‘THE POST’ PREMIERE
History Repeating Steven Spielberg’s timely drama ‘The Post’ premieres at the Newseum. BY ERICA MOODY
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nce in awhile, a Hollywood film has such process was with someone who comes with close ties to the nation’s capital that the this amount of veneration,� Steep said. “I felt world premiere takes place here. “The Post� is like this would be a machine, well-oiled, excluone of them. The Steven Spielberg-directed, sionary, a boy’s club. I wasn’t prepared for the Academy Award-nominated historical thriller openness of this director.� starring Meryl Streep as Katharine Graham and Tom Hanks as Ben Bradlee premiered at the Newseum in December. Prior to the star-studded, red carpet affair, Spielberg and cast members Streep, Hanks, Bradley Whitford and Bob Odenkirk joined a Washington Post Live gathering to speak about the film, which centers on the Post’s bold decision to release “The Pentagon Papers� in 1971. Ann Hornaday, Bob Odenkirk, Meryl Streep, Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks and Bradley Washington Post film Whitford at Washington Post Live (Photo by Kris Tripplaar for The Washington Post) critic Ann Hornaday led a discussion that touched on journalistic In addition, she quipped, “there were no integrity, historical accuracy and the #MeToo females harmed in the making of this movie.� movement. Hornaday noted that “It may have started It’s also no accident that a film about ethics as a Trump-era movie, but it’s now a Weinin journalism was released at the same time as stein-era movie in terms of the woman President Trump is taking aim at the media. In finding her voice.� fact, the production process was accelerated for The film excels at its portrayal of Graham, a timely release. “I like shooting fast but this the Post’s publisher, displaying her strength film came with a set of imperatives and one of and self-doubt at a time when she makes the them was getting it out now while the conver- decision that would change the course of her sation was still ripe,� Spielberg said. life and of The Washington Post. It was “the For Streep, working with Spielberg was a week that Katharine Graham became Kathadream come true. rine Graham,� writer Liz Hannah has noted. It “I told my husband, ‘I can’t wait to go to was also a time when women held much fewer work in the morning’ and he said ‘you don’t positions of power than they do now. Graham’s always say that,’� she said with a laugh. Sur- decision-making was fraught with both interprisingly, it was the first time the actress and nalized sexism and overt misogyny. the filmmaker had worked together. “I was “Conquering the interior voice that corsurprised at how collaborative and free the roborates that you are less than, just slightly
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less intelligent, capable, qualified to have the job you’re in, to lead, that’s the most damaging part,� Streep explained. “[The film] tells a political story but one is interior politics and one is the politics writ large and it’s a great movie because it stands up for both things.� While the film brings up many relevant topics — government secrets and the history of journalism, to name two — the filmmakers’ character-driven approach gives it the emotional resonance of great drama. “It’s important for an audience to understand that before they see the relevance or ironies of history, that they sit down and understand that our intention was to do a character story about principally two people — Katharine Graham and Ben Bradlee — and all the people that affect their lives and all the people they affect,� Spielberg said. The full cooperation and help of the families, as well as friends and former colleagues, rendered the film true-to-life. “Everyone had a Bradlee-ism,� said Hanks. Hanks was able to embody and bring his own take to the portrayal of the famed editor, from how he slammed his newspaper on his desk to the confident way he walked into a room. For moviegoers, the film has a quality that everyone can appreciate: it’s fun to watch. It is entertainment, after all. “Steven is an impatient showman and I mean this in the best way,� Whitford said. “It’s a collision of showmanship with material that could otherwise be very preachy and dry.�
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