“The Man Nobody Knew: In Search of My Father, CIA Spymaster William Colby”
First Run Features
For a documentary about a son reflecting on the life of his father, “The Man Nobody Knew: In Search of My Father, CIA Spymaster William Colby” is decidedly less scandalous than expected, even when the father happens to be William Colby, former director of central intelligence at the CIA.
Director Carl Colby examines the life of his elusive father, and the controversies that he dealt with during his tenure with the CIA. While the film’s title begs to be that of a paperback espionage thriller, the film is decidedly more subtle and frankly a little dull, focusing more on the historical aspect of the CIA director’s work during the Vietnam War and his consequent dismissal from the agency.
Changing between William Colby’s life at work and with his family, a large part of the documentary deals with his implementation of the Phoenix Program during the Vietnam War, which was designed to root out VietCong insurgents but instead was seen by the public and Congress as a torture and assassination program. While this interlude of history injected a bit of salaciousness into Colby’s life, there was disappointingly little repercussion that was seen in the documentary.
The emotional introspection of the documentary runs only as deep as a montage of sepia-toned photos of the family, with a voiceover by the director. Rather than discuss the details of having an absentee father throughout his life, the director decidedly shifts the focus to the blows that William Colby faced during the rancorous congressional hearings into the intelligence operations of the CIA, which led to his dismissal.
While it may be worth seeing footage of Dick Cheney with a full head of hair in the ’70s and a talking head of Donald Rumsfeld, this film disappointingly reads more like a long history lesson on America’s tumultuous run with the CIA, rather than about the secrets of the man who ran it all.