The Trials of Henry Kissinger
Part contemporary investigation and part historical inquiry, documentary follows the quest of one journalist in search of justice.
The film focuses on Christopher Hitchens' charges against Henry Kissinger as a war criminal - allegations documented in Hitchens' book of the same title - based on his role in countries such as Cambodia, Chile, and Indonesia.
Kissinger's story raises profound questions about American foreign policy and highlights a new era of human rights. Increasing evidence about one man's role in a long history of human rights abuses leads to a critical examination of American diplomacy through the lens of international standards of justice.
This incisive documentary offers a sobering portrait of Kissinger, quite possibly the most powerful and influential diplomat in U.S. government in the latter half of the 20th century.
Based on the book of nearly the same name by journalist and critic Christopher Hitchens (the slender volume goes with the singularized Trial), the movie takes on the form of a legal argument, bringing forward case studies that aim to illuminate Hitchens' claims against Kissinger.
Among the significant events in Kissinger's career that the movie tackles are,
his purported secret diplomacy during the 1968 peace talks to end the Vietnam War
the secret bombing of Cambodia in the early '70s without congressional authorization
an alleged U.S.-backed plot to overthrow the leftist government of Chilean leader Salvador Allende
The movie features numerous interviews with legal experts, journalists, and high-ranking diplomats, such as:
Alexander Haig
Walter Isaacson
Roger Morris
Hitchens himself.
Predictably, Kissinger did not participate in the making of the picture.