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President Ronald Reagan met with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev five times in the late 1980s. The first such meeting was in Geneva, Switzerland in November 1985 when the two leaders began to form a relationship. It was the second meeting in Reykjavik, Iceland, where Reagan and Gorbachev began to find trust.
“The reason I wanted to do it really, truly, was because I think these days we’ve gotten so good at yelling at one another that we are not talking anymore,” said “The Brink of War” director Michael Gunn. “What blew me away about the story when Secretary Schultz told me about it was that these were two guys who had every reason to hate each other, had every reason to be enemies, and they sat down in a room together and tried to make a better world.”
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Jeff Daniels stars as Reagan in “The Brink of War,” which follows the Reykjavik summit with Gorbachev, played by Jared Harris. Reagan’s Secretary of State George Schultz, played by J.K. Simmons, was instrumental in giving Gunn behind-the-scenes details for his film.
“We spent hours and hours together. I interviewed him. He gave me the declassified transcripts that informed the script. He’s a hero of mine. The movie is dedicated to him, for him, for his public service,” Gunn said.
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“The Brink of War” not only highlights the Reagan administration’s ambitions for peace but also their disappointments. One scene shows Reagan’s doubt over trusting Gorbachev amid the negotiations as Schultz assures him it was not the end of talks to find common ground between the two global powers.
“This moment where they figured out just the two of them in a room that they could trust one another, I think led to all that. The first arms reduction agreement in human history,” Gunn said.
While no final agreement was reached in Iceland, the summit paved the way for several more meetings between Reagan and Gorbachev. It also led to several peace treaties — like the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF), which required both sides to liquidate a class of nuclear weapons.
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“For the first time on the highest level, we and the Soviets came close to an agreement on real reductions of both strategic and intermediate-range weapons,” President Reagan said after his meeting with Gorbachev in Iceland. “We were in sight of an historic agreement on completely eliminating the threat of offensive ballistic missiles by 1996. I can help remembering being told just a few years ago. Radical arms reduction was an impossible dream, but now it’s on the agenda for both sides.”
Gunn believes the Reagan and Gorbachev’s discussions should be an inspiration for ending today’s conflicts.
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“I think the lesson for today is that we have to continue dialog,” Gunn said. “As tough as it gets, I want people to walk out of the theater with hope that if we engage, if we’re strong, if we are seeking peace in a genuine way and we find a genuine partner that we can make a better safer world even today.”
“The Brink of War” debuts in theaters Aug. 14.
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