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Best of Enemies

Best of Enemies

7.2
147
Year
2015
Country
United States of America
Genre
Documentary, History
The slogan
Buckley vs. Vidal. 2 Men. 10 Debates. Television Would Never Be the Same.
Director
Robert Gordon
Writer
Robert Gordon
Morgan Neville
Budget
1,000,000 $
Duration
1h 27min
Website

Description

A 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?"