Political interest has reached fever pitch with the actual Australian election today- Glenn Dunks, Melissa Wellham and Beth Wilson have turned their attention to filmic representations of politicians (real and fictional) and their occasional use of spin. Politicians, whether hawks or doves, straight-laced or debauched offer fertile ground for narratives of power and ambition, stories of war and corruption, assassination attempts and sexual scandals. Director Oliver Stone has made a career out of American and Latin American leaders, British screenwriter Peter Morgan has given actor Michael Sheen three bites at the Tony Blair cherry, and Armando Iannucci has created a TV series (The Think of It) and a film devoted to the comedy of British politics and its never-ending spin.
Here are some recent films centred around politicians and /or their political weapon of choice- spin.
JFK (Oliver Stone, 1991)
Glenn Dunks
Oliver Stone is hardly a director to rest on his laurels and in 1991 he undertook his most controversial film, a sprawling three-hour conspiracy epic named JFK. Beginning with a virtuosic retelling of the day American President John F Kennedy was assassinated, Stone never relents in this fast-paced film that is likely to anger audiences as much as thrill them. Stone sends viewers down the rabbit hole of conspiracy theories and lashes the government for its supposed cover-up of the historic event.
Featuring an all-star cast with Kevin Costner, Tommy Lee Jones, Kevin Bacon, Sissy Spacek, Joe Pesci, Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon as well as Oscar-winning cinematography and editing, JFK is a mesmerising and stunning piece of cinema that still has the power to shock and awe audiences of today
Primary Colors (Mike Nichols, 1998)
Beth Wilson
Based on Bill Clinton’s 1992 presidential campaign, Primary Colors is an adaptation of Joe Klein’s (though he originally published it anonymously) book of the same name. The film follows Jack Stanton (John Travolta), a charming Southern State Governor (Clinton was of course the Governor of Arkansas) who sets his sights on the White House; seen through the eyes of an idealistic outsider, Henry Burton (Adrian Lester) who comes onboard as deputy campaign manager. At first won over by the charismatic politician, a fantastic performance from Travolta, Burton (who happens to be the grandson of a famous civil rights activist) soon becomes aware of Stanton’s failings- with the presidential candidate unable to stop his extramarital activities.
With a great supporting cast including Emma Thompson, Kathy Bates (nominated for an Oscar for her performance) and Billy Bob Thorton, this satirical comedy hit cinemas whilst Clinton was still in power, and in the same year as the Monica Lewinsky affair became public.
Bulworth (Warren Beattie, 1998)
Beth Wilson
Written and directed by Warren Beatty, Bulworth follows Jay Billington Bulworth (Beatty), Governor of California, as he runs for re-election. A liberal politician, Bulworth is disillusioned by his own selling out over the years and by politics in general. Heavily in debt, Bulworth increases his life insurance and puts a contract out on his life. But with this action the suicidal politician finds a new sense of freedom and so starts talking openly at press conferences, expressing his older left-ward leaning views, frequently in the form of rap and romances a young campaigner (Halle Berry).
Supposably loosely based on the life of Beatty’s friend Tennesse political figure, John Jay Hooker, this film reflects Beatty’s well-known political views. Co-starring Oliver Platt, Don Cheedle, Isaiah Washtington, Paul Sorvino and Christine Baranski, Bulworth was nominated for an Oscar for best screenplay, reflecting that this was probably a film more successful on paper than screen.
Dick (Andrew Flemming, 1999)
Melissa Wellham
A delicious comedy, Dick shows the story of Betsy (Kristen Dunst) and Arlene (Michelle Williams) who while on a White House tour wander away from the allocated path, right into the path of president Richard Nixon (Dan Hedaya). At first the two girls are impressed by the power of this high-up hack – even dedicating a love-shrine to him in place of the generic pop star idols that most teens favour – but when Tricky Dick’s true colours shine through, the girls get even trickier. Together, they become ‘Deep Throat,’ and expose the Watergate scandal. Seriously.
A light satire, Dick doesn’t pack a punch so much as tickle the funny bone – but it should be commended nonetheless. Much of its energy and relentless charm lies in its two blonde-haired, blue-eyed leads (Dunst and Williams) who are incredibly likeable and surprisingly funny. There is something compulsively watchable – and one feels appropriate – in seeing these two All American angels displace the president.
A lightweight romp with little emphasis on the heaviness of the situation, I first viewed Dick as a teenager, and the film is probably responsible for my interest in political biopics today. Perhaps even politics proper. And goodness knows the more informed voters we have in Australia, the better.
The Contender (Rod Lurie, 2000)
Beth Wilson
In this political thriller Joan Allen plays Laine Hanson (slightly unfortunate surname for a female politician), a Senator from Ohio, who become the surprise choice for vice presidency after the death of the serving VP. Jeff Bridges plays the fictional Democratic President Jackson Evans who snubs the obvious choice of Virginian Governor Jack Hathaway (William Petersen), because he wants to make breaking the glass ceiling part of his political legacy. However the head of the confirmation committee, Republican Senator Shelly Runyon (Gary Oldman) decides that Hanson isn’t up to the job and leaks to the media allegations of past sexual transgressions that he has dug up about the Hanson’s college days.
Sex, money and politics all combine in this Washington tale of secrets, skulduggery and sexism. Both Allen and Bridges were nominated for Oscars for their performances in The Contender, a film which shows how easy it is to assassinate someone’s good character in American politics.
Frost/Nixon (Ron Howard, 2008)
Melissa Wellham
Frost/Nixon provides a re-telling of the interviews between British talk show host David Frost (Michael Sheen), and Richard Nixon (Frank Langella), post-Watergate and pre-disgrace of the former president. As the title would suggest, this is a film that pits the two ferociously intelligent and disarmingly charming men against each other, in a battle of sleight-of-tongue and spin.
Langella turns in an amazing performance as Nixon: his mannerisms, his throaty growl and impenetrable stare all make it difficult to remember that you are not, in fact, watching the Frost/Nixon interviews proper, and rather a dramatic re-telling. Sheen may have already established himself as the man for the job when it comes to political biopics (having previously starred in The Deal in 2003, and The Queen in 2006) but his performance here is notable because he’s not, well, Tony Blair. Both Langella and Sheen should be applauded for bringing some level of complexity to their characters, when they could have very easily been caricatures. Langella’s Nixon is actually quite sympathetic, and there are times when one wants to slap some sense into Sheen’s arrogant and over-confident Frost.
With solid supporting performances from Sam Rockwell, Matthew Macfadyen, Oliver Platt and Kevin Bacon, this political punch-up (metaphorically, of course) will have you sitting on the edge of your seat, yelling inarticulately at the fighting arena (the screen).
Milk (Gus van Sant, 2008)
Glenn Dunks
In comparison to JFK, Gus Van Sant’s Milk could never be mistaken for being the most radical film about a politician, but what it lacks in originality it gains in pure, honest substance. Milk tells the life story of one of the true pioneers of gay rights in America and the world, Sean Penn plays Harvey Milk who, in 1977, became the first openly gay person elected to office. Shortly after he was assassinated, along with the mayor of San Francisco, by embattled fellow politician Dan White, portrayed by John Brolin, and the rest is history.
The film is a moving tribute to a man who did so much by appearing to do so little. His visibility as an open gay man made him important, but, as Milk shows us, his humanity and desire for change made him an icon.
In the Loop (Armando Iannucci, 2009)
Beth Wilson
It is fair to say the film section is pretty much in love with this film- Click here to read Melissa Wellham’s review of its theatrical release. We’ve even gone as far as give copies of it away on DVD, we adore it so. Our admiration for this film stems not only from the witty and biting dialogue, but also so from its seemingly accurate reading of backroom politics.
Based on a successful BBC show called The Thick of It, director Armando Iannucci has focused in on the lead-up to the invasion of Iraq, using fictional MP Simon Foster (Tom Hollander) as the unwitting scapegoat for both the Hawks and Doves on either side of the Atlantic. With a fantastic ensemble cast including Peter Capaldi, Steve Coogan, Gina McKee, James Gandolfini, Mimi Kennedy, Anna Chlumsky and Chris Addison, if you haven’t seen this film yet- you really are missing out on a great piece of British comedy.
Moloch Tropical (Raoul Peck, 2009)
This Haitian film from director Raoul Peck (one-time Minister of Culture of Haiti), shows how power corrupts. With the country’s President, Jean de Dieu (Zinedine Soualem) literally living in a castle in a clouds-filmed at the beautiful Citadelle Laferrière- the film covers a 24 hour period showing the lead up to and the celebration of Haiti’s Independence Day. Losing the support of American allies and the reliance of fear tactics and the use of torture, Jean de Dieu represents the perversion of many democracies.
Although the central character has undoubtable similarities to Jean-Bertrand Aristide, Haiti’s first democratically elected President, Peck’s scathing satire is also targeted at contemporary American and European leaders. This is a visually beautiful film about a very ugly topic, the pervasion of democracy.
Ah, In The Loop. I think we should all create a film writer’s shrine dedicated to this film, a la Betsy and Arlene in Dick.