Ten great “political” movies

I am a huge movie fan.  And as a government professor, I obviously am also really interested in politics.  Many, many movies explore political themes and not surprisingly a lot of colleges and universities offer classes about politics and film.  Indeed, some years we have offered such classes here at W&M.  Still, the lure of credit hours shouldn’t be required for us to enjoy and learn from first-rate movies about politics.

If you are interested, here are some recommendations, but first a disclaimer.  For the most part, my favorite political movies don’t include the standard titles featured in college classes, such as Dr. Strangelove and All the President’s Men.  These are classics, to be sure, but they primarily are movies about political actors.  Personally, I’m a lot more intrigued by how film as a medium can inform political problems, issues and themes.  So in no particular order, here are ten of my favorite political movies.

1.    The Distinguished Gentleman (1992).  A snarky, truly hilarious farce about a corrupt congressman that beautifully captures a lot of the misgivings and misperceptions that ordinary citizens have about the national legislative process.
2.    Election (1999).  This comedy about an intensely fought contest for class president at an American high school really cracked me up.  And for anyone who enjoys campaign manipulations, from campus elections all the way up to the national stage, the characters will be disturbingly familiar.
3.    A Face in the Crowd (1957).  Andy Griffith of “Mayberry” fame supplies a dead-on characterization of a political demagogue on the make.  Watch this flic for a compelling glimpse of the dark side of populism.
4.    Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939).  OK, I’ll admit this one is really sappy, but in my view it’s an oldie and not a moldy.  I still love the scene where Jimmy Stewart collapses on the Senate floor during a righteous filibuster.
5.    Citizen Kane (1941).  Even though film historians fawn over this entry, the Orson Wells classic still merits all the hype.  There is no better cinematic treatment of how power corrupts.
6.    Paths of Glory (1957).  An underrated movie from director Stanley Kubrick.  Ostensibly about trench warfare during WWI, I see it more as a riveting portrayal of incentives, monitoring, and the free-rider problem within bureaucracies.
7.    Blind Shaft (2003).  A riveting Chinese thriller that explores the impact of free market incentives on traditional communal values and human decency.  This movie is an unforgettable portrayal of the downside of globalism.
8.    Z (1969).  Costa Gravas is another of my favorite directors, and Z is about the intrigue surrounding the assassination of a fictional politician during the military junta in Greece.  It beautifully captures the hypocrisy and paranoia that come with authoritarian rule.
9.    Ararat (2002).  Atom Egoyan directed this haunting treatment of the Armenian Genocide, an horrific set of events that Turkey still denies even occurred.  A lot of people hate this movie, but I found it to be a thought-provoking meditation on the nature of evil and memory.
10.    The Mosquito Coast (1986).  In this movie, director Peter Weir shows why social interaction – why politics – can’t be escaped.  The main protagonist attempts to do just that by moving his family to a Central American jungle, with catastrophic consequences for all.

If you can, watch these movies and let me know what you think of them.  I’m sure that a lot of superb political films aren’t included on my list.  So please also drop me an email with any recommendations you might have for good movies about politics.  Maybe I can use your ideas as fodder for another course!