I started watching this by accident (I was going to give it 5 minutes thinking "not another murder mystery of no consequence"). I knew nothing about who made it or subject matter. The elements were so masterfully put together that I was transfixed - the artistry of the shots, pace, the music, the story, the questions posed by the interviewer. I found out that it was Errol Morris and it made sense. The score by Philip Glass. The subject matter a complex issue of deep national security interest and relevancy to this day and the journy taken by Eric Olson which could be the direct reaction to counter balance the government policy of 1953 to dedicate his life to seek the truth which derailed his promising career in phycological. The film is really testament to Eric's deep intelligence who has outsmarted the CIA.
Some other reviewers here have totally missed what the story was about - and wouldn't surprise me if it was deliberate so ****spoilers**** - the story is about a scientist, Frank Olson, who fell into a situation where he was running the first biological weapons lab for the CIA. He realised what he was doing was messed up because he heard bio weapons were being used in North Korea and that people were being killed in torture techniques in east Europe used by CIA. Any sane person would think twice about what they were doing.
He was eventually questioned after being secretly given LSD (the incident with LSD has been used as a red herring from the secretive activities Olsen was engaged in i.e. bio-weapons, chemical warfare, mind altering chemicals for interrogation and the suspicion events around his death) and asked to recant, he didn't, so at the time the policy for dissidents was to murder them. This was approved by the Director of the CIA Allen W. Dulles. Which precipitated in him being executed according to CIA best practice at the time which was to be thrown out a building to make it look like an accident as per a key piece of evidence the film revolves around which is a CIA assassination manual from 1953 which instructs agents, "The most efficient accident, in simple assassination, is a fall of 75 feet or more onto a hard surface."
After the death of Frank Olson his family were told a cover story that he "fell or jumped" and were comforted by CIA agents who had precipitated that murder. Naturally Frank Olsen's son, Eric Olson, wanted the truth and when bits of information were revealed (such as Rockefeller Commission uncovered some of the CIA's MKULTRA activities in 1975 or after the body of Frank Olson was exhumed when and forensically analysed showing that he had been struck in the head BEFORE falling out the window or finding the CIA assassination manual or talking to key actors who told different accounts of what happened at the time) showing that the original story was given to the family was factually incorrect he wanted to know what had occurred and still wants to know. Later on the family invited to meet the President Gerald Ford and CIA director William Colby in an exercise of damage control orchestrated by Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld. The family signed an agreement that meant the government was liable to future litigation and given a sum of money. That agreement would later derail future litigation taken by Eric once facts were made public that showed that even the apology by the president and the promise of the truth from the President and the story given was a lie and Frank Olsen was murdered by the Government.
The series ends with journalist Sy Hersh who confirms with a source that the government had a "mechanism" to kill dissidents who they perceived as a risk but says he isn't willing to publish it because if he discloses what happened it will reveal his source.
I'm writing most of this from the top of my head which is testament to how the series was made, events analysed from multiple angles, repetition, surreal flashbacks, expert exposition and description of events and the poetic and intelligent was Eric Olson explains events as they occurred and how he relates to those events.
It touches on deep philosophical truths about the extent people go to find out the truth and the irony that closure doesn't happen because their life is sacrificed for the cause. IT touches on deep philosophical and political questions about the nature of democracy vs security and the dangers in the past. The film goes all the way up to 2017 but there is no mention of the present Trump era which is refreshing and at the same time the film could apply to the current situation where Trump has fascist tendencies, said torture works and approved of waterboarding "in a heartbeat," plus "a hell of a lot worse." Trump also planned with Erik Prince for a private spy network.
A critical thing to say is that there isn't many woman, both behind the camera and in front, as part of the subject, apart from the wife of Frank Olsen who is more of a prop than driving actor.
Lastly, there are some shots over the shoulder of Morris that I found captivating. It was when Still didn't know that he made the film and he held his hand in a certain way that was surreal. Hard to explain but there were many small instances of editing brilliance or surreal imagery that only a master Auteur could capture.
Some other reviewers here have totally missed what the story was about - and wouldn't surprise me if it was deliberate so ****spoilers**** - the story is about a scientist, Frank Olson, who fell into a situation where he was running the first biological weapons lab for the CIA. He realised what he was doing was messed up because he heard bio weapons were being used in North Korea and that people were being killed in torture techniques in east Europe used by CIA. Any sane person would think twice about what they were doing.
He was eventually questioned after being secretly given LSD (the incident with LSD has been used as a red herring from the secretive activities Olsen was engaged in i.e. bio-weapons, chemical warfare, mind altering chemicals for interrogation and the suspicion events around his death) and asked to recant, he didn't, so at the time the policy for dissidents was to murder them. This was approved by the Director of the CIA Allen W. Dulles. Which precipitated in him being executed according to CIA best practice at the time which was to be thrown out a building to make it look like an accident as per a key piece of evidence the film revolves around which is a CIA assassination manual from 1953 which instructs agents, "The most efficient accident, in simple assassination, is a fall of 75 feet or more onto a hard surface."
After the death of Frank Olson his family were told a cover story that he "fell or jumped" and were comforted by CIA agents who had precipitated that murder. Naturally Frank Olsen's son, Eric Olson, wanted the truth and when bits of information were revealed (such as Rockefeller Commission uncovered some of the CIA's MKULTRA activities in 1975 or after the body of Frank Olson was exhumed when and forensically analysed showing that he had been struck in the head BEFORE falling out the window or finding the CIA assassination manual or talking to key actors who told different accounts of what happened at the time) showing that the original story was given to the family was factually incorrect he wanted to know what had occurred and still wants to know. Later on the family invited to meet the President Gerald Ford and CIA director William Colby in an exercise of damage control orchestrated by Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld. The family signed an agreement that meant the government was liable to future litigation and given a sum of money. That agreement would later derail future litigation taken by Eric once facts were made public that showed that even the apology by the president and the promise of the truth from the President and the story given was a lie and Frank Olsen was murdered by the Government.
The series ends with journalist Sy Hersh who confirms with a source that the government had a "mechanism" to kill dissidents who they perceived as a risk but says he isn't willing to publish it because if he discloses what happened it will reveal his source.
I'm writing most of this from the top of my head which is testament to how the series was made, events analysed from multiple angles, repetition, surreal flashbacks, expert exposition and description of events and the poetic and intelligent was Eric Olson explains events as they occurred and how he relates to those events.
It touches on deep philosophical truths about the extent people go to find out the truth and the irony that closure doesn't happen because their life is sacrificed for the cause. IT touches on deep philosophical and political questions about the nature of democracy vs security and the dangers in the past. The film goes all the way up to 2017 but there is no mention of the present Trump era which is refreshing and at the same time the film could apply to the current situation where Trump has fascist tendencies, said torture works and approved of waterboarding "in a heartbeat," plus "a hell of a lot worse." Trump also planned with Erik Prince for a private spy network.
A critical thing to say is that there isn't many woman, both behind the camera and in front, as part of the subject, apart from the wife of Frank Olsen who is more of a prop than driving actor.
Lastly, there are some shots over the shoulder of Morris that I found captivating. It was when Still didn't know that he made the film and he held his hand in a certain way that was surreal. Hard to explain but there were many small instances of editing brilliance or surreal imagery that only a master Auteur could capture.