David Writes:

The Ones That Got Away

The literary critic George Steiner once wrote a (pretty pretentious) book about all the books he hadn’t written. In that spirit (though I hope a little less pretentiously) here are a few episodes of PPF that were suggested for this year but didn’t quite get made. Just some of the ones that got away…

American Elections: 1948. Quite a few listeners wanted us to talk about the election that remains most famous for the Chicago Daily Tribune headline ‘Dewey Defeats Truman’, published on the night that Truman defeated Dewey. In 1948 Truman was an unpopular incumbent seemingly heading for certain defeat who managed to overturn the odds to beat his cocky Republican opponent. Back in the spring there were hopes that history might repeat itself and that Biden would turn 2024 into a rerun of 1948. Didn’t happen. And the podcast episode didn’t happen either.

UK General Elections: 2015. There were so many UK elections we could have talked about but didn’t. 2015 matters because the unexpected victory of David Cameron’s Conservatives persuaded him to honour his manifesto commitment to hold a referendum on Britain’s membership of the EU. At the same time, Labour’s defeat paved the way for the party to try something new under the leadership of Jeremy Corbyn. Neither experiment was a success. And British politics is still paying the price for both. This is one I think we should have done.

What If . . . Al Gore Had Won in 2000. In that spirit, I think we also missed a trick by not doing a counterfactual episode on the 2000 US presidential election, ‘won’ by George W. Bush only when the Supreme Court decided by a 5-4 majority to put a stop to counting in Florida in case Al Gore ended up with more votes. It doesn’t take too much tweaking of history to get to a different outcome. What then would have happened if Gore not Bush had been in the White House on 9/11? It might not have made much difference. On the other hand, it really might have.

History of Bad Ideas: Selfies. In our previous bad ideas series I got to talk about my pet hate of the digital revolution: email. The producer of PPF – my wife Helen – wanted this series to include the innovation she thinks is responsible for much of what’s gone wrong with the world, in all its present narcissism: the selfie. I was up for it. But we couldn’t find anyone prepared to make the case. We will keep trying.

Great Political Fictions: The Dispossessed by Ursula Le Guin. This 1974 anarchist utopian work of science fiction was the one most regularly suggested by listeners for our series on the great political novels and plays. I have to admit I hadn’t read it. But when I looked it up I could see the appeal: simultaneously set in the past and the present, ripe with counterfactuals, exploring the ideas of Kropotkin and Emma Goodman and the themes of anarcho-syndicalism and authoritarianism, it sounds very PPF. One for next time.

Great Political Films: All The President’s Men. I only noticed as we got ready to put out this week’s episodes – Jeanne Dielman (1975) and Kagemusha (1980) – that we had passed by what for many people is the political film, Alan J. Pakula’s All The President’s Men (1976). It’s a film I’ve seen so many times I’m not sure I know what I think of it anymore – it’s almost too familiar, which may be why I forgot to include it. But I suspect that it remains a rich source of material for thinking about what might happen in 2025. Plus I’m a sucker for any film about the golden age of newspapers. Should have done it. Will do it next time around.

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However, from the beginning, this new government was viewed with suspicion by the powerful right-wing establishment and the new king – Constantine II – who saw it as a threat to military hegemony. Papandreou’s son, Andrea, was seen as an increasingly leftist influence on his father, and in 1965 the king engineered a split – the so-called ‘Apostasia’ (revolt) – in the centre party to remove the ailing Papandreou from power. This move was greeted with widespread protests – the killing of Sitiris Petroulas, a founder of the ‘Lambrakis Youth’ movement, was particularly controversial. When polls indicated Papandreou’s return to power as the 1967 election approached, the military acted decisively. A coup d’état began the oppressive ‘Regime of the Colonels’, which lasted until 1974. Z (1969) is in part an expression of its Franco-Greek director Costa-Gavras’ personal outrage towards military rule.

29 August 1960 – Hazza al-Majali, Prime Minister of Jordan, killed in his office by a time bomb

12 October 1960 – Inejiro Asanuma, Chairman of the Socialist Party of Japan, killed by a right-wing ultranationalist with a Samurai sword

3 November 1960 - Félix-Roland Moumié, Cameroonian anti-colonialist leaders, killed by French secret service

17 January 1961 – Patrice Lumumba, former Prime Minister of the Congo and other members of the government, murdered following a coup

30 May 1961 – Rafael Leónidas Trujillo, Military Dictator of the Dominican Republic for 34 years, shot dead during an ambush

12 August 1961 – Salah ben Youssef, leader of the Tunisian national movement, killed in Germany

27 October 1962 – Enrico Mattei, Italian oil executive and supporter of Algerian independence, killed in a bomb-induced plane crash

13 January 1963 – Sylvanus Olympio, President of Togo, killed during a coup

9 February 1963 – Abd al-Karim Qasim, Prime Minister of Iraq, killed in a Baathist coup

27 May 1963 – Grigoris Lambrakis, Greek politician and anti-fascist, killed by far-right extremists

12 June 1963 – Medgar Evers, American civil rights activist, shot by a KKK member

2 November 1963 – Ngo Dinh Diem, President of South Vietnam, killed in a coup with his brother

22 November 1963 – John F. Kennedy, US President, killed travelling in a motorcade in Dallas, TX

24 November 1963 – Lee Harvey Oswald, JFK’s assassin, shot by Jack Ruby in the Dallas Police Station

6 April 1964 – Jigme Paldan Dorji, Prime Minister of Bhutan, killed by an army corporal

21 June 1964 – James Charney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner, American civil rights activists, killed by the KKK

22 January 1965 – Hassan Ali Mansur, Prime Minister of Iran, killed by a fundamentalist religious sect

13 February 1965 – Humberto Delgado, Portuguese presidential candidate and critic of the military regime, killed by Portuguese intelligence

21 February 1965 – Malcolm X, American civil rights activist and Muslim leader, shot dead in Manhattan

23 February 1965 – Herberts Cukurs, Latvian Nazi collaborator, killed in Uruguay by Mossad agents

1 October 1965 – Achmad Yani, Chief of Staff of the Indonesian Army, and five other generals, killed in an abortive coup

29 October 1965 – Mehdi Ben Barka, Moroccan socialist leader, disappeared in Paris

10 January 1966 – Vernon Dahmer, American civil rights activist killed by the KKK

15 January 1966 – Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, Prime Minister of Nigeria, and other members of the government, killed in a coup attempt

6 September 1966 – Hendrik Verwoerd, Prime Minister of South Africa, stabbed by an anti-Apartheid Activist

25 August 1967 – George Lincoln Rockwell, leader of the American Nazi Party, killed by a former aide

4 April 1968 – Martin Luther King, Jr., iconic American civil rights activist, shot on a motel balcony in Memphis by James Earl Ray

5 June 1968 – Robert F. Kennedy, brother of JFK, American Senator and Presidential Candidate, shot by Sirhan Sirhan following the California Presidential Primary, which RFK had just won

2 August 1968 - Melitón Manzanas, Francoist Spanish state torturer, killed by Basque nationalists

3 February 1969 – Eduardo Mondlane, Mozambican anti-colonial activist and revolutionary, killed by a bomb sent to him in a book

13 June 1969 – Clarence 13X, American Muslim leader, shot in the Martin Luther King Jr. housing project in Harlem

4 December 1969 – Fred Hampton, American anti-racist and deputy chair of the Black Panther Party, shot by police

Archive footage of RFK’s assassination on 5th June 1968, an event that for many people put a capstone on the decade of assassinations.

Costa-Gavras talks about being pigeon-holed as a political film-maker, something he seems quite comfortable with. After all, he says, aren’t all films political?

Senator George McGovern (1922-2012)

Party: Democratic 

Home state: South Dakota

Link to film: McGovern’s presidential run served as the backdrop to The Candidate’s 1972 release, though the South Dakota senator failed to execute the pivot to the centre that revives Bill McKay’s bid. Dubbed the radical-left ‘AAA’ candidate (acid, amnesty and abortion), McGovern was doomed against the then-popular incumbent, Richard Nixon.  

Key quote: “Come home, America. Come home to the affirmation that we have a dream. Come home to the conviction that we can move our country forward.”

Senator John V. Tunney (1934-2018)

Party: Democratic 

Home state: California

Link to film: Generally accepted to be the inspiration for Robert Redford’s titular candidate, Tunney experienced a glamorous rise to and shocking fall from the halls of Washington. Tunney’s 1970 campaign cast him as a Kennedys-style rising star within the party, a campaign which counted future director Michael Ritchie among its staff. 

In 1976 Tunney was ousted by an audacious outsider candidate, this time from the right.  

key quote: “There is nothing sadder than a 42-year-old former senator hanging around Washington.”

Senator Eugene McCarthy (1916-2005)

Party: Democratic [though backed Reagan in 1980]

Home state: Minnesota

Link to film: scriptwriter Jeremy Larner worked for McCarthy’s unsuccessful 1968 presidential campaign, during which the senator was sucker-punched by a voter who had handed him a Coca-Cola and a hot dog (an incident that, naturally, was adapted into the film.)

Key quote: “Being in politics is like being a football coach. You have to be smart enough to understand the game, and dumb enough to think it’s important.”

The Candidate was also inspired by the new understanding that democratic politics was often an extension of marketing. Richard Nixon’s unlikely return from the political wilderness baffled commentators and observers who had (quite literally) written his political obituary years earlier. Aided by future Fox News architect Roger Ailes, a ‘New Nixon’ graced television screens across America. This Nixon was polished, prepared and calm at all times. A year after his victory, Joe McGinnis laid bare his tactics that more closely resembled a marketing campaign than a political bid. Even the leader of the free world, it seemed, could be packaged and sold as easily as cigarettes.  

Eugene McCarthy’s 1968 quest to fell President Lyndon Johnson, a member of his own party, was built on a foundation of youth support. Aware that ‘hippies’ were an alienating concept to millions of Americans, his supporters urged each other to ‘Get Clean For Gene’. McCarthy’s strong showing in the New Hampshire primary did force Johnson from the race, but seizing the nomination would have required McCarthy to draw an inside straight. He did not.

‘What do we do now?’

The ending of The Candidate is as infamous as it is memorable. Having pulled off a stunner of an upset, the fictional Senator-elect is a deer in headlights when confronted with his newfound responsibility. Although this uncertainty did not cost Bill McKay his election, a similar purposelessness was a black cloud over Ted Kennedy’s failed 1980 presidential campaign. The glow of Camelot could not disguise Kennedy’s unease about seeking the White House – as a damaging 1979 interview with CBS newsman Roger Mudd revealed. Carrying the emotional burden of three deceased brothers, two of whom had sought the presidency, Ted Kennedy seemed more a victim of his presidential ambitions than the master of them. 

Politico examines how the ‘Watergate Babies’ of liberal Democrats elected in the aftermath of Richard Nixon’s resignation reformed Congress and, in so doing, paved the way for a new insurgency in the form of the modern ‘New Right’.

FiveThirtyEight examines cynicism as a political motivator since the 1970s, rather than a source of apathy. 

The Seashell and the Clergyman (1928)

Director: Germaine Dulac

Often regarded as one of the earliest feminist films, and one of the first surrealist ones, this dives into the subconscious, exploring female desire with dreamlike visuals. It’s a bold and boundary-pushing work that paved the way for experimental feminist cinema in the 20th century. 

The Watermelon Woman (1996)

Director: Cheryl Dunye

This film blends humour and history as it examines race, representation and lesbian identity. Starring its director Cheryl Dunye, it’s a trailblazing work of Black queer feminist filmmaking.

All About My Mother (1999)

Director: Pedro Almodovar

An ode to the complexities of womanhood, motherhood and identity, Almodóvar’s vibrant masterpiece celebrates the strength, resilience and beauty of women from all walks of life.

Lady Bird (2017)

Director: Greta Gerwig

A poignant coming-of-age film about a young woman’s quest for independence, exploring mother-daughter dynamics and the complexities of growing up female. 

Saint Omer (2022)

Director: Alice Diop

Inspired by a real-life trial, this French courtroom drama centres on a young Senegalese woman accused of infanticide, unpacking themes of motherhood, colonialism and systemic racism.

Born in Flames (1983)

Director: Lizzie Borden

Set in an alternate socialist America, this provocative, radical feminist, punk-infused film imagines a world where intersectional revolution is the only way forward.

The Color Purple (1985)

Director: Steven Spielberg

An emotional powerhouse that centres on Black women’s resilience, love and solidarity. This adaptation of Alice Walker’s novel remains a landmark for its unflinching portrayal of racism, and the ways women fight back.

Thelma and Louise (1991)

Director: Ridley Scott

This iconic road movie redefined women’s rebellion on screen. Equal parts thrilling and tragic, it’s a gripping tale of friendship, freedom and smashing the patriarchy.

Persepolis (2007)

Directors: Marjane Satrapi & Vincent Paronnaud

This poignant animated adaptation of Satrapi’s graphic memoir combines personal and political upheaval during the Iranian Revolution. A powerful exploration of womanhood, autonomy and self-discovery.

Mustang (2015)

Director: Deniz Gamze Erguven

Five sisters face down conservative societal norms in this gripping coming-of-age story set in rural Turkey. A moving and defiant exploration of sisterhood and resistance in the face of patriarchal oppression.

Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019)

Director: Celine Sciamma

A powerful exploration of female love and autonomy, this film highlights the emotional and intellectual bond between two women in a restrictive 18th-century society. Its focus on women’s agency, desire and creativity makes it a standout feminist work.

Jeanne Dielman / Delphine Seyrig peels potatoes in real time (it takes about 2 ½ minutes).  This is the clip that has inspired a thousand internet memes.

The 2022 Sight and Sound Poll prompted plenty of reappraisals of Jeanne Dielman, for better and for worse. Here is Jessica Winter writing in the New Yorker about the film’s ‘revelatory tedium’. Presumably a good thing.

Next Up

Our next great political film is Kagemusha (1980), Akira Kurosawa’s masterpiece about the politics of deception.

After that it’s Spike Lee’s Do The Right Thing (1989) and then Helen Lewis talks Fight Club (1999).

Coming Next on PPF+

Out today & tomorrow - a pair of new bonus episodes about Claude Lanzmann’s epic 9-hour documentary Shoah (1985).

Coming Soon

Our Great Political Films series finishes with some twenty-first century classics: There Will Be Blood, The Social Network and The Zone of Interest.  

Coming in January: a brand new series on the History of Revolutionary Ideas from the ancient world to the present day, from art and science to politics and religion.

www.ppfideas.com

Warmest Regards,

Team PPF