Good Night, and Good Luck”(2005, George Clooney) is what I would out of doubt recommend to watch tonight, especially in the light of how Russian “Kommersant” newspaper journalists are being exercised pressure on these last days.
The film is a meticulous reconstruction of the struggle between Edward R. Murrow, journalist, and Joseph McCarthy, senator. The latter started a very obscure and controversial witch hunt period in the American history, “McCarthyism”, when one’s career could be entirely broken by ungrounded accusations of being linked to the communists.
No journalist was willing to stand up against the senator for fear of being targeted, too. But Edward R. Murrow had the nerve, and he won.
The film uses the real footage of McCarthy’s speeches and gives a marvelous picture of what journalism and its mission are about.
George Clooney “Good Night, and Good Luck” (2005)
First published in the Levinarium Telegram Channel (now closed and deleted)