The modern icon of civil disobedience, the Thoreau of the Vietnam era, tells his story on screen — as a talking head and in voice-over — after telling it already on the page and on audio CD. (The story as synopsized by Richard Nixon: “Son-of-a-bitching thief is made a national hero.” And the title comes courtesy of none other than Henry Kissinger.) It is of course a compelling, if not a cinematic, story, and it has a moving emotional climax, especially moving to Ellsberg himself, when he recounts his life-changing epiphany. Directed by Judith Ehrlich and Rick Goldsmith. (2009) — Duncan Shepherd
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