"Live from Baghdad," Still Live in our Consciousness

With sensationalism overtaking the media it is refreshing to be reminded of journalistic integrity and the pursuit of the truth in relaying information. As old and new conflicts arise daily throughout the world, an example of past courage and selflessness in reporting war is depicted in the HBO production, “Live from Baghdad.” The story of the CNN crew who at the start of the Gulf War in 1991, are stationed in the Iraqi capital when the initial assault occurs, follows the anticipatory build-up to war and the highly-charged results of political divergence. Like the reporting of the journalists themselves, the movie aims to record with honesty the unfolding of events that still have relevance this very day.

The story focuses on CNN producer Robert Wiener, who at the movie’s opening requests the Iraq assignment to prove his worth to the company and for the chance to report a career-making story. From the beginning, “Live from Baghdad” moves with the no-second-to-lose pace of a breaking story, as the shot-to-shot editing shows. As Wiener, Michael Keaton assumes the believable role of the crass journalist who will employ any trick to get the story.

The rest of the crew is introduced through the photo page of passports and the typing of their names and titles across the screen. Once in Bagdad, the crew is introduced to the unending supply of bureaucratic roadblocks they will have to overcome in order to do their job.

Not only does the film show the back story of the people who report the news, it shows the stories that never make it to the news and the stories that are either intentionally or unintentionally told in order to misinform. The Iraqi government holding foreign occupants hostage is presented as willing on the part of the detainees. When the CNN crew reveals the true nature of the detainment and the danger posed to the hostages, the safety of the journalists is also put in jeopardy.

The other crew members, most notably Helena Bonham Carter in the role of Ingrid Formanek and Hamish Linklater as Richard Roth play supportive roles that make authentic the film’s perspective on this true story. While the movie is not free of typical Hollywood twists that increase the dramatic and emotional pull, the focus is the people who deliver the story, and as it is their goal to deliver the story with objective integrity, the focus truly is the story. While the hint of romance between Keaton and Carter may have been included to humanize the plot, it is not overly drawn-out, nor does it detract from the more compelling story of human and political conflict.

These reporters do not see themselves as heroes and that is what makes heroic the selfless work they do to find the truth and to capture it for benefit of the world. The inclusion of actual CNN images from the time and Arab music sets the scene and builds the tension testifies to the attempt for honest replication of these events.

What ultimately makes the movie worthwhile is that it doesn’t paint Iraq as the enemy, America as the savior, or CNN as the war hero. The focus remains that the work of non glorified individuals, seeking not fame or sensation, but truth, is the zenith of journalistic pursuit.
With active conflict in the region between the same parties still a constant event and with similar conflicts occurring simultaneously, it is important for us all to have a reminder of how important the truth is when assessing treacherous situations and in hopes of finding resolution.