Movies about the biggest heroes and villains in politics

Presidents, royalty, martyrs, and scandals. Politics has it all, but which political giants have made it to the big screen? And which of those movies are worth watching? Here is a brief selection of politics on the screen.

This film explores the investigation into the November 22, 1963, assassination of President John F. Kennedy, and searches for the hidden conspiracy behind one of the biggest days in US history.

The only president in U.S. history to resign. Anthony Hopkins’ portrayal of the ex-president turns the movie into the fall of a tragic anti-hero - however, as with many Historical films, there were accusations of playing with facts.

Image: Walt Disney Studios Motion pictures

Margaret Thatcher, milk snatcher. The Iron Lady was loved by the rich and detested by the working class. She was known for her conservative policies and strong leadership style, earning her the nickname "The Iron Lady" for her fierce political stance. Wonderfully portrayed on the big screen by the one and only Meryl Streep.

Biograpical epic of Malcolm X. Born Malcolm Little, his father (a Garveyite Baptist minister) was killed by the Ku Klux Klan. Malcolm fell in with the wrong crowd and ended up in jail. While doing his time, he discovered the Nation of Islam writings of Elijah and converted to the muslim faith before he was assassinated on February 21, 1965. He was portrayed in the film by Denzel Washington.

Cecil Gaines was a sharecropper's son who worked as a hotel valet of such fame in the 1950s that he was hired as a butler in the White House. In the film Cecil serves various US Presidents over the decades and, although we witness numerous presidents during his time at the White House, the film focuses on the Butler played beautifully by Forest Whitaker.

Ben Kingsley played the beloved Indian leader who stood passively against the British rule over his country. Committed to the concept of nonviolent resistance, Gandhi is initially dismissed by English officials, but eventually he and his cause begin to make waves. This film won 8 Oscars including best actor for Ben Kingsley.

This was the winner of 4 Oscars. Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman star as Washington Post reporters Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodard, who uncover the Watergate scandal that led to President Nixon’s downfall.

Interviewer David Frost persuaded disgraced former president Richard Nixon in 1977 to record a series of TV interviews. Nixon had withdrawn from public life, but saw the interview as an opportunity to clear his name. For Frost however it was chance to break through as a serious reporter. 

Image: Universal Pictures

This remarkable depiction of Adolf Hitler’s last, few days in his Berlin bunker is spectacular. Bruno Ganz plays the Führer, goading his generals and advisers to fight to the last man as the Soviet forces close in on the capital. Although it is a serious piece of work, Oliver Hirschbiegel’s film has famously amassed one of the most amusing spoofs on YouTube.

Image: Constantin film

America’s first openly gay politician. The film follows his move from New York to San Francisco to seek a life as a gay rights campaigner. We watch as Milk finally wins a seat on San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors, taking office in January 1978. Sadly only ten months later he and the mayor are gunned down by another city supervisor Dan White. Penn’s portrayal won the Best Actor Oscar, and writer Dustin Lance Black won Best Original Screenplay.

In May 1940, the fate of World War II hangs on Winston Churchill, who must decide whether to negotiate with Adolf Hitler or fight on. Advised to make a treaty with the Nazis, Churchill refuses to surrender and the rest is history. He is played by the spectacular Gary Oldman who went through an amazing transformation.

Photo: Universal Pictures

David Oyelowo’s Martin Luther King Jr. stars in this fact-based story about the historical 1965 march in Alabama. But the director managed to make a movie bigger than just Martin Luther King, casting Tom Wilkinson as Lyndon B. Johnson, and a strong cast that focus on other important figures that made King’s success possible.

Image: Paramount Pictures

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