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Probe Bush, urges film star
04jul05
KARLOVY VARY, Czech Republic: American movie star Robert Redford, who played reporter Bob Woodward in a film about the Watergate scandal, has said he regretted that US journalists were not investigating the administration of US President George W Bush.
"There are deep similarities going on but where is the press? Where is the press?" Redford pointedly asked at the sidelines of a film festival in this Czech spa town yesterday.
The actor played Woodward, who along with fellow Washington Post reporter Carl Bernstein, investigated the Watergate affair that ultimately led to the resignation of Republican president Richard Nixon in 1974.
"There are strong similarities to what is going on: stone-walling, not telling the truth, getting people under wiretaps," Redford said.
Referring to the Iraq war, he said the US public continued "to be told things that are not true, and what worries me is that we have these brave young American guys risking their lives every day."
The Watergate investigation made headlines again recently when the reporters' source of key information revealed himself to be Mark Felt, a former No. 2 at the Federal Bureau of Investigations.
He helped the reporters expose the Nixon White House cover-up of the break-in at the rival Democratic Party headquarters in the Watergate building in Washington.
Redford starred with Dustin Hoffman in a film version of the reporters' book about their investigative work, All the President's Men.
"When Deep Throat was revealed, the press came to me and wanted to know what I thought. I said, 'Well, it's interesting that his name came out, but is that the point?'," Redford asked.
The point of the film, he said, was not Nixon but investigative journalism.
"My contribution was to come at a time when journalism was at its high point and the role I played was to save a testimony to the freedom of speech," said Redford, who was arguably at the height of his acting popularity when he made the Watergate film.
The actor said he does not see that kind of investigative work in the media nowadays – while journalism finds itself criticised more and more by the public.
"The media have changed; we see the ethics have changed," the actor said. "The press is more, I am sorry to say, celebrity-oriented."
Redford, who founded the Sundance Film Festival in Utah, was given a lifetime achievement award yesterday at the Czech film festival, which runs until July 9.
04jul05
KARLOVY VARY, Czech Republic: American movie star Robert Redford, who played reporter Bob Woodward in a film about the Watergate scandal, has said he regretted that US journalists were not investigating the administration of US President George W Bush.
"There are deep similarities going on but where is the press? Where is the press?" Redford pointedly asked at the sidelines of a film festival in this Czech spa town yesterday.
The actor played Woodward, who along with fellow Washington Post reporter Carl Bernstein, investigated the Watergate affair that ultimately led to the resignation of Republican president Richard Nixon in 1974.
"There are strong similarities to what is going on: stone-walling, not telling the truth, getting people under wiretaps," Redford said.
Referring to the Iraq war, he said the US public continued "to be told things that are not true, and what worries me is that we have these brave young American guys risking their lives every day."
The Watergate investigation made headlines again recently when the reporters' source of key information revealed himself to be Mark Felt, a former No. 2 at the Federal Bureau of Investigations.
He helped the reporters expose the Nixon White House cover-up of the break-in at the rival Democratic Party headquarters in the Watergate building in Washington.
Redford starred with Dustin Hoffman in a film version of the reporters' book about their investigative work, All the President's Men.
"When Deep Throat was revealed, the press came to me and wanted to know what I thought. I said, 'Well, it's interesting that his name came out, but is that the point?'," Redford asked.
The point of the film, he said, was not Nixon but investigative journalism.
"My contribution was to come at a time when journalism was at its high point and the role I played was to save a testimony to the freedom of speech," said Redford, who was arguably at the height of his acting popularity when he made the Watergate film.
The actor said he does not see that kind of investigative work in the media nowadays – while journalism finds itself criticised more and more by the public.
"The media have changed; we see the ethics have changed," the actor said. "The press is more, I am sorry to say, celebrity-oriented."
Redford, who founded the Sundance Film Festival in Utah, was given a lifetime achievement award yesterday at the Czech film festival, which runs until July 9.
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