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

13. Battleship Potemkin (1925)
65 points/7 votes
(1 #1 vote)

http://phildellio.tripod.com/political-13.jpg

Earliest film on the list..I saw it in film class sometime between 1925 and 2019.

12. The Sorrow and the Pity (1969)
66 points/5 votes
(1 #1 vote)

http://phildellio.tripod.com/political-12.jpg

11. JFK (1991)
72 points/7 votes

http://phildellio.tripod.com/political-11.jpg

Think I reached my limit last time I watched this; it looks worse to me every time out, mostly due to Costner.

Top 10.

10. Do the Right Thing (1989)
73 points/7 votes

http://phildellio.tripod.com/political-10.jpg

I had Malcolm X on my ballot.

xp "You're as crazy as your mama. Goes to show it's in the genes."

DTRT is probably the closest I came to voting for a movie just because I love it, regardless of its qualifications as a "political" movie, which it does fuiud.

I love how much ILX loves JFK.

9. 4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days (2007)
74 points/7 votes

http://phildellio.tripod.com/political-09.jpg

8. The Rules of the Game (1939)
83 points/6 votes

http://phildellio.tripod.com/political-08.jpg

Yesss!

I know these things aren't supposed to unfold like a race, but I'll have to step up the pace for the last few.

7. Paths of Glory (1957)
86 points/9 votes

http://phildellio.tripod.com/political-07.jpg

I think this was one of two in the top seven that picked up a lot of votes towards the end. One of my two favourite war films, along with Casualties of War.

Bummed I missed this poll!

Without overdoing it, I tried to get it out there--a nominating thread and voting thread preceded this.

6. All the President’s Men (1976)
88 points/6 votes
(2 #1 votes)

http://phildellio.tripod.com/political-06.jpg

#1 on my own list, although it's really more a film about journalism (which, admittedly, it deifies) than politics.

I believe I did give Pakula two slots on my ballot. But if not, I def prefer Parallax.

Looks like you just had Parallax.

5. Nashville (1975)
104 points/7 votes
(1 #1 vote)

http://phildellio.tripod.com/political-05.jpg

I left off Taxi Driver, which I really don't experience politically, but felt justified in voting for this (lower, though, than I would on a general list of favourites).

Ah yes, it was Spielberg and Watkins that got two slots each.

xp my #2

That still above captures everything that's so great about Jason Robards in ATPM.

4. The Battle of Algiers (1966)
104 points/12 votes

http://phildellio.tripod.com/political-04.jpg

Kept climbing and climbing, ended up with as many votes as the #1.

3. Election (1999)
107 points/10 votes
(1 #1 vote)

http://phildellio.tripod.com/political-03.jpg

In the four times I've done this, I try to finish my own ballot before very many come in. I don't want to end up tailoring my own list to influence the results. I didn't vote for Election because, as weird as this sounds, I don't experience it as a political film. I like it a lot--if I'd voted knowing how close it was to the top, I might have ended up giving it a few points (and then would have had to decide how many).

If you're following, you've probably figured out the top two by now.

2. Dr. Strangelove (1964)
109 points/11 votes

http://phildellio.tripod.com/political-02.jpg

Speaking of great stills...

1. The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
122 points/12 votes
(1 #1 vote)

http://phildellio.tripod.com/political-01.jpg

On my list for sheer audaciousness--because of the draggy Sinatra-Leigh scenes, I think it's a tiny bit overrated.

No point in a separate thread for individual lists--go ahead and post them here if you want. You should have a copy, but if you need your list, let me know. I'm in a bit of a rush now; I'll post the complete list later tonight.

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)
20. Advise & Consent (1962)
19. Chinatown (1974)
18. Z (1969)
16. (tie) A Grin Without a Cat (1977)
16. (tie) Taxi Driver (1976)
14. Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975)
13. Battleship Potemkin (1925)
12. The Sorrow and the Pity (1969)
11. JFK (1991)
10. Do the Right Thing (1989)
9. 4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days (2007)
8. The Rules of the Game (1939)
7. Paths of Glory (1957)
6. All the President’s Men (1976)
5. Nashville (1975)
4. The Battle of Algiers (1966)
3. Election (1999)
2. Dr. Strangelove (1964)
1. The Manchurian Candidate (1962)

I had never seen the Manchurian Candidate until a few years ago. The guys at the local video store had it on the in-store monitor and it was the nightmare/interrogation scene where it's switching back and forth between the little old ladies and the Soviet/Chinese intelligence officials and I was so struck by the Twilight Zone-ish quality of it, had no idea it contained anything so audacious. Fantastic film.

The weighted/more enthusiastic portion of my ballot (i.e. top 15) was:

1. A Grin Without a Cat
2. Nashville
3. Advise and Consent
4. Election (1999)
5. The Parallax View

6. Night of the Living Dead
7. Munich
8. Winter Soldier
9. La Commune
10. The Rules of the Game

11. JFK
12. The Battle of Algiers
13. Memories of Underdevelopment
14. BPM (Beats Per Minute)
15. I Am Cuba

Here's the Letterboxd version: https://letterboxd.com/jer_fairall/list/certain-rules-and-regulations-and-procedures/
(I've seen exactly half of the list)

My Top 10:

Election (1999)
Ballot Box Bunny
Citizen Kane
Dr. Strangelove
Dead Zone
Being There
Wag the Dog
The Great McGinty
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
The Manchurian Candidate (1962)

I didn't vote because I didn't know how to circumscribe the 'genre' even for myself. A lot of the above strike me as primarily war films rather than political. (Anyway i might've singlehandedly put Bulworth into the top 51.)

The Sinatra-Leigh scenes in TMC are so fucking strange and ambiguous... they don't drag for me.

the only ones i haven't seen of the 52 are Welfare and Harlan County USA, which will be rectified shortly

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.