Cinema We Can Believe In: Political Films at MoMA

Politics and cinema have always mixed in a very unique way.

Since the beginning of the film industry, movies have been used as a political medium, and as the political process has changed, so did movies. “American Politics: From the Archives” is a collection of nine films screening at the Museum of Modern Art for the next two weeks. The films are from completely different eras, and explore how filmmakers throughout time have viewed the American political process.

The films, shown in conjunction with both the inauguration of President Barack Obama, CC ’83, as well as Martin Luther King Day, explore varying presidential images. The series begins with two films that examine another Illinois senator to become president—Abraham Lincoln. D.W. Griffith’s first sound film Abraham Lincoln and John Ford’s Young Mr. Lincoln—both showing Thursday as a double feature­—are the type of films that celebrate a hero unabashedly, making a messiah out of a president. They are also classic Hollywood films about an unknown’s rise to power.

But not all films celebrate politicians. Oliver Stone’s Nixon(showing Wednesday), for example, portrays the corrupt president as a tragic figure of Shakespearean proportions. Anthony Hopkins turns Richard Nixon from a man with honest intentions to one who fights so many inner demons that everything comes crashing down on him in the end. Stone’s dynamic style, with crosscut montage, diagonal camera angles, and a pounding score, emphasize the grandiosity of Nixon’s downfall.

Many of the classic Hollywood films also explore the easy corruptibility of political office. Robert Rossen’s All the King’s Men (showing on Monday) tells the story of a politician in the South who rises on the premise of eliminating corruption, only to become corrupt himself. Like Stone, Rossen takes his film to high tragedy, especially with Broderick

Crawford in the role of Willie Stark.
The same story is told—except with a breath of comedic tone—in Preston Sturges’ The Great McGinty (also showing Wednesday). Both this film and All the King’s Men question the legitimacy of office within this nation, and whether anyone can truly be untainted—a question that has been often repeated throughout presidential history.

Of course, the series also includes a film that believes in the good politician. Frank Capra’s Mr. Smith Goes to Washington stars Jimmy Stewart as a naïve do-gooder sent to fill a Senate seat and bump against his corrupt affiliates. As in their other collaboration It’s A Wonderful Life, Capra and Stewart accept the vile corruptibility of man but still harbor a sense of undying hope.

And that’s what many of the films hope to capture—the hope of good. Two of the most unique films being shown are handheld documentaries. Primary captures John F. Kennedy’s historic win in the Wisconsin primary before the 1960 election and King: A Filmed Record...Montgomery to Memphis (Sunday) captures the life of Martin Luther King Jr. in the most extensive collection of footage of the civil rights leader.

These films show politicians at their best: trying to help the world as a selfless act. As the MoMA presents these films, some may question whether we can trust our leaders in office. But as both the films and yesterday’s inauguration suggest, sometimes it is best to believe in the hope.