Over the decades, media have licked around the edges of the disturbing story of how the United States’ Central Intelligence Agency engaged in drug and mind control experiments during the 1950s, an era rife with Cold War secrets and conspiracies.
But we've had to wait until now for someone with the guts, panache and appetite to take a big bite deep into the controversy – Oscar-winning director Errol Morris who brings his groundbreaking production Wormwood to Netflix this Friday, with the untold story of a CIA conspiracy involving the haunting death of a family man.
The boundary-breaking Morris, director of The Thin Blue Line (1988) and The Fog of War (2004), searches for the truth over six chapters through the story of Eric Olson and his 60-year quest to identify the circumstances of his scientist father's mysterious death.
“The United States began to do things which put its own democratic institutions in great jeopardy,” says Olson. “And my father was in the centre of that.”
His father, Frank Olson, was a bacteriologist involved with the CIA and its Project MKUltra – the code name given to the agency’s questionable mind-control programme. Many people unwittingly became the subject of cruel experiments designed to develop drugs and procedures that military interrogators could later use to torture and weaken others into confessing their secrets.
In 1953, a time when office meetings were becoming something of an occupational hazard among CIA employees, Frank Olson's supervisor allegedly spiked his drink with LSD – a drug he'd never taken before. This "surprise" plunged him into depression. Nine days later, he tumbled to the street from the 13th floor of a Manhattan hotel. As the doomed scientist, American actor Peter Sarsgaard (Experimenter, The Magnificent Seven) gives a virtuoso performance in dramatic re-enactments, nicely punctuated by reality segments of Morris's legendary interview style as he examines this case from every conceivable angle. Co-stars include Molly Parker (House of Cards), Bob Balaban (Gosford Park), Christian Camargo and Tim Blake Nelson (Syriana).
"I think Errol's trying to also, maybe consciously or subconsciously, inspire Americans particularly, and people who love democracy, to take action and ask the hard questions," says Camargo, best known for his appearances in Dexter and House of Cards. "We're so used to sort of going along with it. We're not in a proactive kind of culture right now. We're complacent. It's been too easy for Americans, for so long, in some ways."
Expect a few goosebumps, too. Of Morris’s cinematic genius, the late film critic Roger Ebert once said: “I haven’t found another filmmaker who intrigues me more… Errol Morris is like a magician, and as great a filmmaker as Hitchcock or Fellini.”
Morris, 69, says: “Truth is a quest. Truth is a pursuit. It’s not handed to you.” He taps just about every trick in his storyteller’s toolbox to weave his magic here.
“Everything helps me tell the story,” he says. “Here I’ve taken a whole range of techniques – drama, documentary, docudrama, re-enactment, archival material and on and on and on. It is a collage, ultimately.
“In essence, we see the world as a collage. Consciousness is a re-enactment of the world inside our skulls; our attempt to make sense of the world. This is very much a story of trying to make sense of the world, taking the bits and pieces, the scraps and the evidence – and trying to assemble it into a coherent picture of what happened to Eric’s father.”
Ultimately, the US government ruled Olson’s death a suicide – but Morris and others think differently and wonder aloud whether Olson knew too much and whether he was thrown to his death after witnessing secret CIA torture sites in Europe.
Some speculate that Olson, upset by the horrors and the murders that he saw, simply wanted to quit and get away from it all. Resigning, however, was not an option.
As a CIA chief declares in a Wormwood re-enactment: "In this Cold War, the most dangerous weapon is information. You are the men who know the secrets. We are the men who keep the secrets."
"I think Wormwood is an investigation into truth itself," says Sarsgaard. "I had the idea that when we first started filming this, I really thought it would be, like, 'A-ha! Here it is. Here's the piece of paper that says: Throw him out the window, please.' But, like, it just doesn't work like that."
Even after all these years, Eric Olson’s pain over his father’s death remains palpable. His voice fills with emotion as he projects faded home movies of himself as a blond-haired toddler being hugged on a playground swing by his obviously doting Dad, in the summer sunshine of a bygone era.
“My father Frank Olson was an army scientist. His research group had a relationship with the CIA. They take him to New York Tuesday morning – by early Saturday morning, he’s dead. What was my father doing? What was the CIA doing? What happened there?”
Wormwood will be streamed on Netflix from Friday
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Read more from Diff 2017:
President Trump's Jerusalem decision hangs heavy over opening weekend
Film festival announces 140-film line-up
Gallows humour fuels Christmas spirit in Nazareth-based comedy Wajib
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At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
MATCH INFO
West Ham United 2 (Antonio 73', Ogbonna 90 5')
Tottenham Hotspur 3 (Son 36', Moura 42', Kane 49')
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Graduated from the American University of Sharjah
She is the eldest of three brothers and two sisters
Has helped solve 15 cases of electric shocks
Enjoys travelling, reading and horse riding
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
Tank warfare
Lt Gen Erik Petersen, deputy chief of programs, US Army, has argued it took a “three decade holiday” on modernising tanks.
“There clearly remains a significant armoured heavy ground manoeuvre threat in this world and maintaining a world class armoured force is absolutely vital,” the general said in London last week.
“We are developing next generation capabilities to compete with and deter adversaries to prevent opportunism or miscalculation, and, if necessary, defeat any foe decisively.”
Most F1 world titles
7 — Michael Schumacher (1994, ’95, 2000, ’01 ’02, ’03, ’04)
7 — Lewis Hamilton (2008, ’14,’15, ’17, ’18, ’19, ’20)
5 — Juan Manuel Fangio (1951, ’54, ’55, ’56, ’57)
4 — Alain Prost (1985, ’86, ’89, ’93)
4 — Sebastian Vettel (2010, ’11, ’12, ’13)
Know before you go
- Jebel Akhdar is a two-hour drive from Muscat airport or a six-hour drive from Dubai. It’s impossible to visit by car unless you have a 4x4. Phone ahead to the hotel to arrange a transfer.
- If you’re driving, make sure your insurance covers Oman.
- By air: Budget airlines Air Arabia, Flydubai and SalamAir offer direct routes to Muscat from the UAE.
- Tourists from the Emirates (UAE nationals not included) must apply for an Omani visa online before arrival at evisa.rop.gov.om. The process typically takes several days.
- Flash floods are probable due to the terrain and a lack of drainage. Always check the weather before venturing into any canyons or other remote areas and identify a plan of escape that includes high ground, shelter and parking where your car won’t be overtaken by sudden downpours.
MATCH INFO
Manchester United 2 (Heaton (og) 42', Lindelof 64')
Aston Villa 2 (Grealish 11', Mings 66')
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
'Munich: The Edge of War'
Director: Christian Schwochow
Starring: George MacKay, Jannis Niewohner, Jeremy Irons
Rating: 3/5
