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From 'Lincoln' to 'Wag the Dog': political films for the political season
Films are fiction, but good ones help us see the world from different angles. That’s especially true of political movies, especially during an election season.
Film critic Ty Burr says films about politics often fall into two tropes: too cynical or not cynical enough.
“Anytime Hollywood tries to come to D.C., D.C. laughs them out for having no idea what's actually going on there,” Burr says.
But when a movie can truly capture the nature of and emotions behind political realities, it’s impactful.
“Whether or not it's actually true, it hits a true nerve about how we often feel about politics,” Burr says. “Some of the ones we're going to talk about today are incredibly cynical and yet they feel quite right and some of them are quite idealistic and they feel quite right.”
Political film recommendations from Ty Burr:
- "Duck Soup" (1933)
- "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" (1939)
- "The Great McGinty" (1940)
- "A Face in the Crowd" (1957)
- "The Manchurian Candidate" (1962)
- "Dr. Strangelove" (1964)
- "The Battle of Algiers" (1966)
- "Z" (1969)
- "The Candidate" (1972)
- "All the President’s Men" (1976)
- "Being There" (1979)
- "Do the Right Thing"(1989)
- "City of Hope" (1991)
- "Bob Roberts" (1992)
- "Wag the Dog" (1997)
- "Primary Colors" (1998)
- "Dick" (1999)
- "Election" (1999)
- "The Fog of War" (2003)
- "In the Loop" (2009)
- "Lincoln" (2012)
- "No" (2012)
- "Selma" (2014)
- "The Death of Stalin" (2017)
This segment aired on September 30, 2024.
