What happens when politicians shut themselves away, and stare into an abyss both political and personal? After Bruce Anderson’s revelations about Gordon Brown yesterday, I think we need to know. So I re-watched Robert Altman’s 1984 film Secret Honor last night, looking for a bit of elucidation.
Secret Honor gives us a fictionalised, post-Watergate Richard Nixon. He locks himself in a room – not with a computer and the garbled recollection of a Dominic Grieve quote, but with a bottle of scotch and a loaded gun – and delivers his political testimony to a tape recorder. That’s what we get for the next 90 minutes.
Stephen yesterday referred to Brown’s actions as “more that political paranoia”. But that doesn’t begin to cover the Nixon on display here. He constantly checks the four surveillance monitors in the corner of the room, whilst spitting crazed monologues to an imagined jury. Watergate, the Kennedys, and his early life – all are touched upon, in the most unhinged way imaginable. But the film retains a core of compassion. Paintings of Lincoln, Eisenhower and Kissinger and Nixon’s mother glare down from the walls; a constant reminder of the burdens of expectation and public service. And an unintentional reminder, also, of the stairs of No.10 – with its portraits of previous Prime Ministers.
That Secret Honor works is testament to everyone involved in its creation. The writing of Donald Freed and Arnold Stone is brilliantly acerbic. And Altman’s direction is typically assured. But it’s Philip Baker Hall’s solo performance as Nixon that really takes the breath away. It’s a virtuoso – and utterly convincing – dissection of power and madness. And it ensures that the film is gripping throughout.
All-in-all, Secret Honor is an astonishingly resonant work, and essential viewing for CoffeeHousers. Unfortunately, it’s unavailable on DVD in the UK. But, if you’ve got a multi-region DVD player, you could always pick up the superb American copy, which comes bundled with archive footage of Tricky Dick.
Of course, Brown hasn’t plumbed quite the same depths as Nixon. And he’s still on the precipice, rather than over its edge. But if he does turn out to be one of the worst – and most disliked – Prime Ministers in British history, I wonder whether we’ll see a British counterpart to Secret Honor. There’s certainly enough dramatic potential in politics today.
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