Best of Enemies

Best of Enemies

87 mins | Documentary, History | July 31, 2015

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?"

Best of Enemies

87 mins | Documentary, History | July 31, 2015

Best of Enemies
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?"
IMDb rating 7.6
Producers Magnolia Pictures, Participant Media, Independent Television Service (ITVS), Motto Pictures, Tremolo Productions, Media Ranch, JustFilms / Ford Foundation
Original title Best of Enemies
Directors Robert Gordon, Morgan Neville
Writers Robert Gordon, Morgan Neville

Cast

Gore Vidal

as Self

Kelsey Grammer

as Self

John Lithgow

as Self

Dick Cavett

as Self

Noam Chomsky

as Self