All The King's Men Film Analysis

Throughout history, art has been used in a variety of different ways to express feelings about a variety of matters, one of them being government. One of the more modern forms of art used in today’s world is film. Two very well-known films that deal with politics are “All the King’s Men” and “Mr. Smith goes to Washington.” These movies are culturally significant because they portray American politics in a negative light. They consist of storylines that illustrate the unfavorable side of the nature of our government by making it seem as though there is corruption within it. While both films have been deemed controversial in a sense, it is important to look at the messages they are trying to convey, how they get them across, and why they are …show more content…
Smith goes to Washington” is the process of lawmaking in the United States Congress. The movie depicts the idea that sneaky dealings happen behind the scenes in this process by telling the story of a fictional, optimistic young man named Jefferson Smith who is elected to the United States Senate. Mr. Smith quickly learns that corruption exists in the political system he loves when lies are spread about him in order to shut down his newly proposed bill. Senator Paine is the man responsible for this because, if passed, Senator Smith’s bill would interfere with land that Senator Paine and his sometimes unethical colleagues wanted to use for a dam project that would bring them personal gain. Ultimately, Senator Smith stands strong for what he believes in by filibustering on the Senate floor until he passes out. Hereafter, Senator Paine confesses his wrongdoings and reveals that he was the bad guy all along, which ultimately deems Senator Smith the hero of the …show more content…
Smith Goes to Washington” is the better movie. I think that it has a very clear story line and characters that are easy to connect to that pull you into the story. Both films get their message across, but there is evidence to believe that “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” does it more effectively. This movie just has a very clear and direct theme. It starts off by showing a believable example of untrustworthiness in Congress and then making the untrustworthiness even worse by making the truthful person in the story, Jefferson Smith, very nice and loveable. As stated previously, the fact that Senator Smith is such a good guy that people do not want to see talked about negatively, it helps give an answer to whether or not the ends justify the means. This is something that is merely left up to opinion for the audience of “All the King’s Men” This is not to say that “All the King’s Men” doesn’t get its message across. However, parts of its message are hidden in the themes and can be hard to pick up on. The message can even get confusing based on people’s opinion of whether or not the ends justify the