All about (election) eve

By Dennis Hartley
















No, you’re not high (well, maybe you are…I can’t really see what you’re doing there.) Digby has invited me to make a rare weeknight appearance; she thought it might be fun for me to offer up some suggestions for an election eve movie festival. You know-something to distract ourselves from all the bloviating blowhards (we’ll be seeing and hearing enough of them tomorrow, as we sit aghast in front of our TV monitors). Digby suggested that we apply the vaccination theory-how about some films about…elections?

For movies that delve into the art of the campaign, I’d be partial to screening The Candidate, Primary Colors, or the brilliant documentary, The War Room. For the election movie as paranoid political thriller, how about The Contender and The Manchurian Candidate (1962) as a double bill? (The latter film is worth the price of the rental just to hear Sinatra exclaim, “Doc, that was one swinger of a nightmare!”). If you’re in the mood for a good election satire, it doesn’t get any better than Wag the Dog, Bulworth, Bob Roberts, or arguably the best of the best, the late Robert Altman’s cable mini-series, Tanner ’88. For political allegory, Election definitely tops my list. And although it has a more tangential election theme (election night as a backdrop for a substantial chunk of the film) any excuse to revisit Hal Ashby’s Shampoo gets my vote.

Strangely enough, I think my all-time favorite election film is one that has nothing to do with American politics: Don’s Party, a worthwhile sleeper from Down Under. Breaker Morant director Bruce Beresford folds in one part Shampoo, one part Return of the Secaucus 7 and sprinkles liberally with Who's Afraid Of Virgina Woolf. The story is set on Australia’s election night, 1969. Our outgoing host Don and his uptight wife are hosting an "election party" for old college chums at their solidly middle-class suburban home. With the exception of one self-absorbed Casanova, most guests range from the recently divorced to the unhappily married. Ostensibly gathering to watch election results, talk politics and socialize, Don's party quickly deteriorates into a veritable primer on bad human behavior as the alcohol kicks in. By the end of the night, marriages are on the rocks, friendships nearly broken and people are taking impromptu naked swims in the vacationing neighbor's pool. Yet, this is not just another wacky party film. It makes some keen observations about mid-life crisis, elitism, politics, and adult relationships along the way. Savagely funny, brilliantly written and well acted. The film’s title is a clever double entendre, n’est-ce pas? So put a shrimp on the barbie, a barb on your tongue, and enjoy.


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