Sunday Discussion Group

June 12, 2005

Carpetbagger left me with a suggested topic to post: Best Political Movie.

I’m not sure how tightly to define that. The classic, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, was certainly political. So was The Last Hurrah. Sunrise at Campobello, too, though it had touches of biography. Citizen Kane was mostly biographical, but it did include his losing campaign for office. What about Julius Caesar or any of Shakespeare’s other history plays? I know they’re history, but there’s certainly a lot of poltics and political thought in there.

Here are few more to jog thoughts: Dave, Advise and Consent, The Manchurian Candidate, All the King’s Men.

And what about TV? Series such as (the obvious) The West Wing or Mister Sterling.

No doubt you can think of many more. Oddly, I can’t. I say “oddly” because you’d think, with politics such a major part of American social life, anyone ought to be able to spout off dozens of titles.

There were two television shows in the 60’s: “Slattery’s People” with Richard Crenna as a state senator and, later, “The Senator” with Hal Holbrook in the title role.

Two good political movies are the film version of Gore Vidal’s “The Best Man” with Henry Fonda and Cliff Robertson and, of course, Robert Redford’s “The Candidate,” which (unfortunately) inspired Dan Quayle’s entry into politics.

  • I would suggest that I, Claudius is an excellent political movie. I am also a big fan of Dave.

  • I agree “The Candidate” was a great flick and one of my favorites. I also a big fan of Warren Beatty’s “Bullworth” and of course “All the President’s Men.”

  • Political movie or movie about politics? Those named certainly are about politics. What about movie with the largest political effect? Certainly “Fahrenheit 911” has to rank up there and not just because it’s recent. Maybe “The Passion of the Christ” too for a different reason.

  • While not pretending it is the “best” political movie, I would suggest “Executive Action” (about the Kennedy assassination; from 1973, I think) as a worthy entrant. I watched this film during its theatrical release and will never forget how, during the actual assassination scene, some jerkoff a few seats away from me in the same row started applauding. I think that was when I finally realized (I was 19 or 20) that politics can be the world’s deadliest game and that some people are natural-born killers who fit right in. You know who I’m talking about.

    Apropos of that, I would submit as possibly the best political movie I’ve ever seen (though it is not about American politics) is the Argentinian film from 1985 called “The Official Story”. Absolutely shattering. The title alone strongly hints at the content. You can still rent this on VHS, I believe.

    If you want more American titles, how about “The Parallax View”? I saw that on a double bill with Coppola’s “The Conversation” — paranoia city! Both of these were also from 1973 or 1974, right in the middle of the whole Watergate mess. Although it is possible to argue that neither film was really about politics as such, it was the context of the times that made them so compelling.

  • Robert Altman consistently focuses on politics — consider Nashville, with its proto-Perot candidate; Tanner 88; Secret Honor; and don’t overlook Health, a really odd movie that uses an election for the presidency of a national health organization to replay the Ike-Adlai bouts of the 1950s.

    Also: The Contender, The Great McGinty, Seven Days in May, Dr. Strangelove, Being There, Bob Roberts, The Distinguished Gentleman, Thirteen Days, Nixon, Absolute Power, Canadian Bacon, Duck Soup….

  • The American President – written by Aaron Sorkin – was a nice first draft of a certain first-rate television show. Did anyone see the Rob Low’s political show Lyon’s Den? Sure didn’t last very long… Primary Colors presented a fascinating (fictional?) behind the scenes view of a southern governor’s presidential campaign… The Contender with Joan Allen was also rather gripping.

    I always enjoy films dealing with political civilian/military relationships. Although it may not be a movie about politics per se, I have to give credit to Clear and Present Danger. Of course it doesn’t touch the book, but the film gave some interesting (although no doubt simplified) insights into the relationships between the executive, the intelligence agencies, and the military. I liked how it showed the effect of high-level decisions on the guys on the ground. Too bad it ended in a generic shoot-out. 13 Days, about the Cuban Missile Crisis, was also very effective as a case study in presidential crisis management. Seven Days in May, about an attempted US military coup, was certainly implausible, but effective and entertaining moviemaking.

    I second also The Manchurian Candidate. The original was certainly the better movie, but the remake had a few nice twists as well. I actually preferred the remake’s ending, although nothing can touch the garden party scene of the first!

    Has anyone seen HBO’s K Street? I’m tempted to rent the DVDs and see what it’s all about. Apparently it didn’t work very well because it was a bit too inside-politics. I read that unless you’re a player, you wouldn’t really get it. But it still sounds interesting to this armchair political junkie.

  • Just read post #7: Bob Roberts! Ouch! That was one cynical, biting movie. Depressed me for a week…

  • Ridley Scott’s debut film (1975) derived from a Joseph Conrad short novel,”The Duel”. Keith Carradine, Harvey Keitel and a host of other film greats.

    A great film in which military officers, encrusted with the traditional values of soldiers’ honor, come crashing into Napoleon’s regicidal empire building, from 1804 through the restoration.

    Too often we think of political films as focussed on the recognized head of state, pay less attention to political role of the military.

    Conrad’s genius as a screen writer is evident here–all the scenes, virtually all the dialog–are translated to screen right off the author’s manuscript.

  • “Zâ€? early 1970’s from Greece and don’t forget “Battle of Algiersâ€?

  • Not to repeat the many good suggestions already made, I’d add two BBC telly miniseries: Edge of Darkness and A Very British Coup. EOD is one of the best, if not the best, political piece written FOR television. It came out during the Reagan years and, no surprise, was essentially squelched by American public TV, even including the not-so-courageous New York “flagship” station WNET.

    Then, I can’t help adding, a staggeringly fine piece on the Holocaust, produced by German television, if you please: The Wannsee Conference (NOT the American remake).

  • Taking a trip to the lighter side, I wouldn’t go so far as to call these the “best” political movies, but they were both pretty enjoyable to me. One was “My Fellow Americans” with Jack Lemmon and James Garner as rival ex-presidents on the run, thrown together in a buddy movie. The other is “Dick” with Kirsten Dunst. If you followed Watergate this one gives a nice, absurd look at the principals. From back in the Clinton era, when it was possible to think of politics as grist for humor instead of horror.

  • The very best I’ve seen – I’d recommend it to anybody – is House of Cards starring Ian Richardson and Diane Fletcher. It was a four-part miniseries in 1990 on BBC, followed by two more sets, To Play the King (1993) and The Final Cut (1995).

    Richardson plays the very ambitious Francis Urquhart. Initially he’s the party whip, who enjoys “putting a bit of stick about” on wayward colleagues. He does ultimately achieve his ambitions, though the means he employs, rather joyfully it seems, make Karl Rove look like Mother Teresa.

    Throughout the series there is terrific use of the theatrical “aside”. You see Urquhart and others striding along a hall In Parliament, or zipping through the front doors of Buckingham Palace on his way confront the trying-to-be-useful King. Suddenly, midstride, Urquhart whips his head around, staring straight into the camera and into the back of your own brain, to inform you in icy terms how he’s about skewer someone.

    It really is gripping. I’ve never seen anything like it. I’ve known politicians who were as determined as Urquhart to hold and build their power (e.g., San Francisco’s Phil Burton and Willie Brown), but never any as utterly ruthless and apparently without ideals. His remark to nearly anyone (in this case a young woman who questions his motives) – “You might well think that, Mattie. I couldn’t possibly comment.” – has become a classic quotable in England.

    I won’t wreck it for you, but if you think Urquhart’s rough, wait’ll you get to know his wife better, as the series moves on. I think it ran on PBS though I never saw it there. It’s available on DVD and, I assume, in rental outlets or libraries.

  • well certaintly not the biggest intellectual curiosity it presents some interesting ideas and conclusions, and it’s funny as hell:
    HEAD OF STATE
    with chris rock

  • I second Ed Stephan’s recommendation of House of Cards and To Play the King — Ian Richardson’s performance is outstanding, as is that of Michael Kitchen, who plays the new, politically-active King Charles in the second series. I would add to the list Elia Kazan’s 1957 film A Face in the Crowd, probably the first movie seriously to consider the impact of television on politics. Its observation that serious political speech and debate now had to give way to public image and sound bites (“capsule slogans and glamor,” as one of the characters describes them) was remarkably prescient, coming three years before the Kennedy-Nixon debates.

  • Even Homer Simpson enjoys a good political movie… here is an image of Homer enjoying the film “Hail to the Chip” at a drive-in movie.

    The President, a chimp, attacks one of his advisors (and a picture of a chimp in founding father gear is seen on the wall)
    Homer (laughing): “That’s what you get for not hailing to the chimp!”

  • I won’t nominate a best–I see I’m out of my league here. But no one has mentioned The Prisoner yet (Patrick McGoohan), another BBC series. It satirized benevolent dictatorships, and asked some oracular questions (You are, Number Six–something like that). My favorite political movie is Fahrenheit 911 (has anyone mentioned Fahrenheit 451?), but I suspect that will change over time (assuming we survive this Administration). More than Fahrenheit 911 I liked two other BBC series: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, and Smiley’s People, TV adaptations of John Le Carre novels, starring Alec Guinness. But I don’t think of them as political, although Smiley’s People especially examined the psychological and philosophical areas of the individual’s relationship to the state.

  • I just realized somethng: this is a blog and we’re overlooking internet “movies”. This one may be a bit over the top. I don’t know. Funny thing is, though, they didn’t see it coming back then either.

  • Well, since we’re simply trying to find a list of political movies worth watching, I’d have to say that I enjoyed “Primary Colors”, which is a movie about politics. I’d also recommend “Storyville”, a movie starring James Spader, which is about a political candidate who’s framed for murder. As someone else pointed out in this discussion, these aren’t political movies, but are ABOUT politics. Then there’s “Cradle Will Rock”, which is a true story of art and politics, or “Thirteen Days”, which is an historical and political story, and did someone already mention “Bob Roberts”?

  • Robert Altman has been appropriately mentioned but not his film “Mash”. I saw it a couple of weeks ago and it’s fantastic in it’s sendups of the buffoonery of the military hierarchy. Trapper and Hawkeye constantly play the system to their advantage and turn the system’s efforts to control them on it’s head. I’m not sure that such sarcasm and the artistic representation of such high handed attitude toward the military wouldn’t generate protests outside theaters these days.

    I also hadn’t paid attention in the past to how perfectly the “last supper” for Painless duplicated the painted original.

    It’s been around awhile now but it fit’s in with our contempory times perfectly. Great movie.

    How many folks remember an excellent T.V. show from the early 60’s that combined comedy and political commentary called “That Was The Week That Was”? I think it was a take-off on a David Frost show in England and even though I was very young, I remember it being very funny and sharp.

  • Alot of good posts here- I’m going to have to see if I can get a hold of a few of the BBC mentions above. I’m not saying this is a “best” political movie, but I’ve found the recent Star wars trilogy (episodes I-III) to have alot of induring political messages- about the dangers a republic form of democracy can face when manilpulated by someone from within, and how unquestioning loyalty can lead to disaster.

  • Lord of the Flies. Best political movie ever. Tought in my Political Science 101 course.

  • Burro, TW3 was the best political satire show that ever made it onto televison (at least, in a non-animated form). Sadly, it didn’t last very long. The Smothers Brothers and Rowan & Martin tried hard, but the network censors were pretty paranoid about political humor.

  • I lean toward satire so I think of things like:

    1. Tanner ’88 written in nearly real time by Garry Trudeau and filmed by Robert Altman. I watched it in the original airing and it was downright spooky how closely they shadowed the actual campaign. Stunning, largely improvised performances, especially by Pamela Reed, Michael Murphy and Matt Molloy.

    2. Yes, Minister/Yes, Prime Minister BBC satire on the relationship between the civil service and the elected officials. Made an art form of bureaucratic doublespeak.

    I’m also a little disturbed by the short historical perspective of the suggestions so far. For balance, let me suggest some profoundly important films from the past:

    3. The Threepenny Opera (Pabst version, 1931). According to Bruce Williams, a film “whose atmosphere of corrpution and menace could almost be bottled.” While retaining the Brecht/Weill contempt for bankers, the Pabst vision added a perceptive commentary on how the rise of Hitler depended on the German middle class. Along with most of the participants in the film, Pabst had to flee Germany by 1933. The “red Pabst” had a major falling out with the Hollywood studio system over artistic control and, in a classic case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time, moved to Austria in 1939. He spent the war being forced by Goebbels to make propaganda pictures.

    4. While we’re on the subject of Nazis, The Great Dictator, Charlie Chaplin. One of the few American films to take on Nazis and fascists before the war. Chaplin’s lampooning of Hitler is a moment of comic genius and his “stepping out of character” speech is one of the most famous moments in film history.

    5. And also while we’re on the subject of Nazis, Casablanca and To Have and Have Not. Bogie rules.

    6. Progressives should not be expected to think of this one immediately, but D. W. Griffith’s Birth of a Nation is undoubtedly political, undoubtedly historically significant, and, as detestable as it is, undoubtedly a great exercise in filmmaking. More’s the pity.

    The notion of a political film is somewhat fuzzy. Politics, like romance, is part of the human condition, a facet of all our lives and therefore a facet of most films. This is why you can consider, on the merits, something like

    7. The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover to be a political film, even leaving aside the alleged allegory with Margaret Thatcher’s vision of England.

    On the more overtly political side,

    8. All the King’s Men, a thinly disguised biopic of Huey Long. Stunning performance by Broderick Crawford.

    9. The President’s Analyist, a typically loopy ’60’s satire starring James Coburn as the president’s psychiatrist, an obviously desirable person to any espionage agency. Turns out the most powerful of them all is the phone company. Those of you who came of age after 1984 won’t get it.

    10. Speaking of 1984, I am shocked and appalled that no one has mentioned the obvious film, 1984, or its satirical soul mate, Brazil. Or Animal Farm, for that matter.

    11. Since “C” is in the news of late, it is worth looking at his earlier artistic efforts, such as Graham Greene’s witty comedy Our Man in Havana. This is actually relevant once more since, in the character of the Cuban vacuum cleaner salesman, Greene accurately foreshadows the Bush administration’s approach to intelligence matters — just make it up.

    12. Odd bits of Monty Python. I only put this in because last night I watched my DVD of the Ministry of Silly Walks sketch.

    Since 13 is unlucky, I’ll leave the remainder for someone else to figure out.

  • The recent 3-part BBC special The Power of Darkness, was excellent, so good that it won’t play in the USA. Also, the old Missiles of October, about the Cuban missile crisis, where a much younger Martin Sheen played Bobby Kennedy. I also thought the recent movie about McNamara, The Fog of War, was really good (obviously so did a lot of other people because it won an Oscar, so I guess I’m not going out on too much of a limb here).

  • True Colors, with John Cusack and James Spader, 1991.

    Very good movie, not very seen. Follows two law school graduates, one heads to the justice department (rich old family Spader), one enters politics and runs for congress (no money go-getter Cusack).

    We see how corruption seeps into Cusack’s run, how he falls into bed with the wrong types.

    Great movie, see it.

  • Although, I’m late to the party here, I have to second Ed’s nomination. This series is absolutely riveting and disturbing. Highly highly recommend it for anyone who hasn’t seen it.

    PS in case the stupid html rending engine destroys the link to Ed’s comment I’m referring to his mention of the BBC series House of Cards and its follow-ons; the relevant comment was at 3:48pm on 6/12.

  • update: apologies to the html rending [SIC] engine. the link to Ed’s comment worked just fine. Go figure. (and yes, I know its “rendering” not rending–although previously some of my html had been mangled so badly that…oh never mind)

  • One of my favorite political movies is Gabriel over the White House (1933). An incredible story. As summarized in L. Maltin’s movie compilation, Gabriel over the White House is a “Depression fantasy of crooked [Walter] Huston elected President, experiencing mysterious change that turns him into Superpresident, determined to eliminate racketeers, find world peace. Bizarre, fascinating.”

    Other favorites: The Last Hurrah (1958)(a rosy-colored look at old-style urban politics); State of the Union (1948)(Spencer Tracy/Katherine Hepburn vehicle with Tracy attempting to maintain his integrity in the political world); Life of Emile Zola (focussing on the political side of the Dreyfus Affair); Viva Zapata (1952) (with Anthony Quinn and Marlon Brando); Henry Aldrich for President (1941)(no redeeming value but light-hearted look at run for student council president).

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