Certain Rules and Regulations and Procedures: The ILX Political-Film Poll Results Thread

44. (tie) Night of the Living Dead (1968)
34 points/3 votes

http://phildellio.tripod.com/political-44a.jpg

44. (tie) To Be or Not to Be (1942)
34 points/3 votes

http://phildellio.tripod.com/political-44b.jpg

43. Grand Illusion (1937)
34 points/4 votes

http://phildellio.tripod.com/political-43.jpg

42. The Candidate (1972)
35 points/3 votes

http://phildellio.tripod.com/political-42.jpg

I thought this would have ended up higher...I think it’s been seen by enough people, but I don’t know, there were complaints even in ’72 that it was superficial, or too obvious, or something. I don’t think so--I think it holds up great. If you had to pick the Bill McKay out of the Democratic field this year, maybe Beto O’Rourke? Except his résumé's thinner than McKay's.

I liked this when I watched it a few years back; probably would have voted for it had it been fresher in my mind. I admittedly had some trouble filling out my ballot--wanted to stick to films that directly featured political figures, even though there aren't a whole lot of them that I love--so when I got to the latter half of my Top 10, I started going with movies that fit the bill that I'd seen recent-ishly and enjoyed.

I can get a torrent of it sometime (Kanopy seems to require you to be a member of a library)

There's a certain thread on the 77 board; shall I start posting links to reasonably reliable streaming sites?

Grim scene. Redford looks uptight--nobody's listening to him, and nobody's digging him.

I didn't do a count or anything, but I think the top 50's split about evenly between films with actual politicians and the more tangential Welfare/Night of the Living Dead-type film.

40. (tie) Casablanca (1942)
36 points/4 votes

http://phildellio.tripod.com/political-40a.jpg

40. (tie) I Am Cuba (1964)
36 points/4 votes

http://phildellio.tripod.com/political-40b.jpg

J. Lu: if it'll help people track down something, sure.

38. (tie) The Great Dictator (1940)
38 points/5 votes

http://phildellio.tripod.com/political-38a.jpg

38. (tie) The Lives of Others (2006)
38 points/5 votes

http://phildellio.tripod.com/political-38b.jpg

Never a that big a fan of Casablanca...maybe when I was younger. A lot of speechifying.

The Great Dictator is another one I'd've probably voted for if I'd seen it more recently.

"There's a certain thread on the 77 board; shall I start posting links to reasonably reliable streaming sites?"

Not on 77.

Love I am Cuba, great still, must've been hard to pick one

Wide range of images to choose from, yeah.

37. The Leopard (1963)
39 points/4 votes

http://phildellio.tripod.com/political-37.jpg

I’ll resume tomorrow after these last couple.

35. (tie) A City of Sadness (1940)
40 points/4 votes

http://phildellio.tripod.com/political-35a.jpg

35. (tie) Army of Shadows (1969)
40 points/4 votes

http://phildellio.tripod.com/political-35b.jpg

So far:

51. (tie) Get Out (2017)
51. (tie) Sansho the Bailiff (1954)
50. In the Loop (2009)
49. Bob Roberts (1992)
48. Welfare (1975)
47. The Conformist (1970)
46. The Times of Harvey Milk (1984)
44. (tie) Night of the Living Dead (1968)
44. (tie) To Be or Not to Be (1942)
43. Grand Illusion (1937)
42. The Candidate (1972)
40. (tie) Casablanca (1942)
40. (tie) I Am Cuba (1964)
38. (tie) The Great Dictator (1940)
38. (tie) The Lives of Others (2006)
37. The Leopard (1963)
35. (tie) A City of Sadness (1940)
35. (tie) Army of Shadows (1969)

Voted for at least a couple of today’s. NOTLD for sure.

I don't think there's a better Vietnam film, and it's also pretty great, in a roundabout way--through omission--on race. There are were at least two highly political films I thought would make the list from '68; this one did, the other, surprisingly, didn't.

35. (tie) A City of Sadness (1940) (1989)

Oops...cutting, pasting, cutting, pasting, etc. Got the screenshot right, at least.

In other screw-up news, I decided a double-post looks better for #46 than a broken link. I should have realized that that was fixable before re-posting.

The whole world is watching, the whole world is watching...Brexit and Trump. But I must proceed a pace.

Unfortunately, one of the seven I haven't seen:

34. Rome, Open City (1945)
40 points/5 votes

http://phildellio.tripod.com/political-34.jpg

I've forgotten who plays the ruthless gestapo op in it, but she is brilliant.

33. A Touch of Sin (2013)
41 points/4 votes

http://phildellio.tripod.com/political-33.jpg

30. (tie) Black Girl (1966)
42 points/4 votes

http://phildellio.tripod.com/political-30a.jpg

30. (tie) Cabaret (1972)
42 points/4 votes

http://phildellio.tripod.com/political-30b.jpg

30. (tie) The Parallax View (1974)
42 points/4 votes

http://phildellio.tripod.com/political-30c.jpg

Like the first and third; the middle, being a musical, not really for me.

The Parallax View is a blindspot for me; if anything, my recent viewing of Seven Days in May has me thinking that I may be too cynical for paranoid political thrillers (a generational thing?). I like the other two but, again, I stuck to a stricter version of "political."

29. A Face in the Crowd (1957)
44 points/6 votes

http://phildellio.tripod.com/political-29.jpg

This is the surprise I alluded to on the voting thread. Through the first half of ballots to come in, it was up in the top three or four; didn't get more than a vote in the second half, though.

I had it on my own list. Knocked me out the first time I saw it; slightly less impressive rewatching it two or three times since. McCarthy + Elvis, but it's never stopped being relevant.

(xpost) I know what you mean--that's a qualified like from me for The Parallax View. Great first scene, and the brainwashing sequence is justly famous. But a lot of it is basically a chase film.

Good to see Black Girl this high up. Cabaret as well, though neither made my top 30

I saw Black Girl for the first time a few months ago. Thought the ending with the kid was amazing--I would have used that still, but bypassed it for reasons outlined above (it came up so often on Google, I assume it's the one image associated with the film).

I'm not entirely sure how to comment on this list, but this is a list of very good films

You must, in order to comment, first submit a detailed outline of your beliefs on the 10 biggest political issues of the day.

28. Harlan County, U.S.A. (1976)
45 points/5 votes
(1 #1 vote)

http://phildellio.tripod.com/political-28.jpg

Seen it once, will see it again eventually. Was thinking that Harlan County, The Sorrow and the Pity, and Night and Fog has shown impressive durability on greatest-ever documentary lists (I may be missing one or two).

has = have

Someone trying to sabotage the countdown...round up the usual suspects.

27. Hiroshima mon amour (1959)
46 points/5 votes
(1 #1 vote)

http://phildellio.tripod.com/political-27.jpg

Haven't seen it for ages, but it's on the Lightbox schedule this month.

25. (tie) Duck Soup (1933)
47 points/3 votes

http://phildellio.tripod.com/political-25a.jpg

25. (tie) The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928)
47 points/3 votes

http://phildellio.tripod.com/political-25b.jpg

An inspirational tie.

My #1 😍

Occurs to me that it could be a good DBL bill with Casablanca. xp

24. Citizen Kane (1941)
47 points/5 votes

http://phildellio.tripod.com/political-24.jpg

Looked like it wouldn't place early on, got some late votes. I didn't have it on my own ballot--I guess I experience it differently--but no argument that it's political, or political enough.

23. Being There (1979)
48 points/4 votes
(1 #1 vote)

http://phildellio.tripod.com/political-23.jpg

Not my favourite film, but fascinating as a then-common view of Reagan--and I'm guessing this was in part Ashby's contribution to avoid him getting elected.

22. Munich (2005)
49 points/5 votes

http://phildellio.tripod.com/political-22.jpg

I tried again last year. Its greatness escapes me.

I'll finish off with the Top 20 tomorrow. Saw this 10 or 15 years ago; don't remember anything.

21. The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943)
50 points/5 votes

http://phildellio.tripod.com/political-21.jpg

So far:

51. (tie) Get Out (2017)
51. (tie) Sansho the Bailiff (1954)
50. In the Loop (2009)
49. Bob Roberts (1992)
48. Welfare (1975)
47. The Conformist (1970)
46. The Times of Harvey Milk (1984)
44. (tie) Night of the Living Dead (1968)
44. (tie) To Be or Not to Be (1942)
43. Grand Illusion (1937)
42. The Candidate (1972)
40. (tie) Casablanca (1942)
40. (tie) I Am Cuba (1964)
38. (tie) The Great Dictator (1940)
38. (tie) The Lives of Others (2006)
37. The Leopard (1963)
35. (tie) A City of Sadness (1989)
35. (tie) Army of Shadows (1969)
34. Rome, Open City (1945)
33. A Touch of Sin (2013)
30. (tie) Black Girl (1966)
30. (tie) Cabaret (1972)
30. (tie) The Parallax View (1974)
29. A Face in the Crowd (1957)
28. Harlan County, U.S.A. (1976)
27. Hiroshima mon amour (1959)
25. (tie) Duck Soup (1933)
25. (tie) The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928)
24. Citizen Kane (1941)
23. Being There (1979)
22. Munich (2005)
21. The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943)

I would characterize The Parallax View (which is shockingly low on this list) as something far more significant than a "chase film."

And at the very least bridges the gap I had in balloting for this poll between "great movies that have political themes/resonance" and "movies that are great political statements."

Voted for Kane and Being There, both of which elicited "oh, yeah!" reactions from me when I saw them on the noms list (I was initially afraid I didn't like enough explicitly "political" films to submit even a Top 10).

Also, I neglected to vote for Duck Soup, and I have no idea why.

If you were to total up the minutes in The Parallax View where Beatty is being chased, I don't think it would be insignificant--10 to 15 minutes? That's what it felt like last time I watched it. I realize there's more to it than that, and I tried to single out those parts. But my own feeling is that the brainwashing sequence is so memorable, it overwhelms the rest of the film, some of which is pedestrian.

I've had [In The Loop] on the shelf for years--will make an effort to finally watch it.

The series is even better, and you've got time now!

I like how unceremonious the killings/assassinations are in TPV.

I missed this but the results look interesting (except for being there which i hate). I haven't seen 10 of the ones that have made it so far. I would have voted for Bob Roberts, Harlan County, Kane and The Leopard for sure.

I didn't vote because I didn't know how to circumscribe the 'genre' even for myself.

same

Same, but I slapped together an unsatisfying ballot anyway since clem asked so sweetly.

there were too many things that have been on my to-watch list for decades for me to vote

also Don's Party should have won, you cowards

i mean, all of Wiseman's docs are political

Any genre poll has amorphous boundaries. There were arguments with the comedy and horror polls, and there was second-guessing and uncertainty on the road-film poll too. To me that's interesting, not a problem. I started this thing with one definition, and I ended up loosening that up within about five minutes.

1. All the President’s Men – 23
2. The Candidate - 21
3. Advise and Consent - 18
4. The Champions - 17
5. Welfare - 16
6. Nixon - 15
7. Carlos - 14
8. Nashville - 13
9. The War Room - 12
10. Malcolm X - 11
11. A Grin Without a Cat - 10
12. The Weather Underground - 9
13. The Best Man - 8
14. Night of the Living Dead – 7
15. Watergate – 6
16. Guerrilla: The Taking of Patty Hearst - 5
17. The Times of Harvey Milk - 5
18. A Face in the Crowd - 5
19. Paths of Glory - 5
20. Hearts and Minds - 5
21. The Manchurian Candidate (1962) - 5
22. Primary Colors - 5
23. The Ides of March - 5
24. The Contender - 5
25. Going Upriver: The Long War of John Kerry - 5

Thanks for setting up the Letterboxd page, Jer.

Other films getting votes (just points, without breaking ties, without #1s, and without italics...too much work):

53. Gabriel Over the White House - 25 points
Matewan
Nixon
Germany, Year Zero
Burn After Reading

58. The Weather Underground - 24 points
Medium Cool
Punishment Park
La Commune

62. Malcolm X - 21 points
BPM (Beats Per Minute)

64. Meet John Doe - 20 points
The President Vanishes
Xala
Red Psalm
The Second Awakening of Crista Klages
Come and See
Hearts and Minds
Day of Wrath
If....
The Baader-Meinhof Complex
Lincoln

75. Wag the Dog - 19 points

76. The Best Man - 18 points

77. The Champions - 17 points
The Godfather Part II

79. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington - 16 points
The Deer Hunter
Watergate
Nocturama

83. The Corporation - 15 points
In the Year of the Pig
The Great McGinty
Report
The Other Side
Winter Soldier

89. Seven Days in May - 14 points

90. Ballot Box Bunny - 13 points
The Battle of Chile

92. The War Room - 12 points
Point of Order

94. All Quiet on the Western Front - 10 points
Body and Soul
Intolerance
The Manchurian Candidate (2004)
The Nasty Girl
The White Rose
Princess Mononoke
Chimes at Midnight
Ice
The Third Generation
The Human Condition Trilogy
Primary Colors
Eldridge Cleaver, Black Panther
In the Line of Fire
Dick
A Report on the Party and the Guests
Deserter
23rd Psalm Branch
My Son John
West Indies: The Fugitive Slaves of Liberty
From the Other Side
Race d'Ep: un siècle d'images de l'homosexualité
We Want Roses Too
Sekigun-P.F.L.P: Sekai sensô sengen
La guerre est finie
Fail Safe
The Bonfire of the Vanities
Fahrenheit 9/11
Week-end
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)
Black Panthers (1968)
Shin Godzilla
Election (2005)
Narita: Peasants of the Second Fortress
A Soft Note on a Sharp Scale
Too Early/Too Late
Being Gypsy
Here and Elsewhere
Germany in Autumn
Postwar History of Japan as Told by a Bar Hostess
Far from Vietnam
Le Gai Savoir
Death by Hanging
Hitler: A Film from Germany
Memories of Underdevelopment
The Taking of Power by Louis XIV
All the King's Men
Milk
The Rise of Michael Rimmer
Amazing Grace

144. The Dead Zone - 9 points

145. 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her - 8 points
Washington Merry-Go-Round

147. No - 7 points
Tanner
The Fireman's Ball

150. Pierrot le Fou - 6 points
The Normal Heart

152. Going Upriver: The Long War of John Kerry - 5 points
Guerrilla: The Taking of Patty Hearst
The Contender
The Ides of March
Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room
Missing
How to Survive a Plague
Magic Mike, XXL
Moi, un noir
It Is Not the Homosexual Who Is Perverse
Zero Patience

163. Alexander Hamilton - 4 points
Dave
The Birth of a Nation
The House of Rothschild
Zootopia

168. Wild in the Streets - 1 point

Bolded...meant to code non-proportional text. Carry on.

Er...The Manchurian candidate...ok

Never seen it, like not on my radar at all so I'll look at it.

Thanks for the work Clemenza, a few interesting things came out of this.

And lol @ JFK. Purely voted for it because it's a very ilx thing. Just had to.

I think I would've done anyway. It's my go to film for conspiracy as a mode of politics, but it's so ridiculous. I often stop caring when it gets to court.

---

Hiroshima Mon Amour
The Battle of Chile
Narita: Peasants of the Second Fortress
Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles
The Battle of Algiers
A City of Sadness
Xala
A Grin Without a Cat
A Soft Note on a Sharp Scale
La Commune
Too Early/Too Late
Being Gypsy
Here and Elsewhere
Germany in Autumn
Postwar History of Japan as Told by a Bar Hostess
Far from Vietnam
Red Psalm
Z
The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp
Le Gai Savoir
4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days
The Sorrow and the Pity
Death by Hanging
Come and See
Germany, Year Zero
Hitler: A film from Germany
I Am Cuba
JFK
Battleship Potemkin
The Second Awakening of Crista Klages

Top 20, Enthusiasm (3 or more votes):

1. Duck Soup (15.67 points per voter)
   The Passion of Joan of Arc (15.67)
3. Nashville (14.86)
4. All the President's Men (14.67)
5. The Rules of the Game (13.83)
6. A Grin Without a Cat (13.75)
   Taxi Driver (13.75)
8. The Sorrow and the Pity (13.20)
9. Advise and Consent (13.00)
10. Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce (12.20)
11. Being There (12.00)
12. The Candidate (11.67)
13. Carlos (11.40)
14. Night of the Living Dead (11.33)
    To Be or Not to Be (11.33)
16. Z (10.8)
17. Election (10.7)
18. 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (10.57)
19. Black Girl (10.5)
    Cabaret (10.5)
    The Parallax View (10.5)

So three of the top four, including #1, drop off the list.

thanks for running the poll clemenza!

my unranked ballot:

A city of sadness
A touch of sin
Army of shadows
Black panthers
Burn after reading
Chinatown
Citizen kane
Do the right thing
Election - 2005
Grand illusion
Jeanne dielman
Paths of glory
Rome open city
Sansho the bailiff
Shin godzilla
Battle of Algiers
Taxi driver
The leopard
Life and death of Colonel Blimp
The rules of the game

Sometimes I think I'm too contrarian for my own good. My ballot (ranked):

1. Gabriel Over the White House
2. The President Vanishes
3. Duck Soup
4. I Am Cuba
5. In the Loop
6. The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
7. Z
8. The Manchurian Candidate (2004)
9. Dr. Strangelove
10. Intolerance
11. The Great Dictator
12. Washington Merry-Go-Round
13. No
14. Battleship Potemkin
15. A Face in the Crowd
16. Alexander Hamilton
17. Dave
18. Bob Roberts
19. The House of Rothschild
20. The Birth of a Nation

Nonetheless, thanks for running this poll. Maybe the next poll should be finance movies? Or media?

One that I forgot about and didn't nominate was Spin (1995), a doc on the media's coverage of the 1992 US election using satellite feed footage. It's easy to find on youtube if anyone's interested.

Washington Merry-Go-Round (1932) is apparently considered by some to have been plagiarized by the guy who wrote the story for Capra's Mr Smith... I don't think it holds water, bcz aside from a (much briefer) visit to the Lincoln Memorial by its hero, it checks the same boxes most of these populist ant-corruption morality plays do.

Intriguing for Lee Tracy to be playing an idealist firebrand instead of a cynic/realist. Early on he visits a Hooverville in the Anacostia Flats and berates its WWI-veteran residents for not fighting for democracy.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anacostia#Great_Depression

(This is some third-act foreshadowing.) Also the villain is a steel magnate / bootlegger with fascist aspirations.

Constance Cummings, who went on to have a distinguished career esp on the stage, is very good as the more solidly grounded (and amoral) Jean Arthur figure.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RucCOCy8cU

Man, this list is surprising in a lot of ways: https://newrepublic.com/article/173376/100-political-films-new-republic-list

Biggest duds on the list in a quick glance are probably The Lives of Others, Syriana, American Sniper ... and obv The Birth of a Nation. (High and Low seems a bit of a stretch to me, but hey.)

Oh, and Triumph of the Will ... understandable why it and Nation are in there, but doesn't make it any easier to see them listed alongside so many genuinely great films

You know who weighs in: https://www.nationalreview.com/2023/06/the-ten-best-political-movies-of-all-time/

(As usual, he's on his comparatively best behavior when it comes to canonization.)

Just learned of this from a friend tonight:

https://newrepublic.com/article/173376/100-political-films-new-republic-list

Hoberman writes some kind of introductory essay. Looking at their Top 10 vs. this poll's, there is overlap of five films. Their title is "most significant," which ought to give them some cover for two of their Top 10.

Geez, as hard as this is to believe, I missed the posts above mine.

Armond White has Health in his Top 10? That's truly eccentric...makes me want to finally see it.

Some things I like seeing on the New Republic list:

81. The Times of Harvey Milk
78. Eight Hours Don’t Make a Day
69. The Best Man
67. Point of Order!
56. The Fog of War
39. Hearts and Minds
10. A Face in the Crowd

At least a couple of those are surprises.

Most glaring omission (unless I missed him): Wiseman. So many to choose from--Welfare for me.

Love, love, love A Grin Without a Cat making the list, along with all the Third Cinema titles. From a glance, it almost seems like the roster of voters is, more or less, the National Society of Film Critics?

I was glad to see that too, and voted for it here. I haven't yet read Hoberman's long essay, but skimming I saw he mentioned Tanner '88, which I think should have been on there (and which I have no idea why I omitted it from my own list).

Nice to see two films by Jia on that list.
It looks like Robert Kramer's Ice only received one vote in this poll, it might be top of my own list.

Nice to see two films by Jia on that list

This. It was disheartening to see him so out of favor in that December 2022 poll I've written about too much here

Another surprising omission: no Jordan Peele. (One or both of the first two, I'd say, though I know others like the third.)

"Love, love, love A Grin Without a Cat"

Hate, hate, hate the low ranking.

That top ten is also not good. Though that's a great No1.

#81, showing the White Night Riots and the candlelight march, The Times of Harvey Milk is an amazing film with a really moving ending. I think everyone should watch it.

TNR’s link to the NYT article in 1985 shows how conservative and bigoted the NYT was at the time.

https://www.nytimes.com/1985/10/22/us/dan-white-killer-of-san-francisco-mayor-a-suicide.html

They refused to use the word ‘gay’ which was the term everyone had already long accepted at that time. Their pigheadedness went on for years after that and eventually became ridiculous and a topic of conversation among my friends. They kept referring to gay people as ‘homosexuals’, a term that had long since been seen as derogatory and that had been used in many negative contexts.