"The Post" by Steven Spielberg (2017)

First thing first - as a child growing up in 1970s and 1980s, I adored everything that Spielberg served back in the day, those wonderful fantasies like "Close Encounters of the Third Kind", "Raiders of the Lost Ark" and naturally "E.T." - they are part of my life and somehow carved in my heart, I still have great affection for them. With time Spielberg changed, not the vision but the direction - since "Schindler's List" he seems to fight against being entertainer and wants to be serious artist, which perhaps was inevitable for a person of his professional stature. Which means that now he is creating serious movies like "Munich" and "Lincoln" - stylish as they are, are not necessary enjoyable escapism of long ago. Every now and than he comes up with something like "Bridge of Spies" that combines old Spielberg touch with serious issues, but when he wants to re-create the style he pioneered ("The BFG") the results are curiously unconvincing, like he outgrew this chapter of his life. With "The Post" he goes unrepentantly into a full-blown war with political establishment, reflecting strange times we are living in and when such Hollywood giant waves his spear, it is a sign of certain statement hard to ignore or sweep under the rug.

"The Post" is very clever movie - it seems that its all about one thing, when its actually about another. What appears as a story about 1971 and the power of journalism against despotism, gradually blossoms into chilling reflection of our current reality. When powerful "The New York Times" is dragged in a court for revealing potentially explosive state documents, "The Washington Post" takes over and insist to publish the same information, even though its extremely dangerous and it might get them all imprisoned - with his trademark passion, Spielberg depicts the moral doubts between private friendships and much bigger picture. And the point when a person must make a decision - to step out and insist on what is true, or to hide behind safe silence. Tom Hanks is cast against the type, as aggressive, pushy and somehow intimidating journalist, while Meryl Streep brings dignity and depth to a character of Katharine Graham, the woman in a man's world. I watched it all with fascination - not really familiar with 1971 political scandal - until hugely important sentence suddenly brought it all home like a flashbulb: "In the First Amendment the Founding Fathers gave the free press the protection it must have to fulfil its essential role in our democracy. The press was to serve the governed, not the governors."  Impossible to ignore political agenda behind this statement and what this movie means to all involved.