to get the tape recorder working, a detail that apparently was true about him, he really was bad with technology.

I suppose my only gripe with this film was it's visual look. Though I understand that making a single room look interesting for 90 minutes is a difficult job for any cinematographer, it's not impossible, just look at Fassbinder's The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant and how well Michael Ballhaus is able make the room lively and visually intriguing. Aesthetically the film has the appearance of a stage play and at times it does come off as a little cheap looking. I did however love the addition of surveillance cameras, but I wish they were used more as a visual idea. It's very fitting that the man who was involved in the Watergate scandal is being monitored and watched, but the idea never really gets going, visually at least. That idea of watching Nixon this closely and intimately is truly a fascinating idea, the voyeurism works as a great contrast to Nixon's actions.

Secret Honor was, I assume, a very important movie when it came out. It looks at one of the most hated leaders in the history of USA, but with the core idea of wanting to understand him. It has one of the most electrifying and detailed performances I think I have ever seen and it really did make me understand Nixon at least a little more. I would also argue that it's relevant even now, it's important to look at the powers that be, as evil as they may seem at times, with an analyzing eye, rather than out of pure judgement. Wanting to understand the actions of a human being is not trying to rationalize them or down-play their seriousness.

8/10.