political films

Another list. This time, we were asked to name our favorite political films, leaving us to define "political". There was a complicated point system that allowed for different numbers of movies in a response. In my case, I voted for ten movies, with points totaling 100 and no film getting more than 30 points. Here is my ballot, with points and a link to my reviews:

The Sorrow and the Pity 30 points
The Rules of the Game 20
The Passion of Joan of Arc 15
4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days 14
The Lives of Others 13
The Battle of Chile (Parts 1 & 2) 3
Harlan County, USA 2
The Leopard 1
The Battle of Algiers 1
Wild in the Streets 1 (Oddly, I've never written about this movie, although I assigned it once in a class)

Here are the top ten in the final poll, with links when relevant:

1. The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
2. Dr. Strangelove (1964)
3. Election (1999)
4. The Battle of Algiers (1966)
5. Nashville (1975)
6. All the President’s Men (1976)
7. Paths of Glory (1957)
8. The Rules of the Game (1939)
9. 4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days (2007)
10. Do the Right Thing (1989)

Comments

[JPK]

Here's my ballot. I opted for 20 titles and 200 points. It was an interesting challenge -- what's a "political" movie anyway? I went with pictures I like for political reasons.

Being There, 25
Meet John Doe, 20
The Manchurian Candidate (1962), 16
To Be or Not to Be, 14
Battleship Potemkin, 12
Do the Right Thing, 12
Harlan County, USA, 12
Nashville, 10
All the President's Men, 10
Wag the Dog, 10
JFK, 10
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, 8
Dr. Strangelove, 7
A Face in the Crowd, 7
Tanner, 7
The Lives of Others, 4
The Candidate, 4
Munich, 4
Advise and Consent, 4
The Sorrow and the Pity, 4

[Steven Rubio]

Lot of agreement with those choices. Well, I admit to hating JFK, but 19 out of 20 ain't bad :-).

[Phil]

This is the important stuff that retirement frees me up to do: I'm going to re-tabulate what I'll call the minus-ringers vote. I'm pretty sure the final list was significantly more to my liking thanks to you guys, Scott, Jack, and Richard.