Citizen Clark: A Life of Principle is a documentary film which premiered in 2018. It is about the life and career of Ramsey Clark (1927-2021).
Here is some basic information about this film:
** Director: Joseph C. Stillman
** Narrator: Martin Sheen
** Run time: 95 minutes
Several persons (including Ramsey Clark himself) are interviewed in the film. Here are the names of the participants (in alphabetical order):
Brian Becker
Richard Becker
Blase Anthony Bonpane (1929-2019)
Noam Chomsky
Miguel D’Escoto
Gloria LaRiva
Barbara Lubin
Cissy Marshall
Ralph Nader
Victor Navasky
William Newman
Stephen Pollak
Frank Serpico
Lynn Stewart
Joseph Tydings
Alice Walker
Roger Wilkins
Alex Wohl
Archive footage is used between the talking heads. Archive footage is used to support and supplement the statements made by the participants. Archive footage is used when the narrator is talking.
LIFE AND CAREER
Ramsey Clark was born in a prominent family in Texas. His father was a lawyer who was the US Attorney General 1945-1949 and a member of the US Supreme Court 1949-1967.
Ramsey Clark was a lawyer like his father. He held senior positions in the US government under presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson:
** Assistant Attorney General 1961-1965
** Deputy Attorney General 1965-1967
** Attorney General 1967-1969
In 1967, when Ramsey Clark was appointed as Attorney General, his father Tom Clark resigned from the Supreme Court in order to avoid a conflict of interest. This left a vacancy on the Supreme Court, which allowed President Johnson to nominate Thurgood Marshall to the Court.
While working for the US government, Ramsey Clark was strongly opposed to the death penalty and a strong supporter of civil rights.
After leaving public office in 1969, Ramsey Clark went into private practice. He also organized several international campaigns.
During a long career, he defended some clients which were hated and vilified, such as Saddam Hussein.
When we watch this film, we can see that Ramsey Clark was a very controversial person. He made some choices which shocked the American establishment. They thought he was too far to the left. He also made some choices which surprised people on the left wing of the political spectrum.
While working for the US government, Ramsey Clark had to work within a narrow framework.
Once he left public office, he was free to follow his heart and his conscience.
His life was dedicated to a principle.
He supported human rights; he opposed military aggression, in particular aggression committed by his own country, the United States. The American establishment could never forgive him for doing this.
Given his background, his education, and his position as a public official, Ramsey Clark could have chosen an easy life. He could have done what a white American lawyer from Texas was supposed to do: join the establishment.
He did not do that. He did not choose an easy path. He did what his conscience told him to do. In this film we can follow his life and his career in the US and around the world. We can begin to understand why he did what he did. Why he chose the path he chose.
RATINGS AND REVIEWS
What do reviewers say about this film?
On IMDb it has a rating of 77 percent, which corresponds to a rating of 3.9 stars on Amazon.
On Amazon there are at the moment 67 global ratings, 66 with reviews. The average rating is 4.5 stars, which corresponds to a rating of 90 percent.
Here are the details:
5 stars = 79 percent
4 stars = 8 percent
3 stars = 0 percent
2 stars = 5 percent
1 star = 8 percent
As you can see, many reviewers like this film: 87 percent offer four or five stars.
Two reviewers seem to hate this film. 13 percent offer only one or two stars.
When I looked at the review which offers two stars, I was surprised to find that it is very positive. I have to quote this review to prove my point:
“An extraordinary documentary of a courageous and truthful man.
“Directed and produced by Joseph Stillman who is a mastermind in bringing to light a story about social issues affecting our country then and now.
“Ramsey Clark’s story must be shared with today’s youth witnessing and living our country’s need for change.
“Stillman has done a fantastic job of putting together the amazing story of Ramsey Clark creating a prize-winning documentary.
‘Thank you for sharing this amazing story!”
As you can see, this reviewer does not want to offer only two stars. This review should offer four or five stars. Apparently, the reviewer made a mistake when the rating of only two stars was chosen.
Katie Walsh, who reviewed the film for Los Angeles Times, is not impressed. The headline says:
“Citizen Clark does not do justice to life of former US Attorney General Ramsey Clark.”
[Los Angeles Times, 26 July 2018]
CONCLUSION
What do I think? In my opinion, this is an important film about a person who played an important role in American and world history.
According to Katie Walsh, it is an “unstructured and rather amateurish documentary.”
I do not agree with this statement.
I understand the numerous positive reviews and I agree with them.
I want to go all the way to the top with this product. I think it deserves a rating of five stars (100 percent).
PS. Full disclosure: I was face to face with Ramsey Clark on two occasions. The first time in Copenhagen in 1991. The second time in New York City in 1992.
REFERENCES
** The Fire this Time: US War Crimes in the Gulf by Ramsey Clark (1992)
** The Torturer in the Mirror by Ramsey Clark, Thomas Ehrlich Reifer and Haifa Zangana (2010)
** Father, Son, and Constitution: How Justice Tom Clark and Attorney General Ramsey Clark Shaped American Democracy by Alexander Wohl (2013)
** Defending the Public’s Enemy: The Life and Legacy of Ramsey Clark by Lonnie T. Brown (2019)
*****
Father, Son, and Constitutiton:
How Justice Tom Clark and
Attorney General Ramsey Clark
Shaped American Democracy
by Alexander Wohl
(2013)
*****
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