Film Description

Kissinger, a new two-part, three-hour biography, offers an incisive portrait of Henry Kissinger, the enigmatic powerbroker who served in the topmost echelons of American diplomacy. Whether celebrated or reviled, Kissinger’s contradictions reflect those at the heart of America’s foreign policy during the second half of the 20th century, a period in which America became the unchallenged superpower in the world yet often pursued policy at odds with its own highest ideals.

When Henry Kissinger died on November 29, 2023, newspapers devoted pages to his obituary and scores of world leaders praised his legacy. Yet the mere mention of his name can elicit either seething contempt or reverent admiration. From his childhood in Hitler’s Germany to his years as a Nazi hunter in the United States Army, from his swift rise to the highest rungs of American foreign policy to his surprising reign as Washington’s most sought-after celebrity bachelor, Kissinger was a source of fascination. By examining his life up to and throughout his tortured relationship with President Richard Nixon, Kissinger endeavors to understand precisely what drove his relentless drive for power. It is a story of deep contradictions — of Kissinger’s obsession with securing American supremacy, staving off nuclear war, and checking the power of our enemies, even while consorting with dictators and tolerating widespread violation of human rights.