# Most Important/Significant Political movie **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 4, 2019, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-important-significant-political-movie/841236 "2019-10-04T01:29:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2019, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-important-significant-political-movie/841236/1 "2019-10-04T01:29:20Z")
Nominate your candidate(s) for the most important or significant movie dealing with political subject matter. (Broad interpretations are quite acceptable.) I’ll start the ball rolling with 1962’s “Pressure Point”. > **[Pressure Point (1962) - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056370/?ref_=tt_urv)** > > Pressure Point: Directed by Hubert Cornfield, Stanley Kramer. With Sidney Poitier, Bobby Darin, Peter Falk, Carl Benton Reid. A black prison psychiatrist is assigned the distasteful task of helping a paranoid American Nazi charged with sedition. ---
**Author:** ![ZonexandScout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zonexandscout/32/544_2.png) [@ZonexandScout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZonexandScout)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2019, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-important-significant-political-movie/841236/2 "2019-10-04T01:50:47Z")
_ **z** _ (1969) ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2019, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-important-significant-political-movie/841236/3 "2019-10-04T02:45:39Z")
Bananas > **[Bananas (1971) - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066808/?ref_=nv_sr_1?ref_=nv_sr_1)** > > Bananas: Directed by Woody Allen. With Woody Allen, Louise Lasser, Carlos Montalbán, Nati Abascal. When a bumbling New Yorker is dumped by his activist girlfriend, he travels to a tiny Latin American nation and becomes involved in its latest... [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4IB1MHJg9I) ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2019, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-important-significant-political-movie/841236/4 "2019-10-04T02:47:15Z")
All the President’s Men. History that we had lived through and got to see from another perspective. Seven Days in May. Chilling description of how a military coup might happen and succeed. The Manchurian Candidate (1962 version, I haven’t seen the other one). Chilling on every level. Subversion of the US government by a foreign power. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2019, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-important-significant-political-movie/841236/5 "2019-10-04T03:15:20Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > The Manchurian Candidate (1962 version, I haven’t seen the other one). Chilling on every level. Subversion of the US government by a foreign power. Just watched that one again last weekend. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2019, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-important-significant-political-movie/841236/6 "2019-10-04T04:22:24Z")
All the President’s Men is surely the best, is very significant and thus perhaps important. But I gotta give a shout out to [_Bob Roberts_](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0103850/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1); that’s a ddamned fine film right there y’all. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2019, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-important-significant-political-movie/841236/7 "2019-10-04T04:25:52Z")
the film version of advise and consent … ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2019, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-important-significant-political-movie/841236/8 "2019-10-04T04:27:07Z")
Wag the Dog ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2019, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-important-significant-political-movie/841236/9 "2019-10-04T04:36:53Z")
All the President’s Men has been mentioned, so I’ll go with Failsafe and Dr. Strangelove. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2019, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-important-significant-political-movie/841236/10 "2019-10-04T05:14:12Z")
_Network_ is the one that jumps out in my mind. ---
**Author:** ![Banksiaman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banksiaman/32/3334_2.png) [@Banksiaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banksiaman)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2019, 7:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-important-significant-political-movie/841236/11 "2019-10-04T07:54:30Z")
I’d be thinking along the lines of movies that introduce political (in the broad sense) concepts to the public, which then think of them in those specific movie-like ways. Some examples of that would be the China Syndrome and the Killing Fields. I think both shaped the public understanding of two major issues, and happened to be good movies that lots of people saw and talked about. ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2019, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-important-significant-political-movie/841236/12 "2019-10-04T08:01:27Z")
> [@susan](#): > > Wag the Dog Dick **double feature** ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2019, 8:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-important-significant-political-movie/841236/13 "2019-10-04T08:42:51Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > All the President’s Men has been mentioned, so I’ll go with Failsafe and Dr. Strangelove. Those were the three that jumped to my mind. I’ll also suggest “In the Loop” and “The Death Of Stalin” because I’m a huge fan of Armando Iannucci and because there’s a terrible truth within both of those. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2019, 9:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-important-significant-political-movie/841236/14 "2019-10-04T09:40:40Z")
Metropolis. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2019, 10:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-important-significant-political-movie/841236/15 "2019-10-04T10:21:51Z")
Kassovitz has become something of a bag of asses in the years since, but to me _La Haine_ (1995) will always be that punch in the gut that shook me out of my complacent en-bubbled ladeeda isn’t France great _petit bourgeois_ mentality and started me on the path that made me that angry cynical leftie y’alls know and love (yes you do. YES YOU DO.) ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2019, 10:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-important-significant-political-movie/841236/16 "2019-10-04T10:58:59Z")
_Battleship Potemkin_ Highly influential in filmmaking, and very political. ---
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2019, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-important-significant-political-movie/841236/17 "2019-10-04T12:10:05Z")
_Triumph of the Will_. Let me be clear I do not endorse or condone Adolf Hitler or Nazism in anyway, but this 1935 film give historic insight to the appeal and rise of Nazism in 1930s Germany. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triumph\_of\_the\_Will](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triumph_of_the_Will) _Why We Fight_. A series of seven documentary films produced by the United States government during World War II to justify to U.S. intervention in the war. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Why\_We\_Fight](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Why_We_Fight) ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2019, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-important-significant-political-movie/841236/18 "2019-10-04T15:35:23Z")
_The Lives of Others._ _The Spy Who Came In From the Cold._ _Kundun._ _The Leopard._ (You didn’t say it had to be modern politics.) On the lighter side, _Ninotchka._ ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2019, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-important-significant-political-movie/841236/19 "2019-10-04T15:36:03Z")
Primary Colors ---
**Author:** ![Dropo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce7236/32.png) [@Dropo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dropo)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2019, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-important-significant-political-movie/841236/20 "2019-10-04T21:29:10Z")
These are not necessarily the “most important/significant” politically-themed movies ever made, but they are all worth a watch, imo, and not previously referenced: _The Dark Horse_ (1932) Shit-for-brains candidate for governor gets help from a seasoned political op. This looks less like a comedy every year. _Duck Soup_ (1933) Best Marx bros flick and political satire ever. _Gabriel Over the White House_ (1934) Produced by Walter Wanger, but apparently dictated by William Randolph Hearst, this is the story of fascism saving the U.S. from the Depression, crime and global tensions. _The President Vanishes_ (1934) Produced by Walter Wanger from an anonymous novel (written by Rex Stout), this is a heartfelt plea for isolationism at a time of rising world tensions wrapped into a ridiculous story concerning a crypto-fascist cabal of corporate leaders trying to start another war because the last one was so good for business. Highly recommended. _The Great McGinty_ (1940) Bum becomes Governor, takes on the corruption that got him elected in this Preston Sturges comedy. _The Great Dictator_ (1940) Chaplin as Hitler. _The Glass Key_ (1942) Fixer Alan Ladd helps corrupt political boss Brian Donlevy reform while falling for his girl Veronica Lake. _The Quiet American_ (1958 & 2002) Graham Greene’s 1955 novel written as an indictment of U.S. involvement in 1952 Vietnam had its message mutilated in the first film version, which goes out of its way to exonerate the Americans. Second version is a better movie and truer to its source, but the first one is more interesting owing to its historical context. _The Ugly American_ (1963) Foreshadowing U.S. bumbling in Vietnam, a new U.S. ambassador to a Civil War-torn Southeast Asian country screws up and citizens back home in America don’t care. _Executive Action_ (1973) JFK conspiracy paranoia. _The Parallax View_ (1974) Prime political assassination conspiracy paranoia. _Shampoo_ (1975) Black comedy set against the 1968 election does a really good job of evoking its period. _Winter Kills_ (1979) Great cast in uneven black comedy about possible conspiracies following a JFK-like assassination. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-important-significant-political-movie/841236.md?page=2)