Best of Enemies
July. 31,2015A documentary about the legendary series of nationally televised debates in 1968 between two great public intellectuals, the liberal Gore Vidal and the conservative William F. Buckley Jr. Intended as commentary on the issues of their day, these vitriolic and explosive encounters came to define the modern era of public discourse in the media, marking the big bang moment of our contemporary media landscape when spectacle trumped content and argument replaced substance. Best of Enemies delves into the entangled biographies of these two great thinkers, and luxuriates in the language and the theater of their debates, begging the question, "What has television done to the way we discuss politics in our democracy today?"
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Reviews
You won't be disappointed!
i must have seen a different film!!
It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.
The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;
This movie is very entertaining and informative. If you are interested about the history of the news, then I recommend this movie. It is very interesting and well made.
A fascinating and in depth look and the Buckley-Vidal debates and the precursors to the world we find ourselves in today. More interesting since I lived through this period and watched these debates in real time. We find ourselves in a world today not much different than the world of 1968 on race, economic inequality,far right and far left politics and down in the mud politics that doesn't debate issues but personal demagoguery. Buckley ran for mayor of NYC and discovered the angry white man as his main constituency, sound familiar Donald J. Trump.
The best conversation I have seen. Very informative talk and creative people. We miss those days where individuals differ in idea still talk with respect and true admiration with others. Holding opinion and saying it blatantly is not a lot of happening these days. I really love the people who produced and got all the tapes together. True regards to them and sharing ideas is great art than anything. I like the points made by Vidal, the propagator of peace and liberty. The hard work they put into learning things is great which current generation has to learn and adapt. We are looking for the means to the resource and not interested in the knowledge of it.
Great documentary. It really explains how television would never be the same and how the clashing of personalities between these 2 men, William F. Buckley and Gore Vida,l created a television ecosystem of personalities with channels like Fox, CNN, MSNBC, etc.. This documentary really shows how our country and it's media has become divided through political ideologies. I also think Buckley won and Vidal was more of the bully even though Buckley's famous line was a bit harsh. Yet I think Vidal,a so what open homosexual suspected homosexuality in Buckley because Buckley was a member of the Bohemian Grove, a club known for a bit of promiscuous and homosexual behavior amongst men.