Good Shepherd

GOOD SHEPHERD (WITH MOVIE CASH) / (WS DUB SUB AC3) - GOOD SHEPHERD (WITH MOVIE CASH) / (WS DUB SUB AC3)
$7.70
I had not read any critical reviews of the film before I saw it, and had no expectations going in. I actually began watching it in the background, while surfing the web, and after a few minutes had to stop what I was doing and focus on the film, having been utterly drawn in. Even though it was quite late, and against my better judgment, I was unable to stop until I reached the end of this very long, and very engaging meditation on the origins of the American CIA, and the problems inherent in both it's mission, it's domain, and it's architecture.

The problems of mission and architecture are nothing new to the history of intelligence. But intelligence is a game that Americans have really only been playing since WWII, unlike the English and the French. In fact, we learned the game from the British as the O.S.S., and the structure of the CIA was largely influenced through British guidance. The film does a good job of exploring the problematic nature of espionage, when seen from the catbird seat. It is a process of continually sifting through information in an attempt to correctly identify authentic, true information from misinformation and disinformation. In this process, your closest associates may be attempting to mislead and deceive you. Your most powerful adversaries may be attempting to enlighten you. Why would they do that? What are they really up to, one and all? And what is your best option to use misinformation to misdirect them, to pull the wool over their eyes, or to move them to embrace one alternative course of action over another? And this is an ongoing dynamic, continuously changing, requiring constant recalibration. This is an environment that breeds creatures uniquely adapted to survival within it--that they become something much different than the rest of us ordinary slobs, part machine, part monster, part logician, part artist, is beside the point--they end up standing behind the great and the powerful, whispering the words in their ear that set armies marching--or not--as the case may be.

If I were to render any criticism at all of this well conceived and executed film, it would be this: in order to cut the topology of the game wide open and expose it in all of it's truly wicked problematic nature, they had to build their colossus on a foot of clay. A wanton socialite seduces an inscrutable and intellectual young man who doesn't care for her and becomes pregnant. This one seminal event grows into the engine that drives the entire story forward. It isn't far-fetched, it doesn't require a great leap of faith to accept, in many ways it is necessary in order to show the depth of the problem domain--but it is an awful coincidence. In a world of carrots and sticks and people who want to motivate you to cooperate with them, each person requires a different set of carrots and sticks. Is there ANYTHING at all which can be used to force Edward Wilson to compromise himself and his loyalty and trustworthiness? De Niro seems to want us to ask: could I do this? Would I do this? Here is a man who some would argue has been put to the ultimate test, and passed--what kind of a man is he? And what if he were different than that? Would he be a Good Shepherd to us, one and all? And where does that leave the sheep? At the mercy of the Shepherd, for good or for bad. Does that let you rest easy at night?

The Good Shepherd
$45.95
Very enjoyable book overall, with a lot of tension: a convoy of Allied ships hunting for U-boats during WWII in the North Atlantic...while the U-boats are hunting them in return... The main character, Krause, the captain of the convoy, is fascinating, and the author, Forester, did an excellent job of portraying him in flesh-and-blood realness, with strengths and foibles. Forester really was on the emotional pulse of his main character, and had great insight into him.

A few of the book's weaknesses (from my perspective - though from someone else's perspective some of these might be strengths):

1) The book, written in 1955, pushes the patriotism too far for my taste. Okay, I can go with the idea that the United States and its allies were better for the world than the Nazis (I am half-Jewish, and the Nazis would have gladly killed me), but at times this book presents the American way as the ultimate road to freedom. Hardly!

2) The book often reads very similarly to how a real hunt is (I used to hunt small game as a kid): lots and lots of downtime and tracking and following empty leads and very occasional bursts of excitement. This became repetitive. There's only so many times I can read numerical coordinates that mean NOTHING to me before I get a bored...

3) There were a few subplots that were never resolved in the book, such as the trial of a solider on board the ship who punched an officer in the face and was awaiting his fate. I kept waiting for the author to address it, and it never came... Hmm...

4) At times - a minority of the time - I felt the author had a lack of insight into the main character. For instance, I felt the author overly idealized Krause's childhood.

5) Occasionally - and this is in part my ignorance as a reader - I found the plot confusing, because the at-times highly technical nature of the story (all about ships and weaponry and nautical things) made it difficult for me to picture what was going on.

But overall, a fascinating book - and I learned some good stuff.

The Good Shepherd
$2.99
I had not read any critical reviews of the film before I saw it, and had no expectations going in. I actually began watching it in the background, while surfing the web, and after a few minutes had to stop what I was doing and focus on the film, having been utterly drawn in. Even though it was quite late, and against my better judgment, I was unable to stop until I reached the end of this very long, and very engaging meditation on the origins of the American CIA, and the problems inherent in both it's mission, it's domain, and it's architecture.

The problems of mission and architecture are nothing new to the history of intelligence. But intelligence is a game that Americans have really only been playing since WWII, unlike the English and the French. In fact, we learned the game from the British as the O.S.S., and the structure of the CIA was largely influenced through British guidance. The film does a good job of exploring the problematic nature of espionage, when seen from the catbird seat. It is a process of continually sifting through information in an attempt to correctly identify authentic, true information from misinformation and disinformation. In this process, your closest associates may be attempting to mislead and deceive you. Your most powerful adversaries may be attempting to enlighten you. Why would they do that? What are they really up to, one and all? And what is your best option to use misinformation to misdirect them, to pull the wool over their eyes, or to move them to embrace one alternative course of action over another? And this is an ongoing dynamic, continuously changing, requiring constant recalibration. This is an environment that breeds creatures uniquely adapted to survival within it--that they become something much different than the rest of us ordinary slobs, part machine, part monster, part logician, part artist, is beside the point--they end up standing behind the great and the powerful, whispering the words in their ear that set armies marching--or not--as the case may be.

If I were to render any criticism at all of this well conceived and executed film, it would be this: in order to cut the topology of the game wide open and expose it in all of it's truly wicked problematic nature, they had to build their colossus on a foot of clay. A wanton socialite seduces an inscrutable and intellectual young man who doesn't care for her and becomes pregnant. This one seminal event grows into the engine that drives the entire story forward. It isn't far-fetched, it doesn't require a great leap of faith to accept, in many ways it is necessary in order to show the depth of the problem domain--but it is an awful coincidence. In a world of carrots and sticks and people who want to motivate you to cooperate with them, each person requires a different set of carrots and sticks. Is there ANYTHING at all which can be used to force Edward Wilson to compromise himself and his loyalty and trustworthiness? De Niro seems to want us to ask: could I do this? Would I do this? Here is a man who some would argue has been put to the ultimate test, and passed--what kind of a man is he? And what if he were different than that? Would he be a Good Shepherd to us, one and all? And where does that leave the sheep? At the mercy of the Shepherd, for good or for bad. Does that let you rest easy at night?

The Best Of Robert De Niro (The Deer Hunter + Casino + The Good Shepherd + Angel Heart , 1978 / 1995 / 2006/ 1987) [NTSC/REGION 1 & 4 DVD. Import-Latin America]
$54.99
A Collection of 4 of Robet De Niro's most brilliant performaces. The Deer Hunter Angel Heart Casino The Good Shepherd