I’ve been feeling a lot of jitters lately with high-profile elections. The UK has a big decision day in less than three weeks. France called elections last week following the EU elections, my native South Africa had a particularly important one last month, Mexico just elected its first female president, and the US presidential election casts an ominous shadow over the autumn. While it may be easier to understand when you’re not emotionally invested in the outcome, elections are compelling dramatic events, woven with stories of hope and uncertainty, triumph and downfall. So it’s no wonder that filmmakers turn to elections so often.
Hollywood, in particular, is obsessed with the intricate labyrinth of the American electoral system, from the smallest to the most extreme. Alexander Payne’s hilarious, biting teen comedy election It may seem like a modest story about a suburban high school student council vote, but in its showdown between a cold-hearted honor student and a fake idiot, it neatly encapsulates all the mannerisms, conventions and strategies of adult American politics. (Another school-set election comedy, Napoleon Dynamiteperhaps less insightful but no less entertaining.
A seven-minute short from 1932 that almost ventures into mature territory. Betty Boop for President (Internet Archive) reported that the famous cartoon bombshell won the presidential election on a fairly simple, centrist manifesto promising efficient street sweeping and massive storm drains, but there was a hint of anti-prohibition spirit in her victory. And yet, she represents much more than a Charlize Theron presidential candidate. Long ShotThe film is a likeable romantic comedy that inverts traditional gender relationships with a love story between an alpha female played by Theron and her dowdy assistant played by Seth Rogen, and makes a claim to progressive credibility, but it’s also careful not to specify which party she represents or what her political beliefs are, exactly.
This ambiguity is common in Hollywood political films that are unwilling to reject half of a polarized nation. In 1962, John Frankenheimer’s masterpiece Star Wars: Episode I: The Final Battle Manchurian Kadidate This one is a notable exception, with its heaping doses of brainwashing and gaslighting on the campaign trail of the Republican vice presidential nominee, clearly modelled on Joseph McCarthy (though Jonathan Demme’s 2004 remake was a bit more circumspect on that score.) Jeremy Lerner was a speechwriter for Eugene, another five-time McCarthy presidential candidate, and won an Oscar for his scathing 1972 satire. candidateStarring Robert Redford as an unlikely Democrat running for the California Senate in a seemingly unwinnable election, slowly turning the tide while revising his idealistic left-wing message, the film is full of immediate authority and anger.
Barry Levinson and David Mamet’s light-hearted satire of the Clinton era Waving the dog The film’s popularity was fuelled by its curious timing, as it was released just a month before the Monica Lewinsky scandal broke — an ideal coincidence for a film about spin doctors fabricating a foreign war to distract from the president’s sex scandal just weeks before the election. Primary colors (BBC iPlayer), released the following year, was a lighter dramatisation of the presidential election campaign that was less outrageous, although Elaine May’s script still had plenty of wit to it.
British elections, on the other hand, have never been of much interest to filmmakers, perhaps because they are too depressing and formulaic. In 1959, Sidney Gilliat’s light-hearted romantic comedy Left, right and centre A rare work of fiction about the conflict between the Conservatives and Labour parties, but currently only available on DVD. 2021 Horror Movies Election Nightis set at a party to watch a rather bizarre election battle between the far left and the far right, and offers little else new. As a British election biopic, no one wants to rewatch David Cameron, Nick Clegg and Gordon Brown negotiating after the 2010 vote, but if they do, Union (Amazon) has your back.
Chile provided us with one of the biggest election dramas of 2010. noPablo Larraín’s riveting, darkly humorous and moving portrayal of the political machinations behind the 1988 referendum that ended Augusto Pinochet’s regime. Staying in South America, Petra Costa’s poignant documentary The limits of democracy (Netflix) depicts the events leading up to Jair Bolsonaro’s victory in the 2018 presidential election, but it’s not exactly an uplifting story.
Meanwhile, the upheaval of African electoral politics is beautifully depicted in two recent documentaries. softThe film, which tells the story of an idealistic Kenyan journalist turned activist and candidate, was nominated for an Oscar last year. Bobi Wine: The People’s PresidentA story about a Ugandan pop star’s fight against power. Finally, a great, little-known Indonesian film. autobiography (BFI Player) depicts the toxic influence relationship between a corrupt, military-minded mayoral candidate and his young assistant, and is an election film with all the atmospheric tension and anxiety that would be hard to enjoy in a real-life situation.
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