Film Analysis: All the President’s Men

All The President’s Men is a detective thriller directed by Alan Pakula and released in

1972. It is based on true events, and the telling of the story is based on realism. It is founded on
      the story of a scandal during the time of President Nixon. It was discovered by two journalists
      working for the Washington Post, Woodward and Bernstein, which eventually led to the end of
      Nixon’s presidency after he decided to resign. The two journalists relentlessly pursued the
      Watergate conspiracy that at first appeared as just a local burglary story but eventually escalated,
      leading to the resignation of the President. The uniqueness of the film’s realistic approach in
      handling a real political scandal and also its real detective approach match the lighting
      techniques, and the montage editing the director uses throughout the whole film.
      All The President’s Men is an artifact of its time and place. The film shows how Bernstein
      and Woodward explored the events the led to the incident at the Watergate building and the
      manipulation of the presidential election (Pakula, 1976). It shows the role of the media in the
      nineteen seventies and their unique general role in criminology and investigation. It is an
      accurate depiction of the role that journalists have played in unearthing some of the most
      intricate political controversies in the history of America.
      Lighting catches the attention of the viewer from the opening scene. Lighting varies from
      scene to scene and depends on the different actions, performances and settings. The director uses
      unique cinematic techniques to tell different elements of the story. The director creates varying
      distinctions between day and night, office settings and natural outdoor scenes, black and night,
      and all this is intended to catch the attention of the viewer and depict the unique elements
      combined to develop the plot. For example, the camera focuses brightly on the individuals within

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the Washington post offices (Pakula, 1976). While the characters are in the office, each shot is
characterized by strong office lighting. The camera eye focuses to the character and on the things
that Woodward occasionally records. The eye of the camera shifts and narrows its focus on the
letters printed in the background. There is a date imprinted, “June 1, 1972” (Pakula, 1976). It
depicts the exact historical time when the real political scandal was discovered. It shows the
exact time on which the movie is based.
The movie is an artifact of its time and place. It is historically accurate. In June 1972, on
a Saturday morning, burglary was reported at the Watergate office complex (Anderson, 2006).
Woodward and Bernstein were assigned to cover the story. Five buglers had been caught in the
complex. One of the five people was a CIA agent who worked for the republicans. The two
journalists eventually discovered a connection between the break-in, a massive slush fund and
the corruption in government at the time (Anderson, 2006). One event led to another, and
eventually, the President resigned. The movie details these historical events and uses different
cinematic techniques to bring out the scenes and connect them to each other to create a
comprehensive film.
The first scene in the film has no dialogue. The film begins on a visual basis where the
director leaves the screen silent for the audience to interpret for themselves what is happening.
The story is dense throughout the film, and the variation in the lighting used helps the director
bring out some of the themes even when the characters do not say a word. There is a long shot in
the film that brings a high angle close up of the two journalist’s hands (Pakula, 1976). The two
can be seen rhythmically perusing the requests. The camera then pulls backwards, and now the
viewer is shown the two journalists deep at work. The camera then pans backwards even further
and reveals a table where the two have been working from and the entire larger area.

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A long shot is then shown of the floor of the room where the two are working. There is an
alternate use of mid-shots and close-ups, and the director brings the attention of the audience to
the technical and visual spectacle. The effects of the shots are phenomenal in the development of
the entire story. The scene is central to the film. It shows the two men at work as they race
against an administration. The working table and all the papers they have to sift through
illustrates the immensity of the task ahead of them (Pakula, 1976). As they sift through the
papers, they separate facts and lies and create a story. The extreme long shot emphasizes the
magnitude of the task at hand and the role of the two gentlemen.
The lighting used aligns with the themes of investigation and detection. The Mise-en-
scene in All The President’s Men overlaps with the political themes explored in the film. The
director carefully uses lighting to tell the story. The use of the fluorescent lighting n the office
helps bring out tiny details that the investigators connect to create the whole story. The camera
scrutiny depicts the explorative nature of the journalists that helps them unearth the scandal
(Bani-Khair et al., 2016). In another scene, the journalists meet with powerful people. Here, the
lighting is dim. In fact, at some point, one can only see shadows. The amount of light here shows
that there are things sharpening in the dark that the investigators want to discover. Some of the
suspects can hardly be seen. The inability to see some of the characters arouses the viewer’s
interest. It becomes clear that there is something ‘fishy’ going on, and the journalists are helping
in bringing it to light.
An evident antagonism exists between the two reporters throughout the first scenes of the
film. However, as the film progresses, they suddenly seem to realize that they must work
together. In one of the shots, they appear symmetrically (Pakula, 1976). The angle shown from
above depicts them looking down, and their sleeves rolled. They have realized that the burglary

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is not as simple as they thought. There is a long trail of events that they must follow to develop a
complete story. They are in blue and white shots, which symbolically represent power. This
scene shows the power of the media in the nineteen seventies. The director also shows the pads,
typewriters and cards that the journalists use as weapons to bring down powerful men in the
country. The director uses the diegetic sound design to achieve the effect in this scene. As the
camera slowly moves its focus away from them, the flicking of the paper can be heard in a
synchronous sound (Pakula, 1976). The sound is heard up to the end, and one can still pick it up
over the sound of music. The director applies a similar technique in other scenes in the film.
The film relies on new and innovative lighting techniques to pass its political message.
The film’s budget was 8.5 million U.S. dollars. The amount of money spent making the film
makes it a low budget film. However, the directors were able to apply creative lighting
techniques to pass the central message. Both Woodward and Bernstein are united by their dreams
(Pakula, 1976). The two also have similar political aspirations and visions. Lights help ensure the
audience gets to understand the vision and political aspirations of Woodward and Bernstein.
Throughout the movie, darkness and light are used interchangeably. The audience is kept hooked
on the movie, and the plot’s climax is characterized by a climax in the cinematic techniques. The
investigation of the political crime has effective effects that drive the film. In the climax, the
images are shot with high levels of precision (Pakula, 1976). The use of lighting helps in
enhancing the clarity of the images. The performance of the actors in the climax of the plot is
enhanced by the use of light and darkness.
In politics, it is often said that secrets are made behind the scenes. Politicians meet in
secret and discuss various issues. They then come out and are not willing to discuss with the
general public their discussions (Pakula, 1976). The film captures the secretive nature of political

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dealings using lighting. The film captures secrets that are made in the dark. The use of shadows
is also used to enhance the secretive nature of politics (Pakula, 1976). Different settings and
atmospheres are brought out in an effective way through the use of lighting. Discovering
political secrets is brought out using seduction. Sexuality is linked to corruption schemes in the
film. Certain truths that are not brought to the public light can only be discovered through
seduction. Politics is associated with deep levels of manipulation.
The film has a special relationship with other films that were released around the same
time. The film has a huge connection to Midnight Cowboy and Days of Heaven. Midnight
Cowboy was released in the year 1969. The film also relies on the use of lighting and other
cinematic techniques to reveal the difficult life in New York City. Ratso and Rizzo become
important business partners after forming a strong friendship (Schlesinger, 2021). The friendship
between Ratso and Rizzo is based on the fact that the two have the same dream. Woodward and
Bernstein, in the film All the President’s Men, are also united by having a common vision and
sharing a dream. Days of Heaven has been regarded as one of the most beautiful films of its time
(Thompson, 2021).
The most significant lighting techniques in Days of Heaven are the use of a kerosene
lantern light and campfire light (Malick, 2021). The use of soft lights helps in enhancing the
scenes. Further, the film also relies on natural light to bring out special effects. Similarly, All the
President’s Men has special lighting techniques that help bring important themes in the film. A
good example is seen when Woodward, accompanied by his friend, question a lady. Lighting
helps in enhancing this scene. The brighter green background can be seen in a clear way. The
scene is set in a natural environment, and this can be seen through an enhanced background.

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Lighting also helps ensure that the viewer’s attention is brought to the questions that are posed by
Woodward. The focus of the camera is on the lady’s face, and light helps make the scene unique.
Overall, All the President’s Men depicts a skilful use of dark and light to create a realistic
political expose. The director masterfully develops political themes related to real events and
combines them with unique cinematic techniques to create a thrilling film. A deep understanding
of the film demonstrates the importance of the light and dark themes in creating an investigative
story. The light techniques employed in the film complement the themes and help in
understanding the entire development of the film.

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References

Anderson, D. (2006). Watergate: Scandal in the White House. Capstone.
Bani-Khair, B. M., Al-Shalabi, N., Jaradat, A., Ababneh, M., Al-Khazaleh, M., & Al-
Khawaldeh, N. (2016). Light and Dark in Pakula’s All the President’s Men. International
Journal, 4(1), 1-8.
Malick, T. (2021). Days of Heaven [DVD]. Hollywood; Paramount Pictures.
Pakula, A. (1976). All the President’s Men [DVD]. Hollywood: Warner Bros.
Schlesinger, J. (2021). Midnight Cowboy [DVD]. Hollywood; Mist Entertainment.
Thompson, D. (2021). Is Days of Heaven the most beautiful film ever made? | David Thomson.
the Guardian. Retrieved 9 December 2021, from
https://www.theguardian.com/film/2011/sep/01/days-of-heaven-beautiful-film.