10 Best Political Movies Of All Time

Roland Joffé's harrowing depiction of journalists stuck in Cambodia during Pol Pot's revolution isn't a traditional political movie in the same way that some of these are, but it is still very important in the context of the story which it tells.

It shows the tale of how Pot's Khmer Rouge party expelled those who they didn't feel belonged in Cambodia and forced everybody else to live under his brutal regime. Sam Waterston's portrayal of Sydney Schanberg is one of great compassion and hope against the backdrop of such an awful part of history, as is John Malkovich's Al Rockoff, who is way more idealised and headstrong than Schanberg.

Though the real stand-out performance here is non-professional actor Haing S. Ngor as Dith Pran, a Cambodian refugee who much like Ngor himself lived under the rule of Pot and saw the numerous human atrocities that took place.

Through Pran, who works closely with Schanberg and Rockoff, we see the effects of the US's war in Vietnam through his eyes and the catastrophic ripple it had on destabilising the region. Which led to dictators such as Pot being able to take control of places like Cambodia.

Joffé would never live up to the potential that was promised in his film about the Cambodian struggles but his direction here is sublime, as is Bruce Robinson's brilliant adapted screenplay.

It may not be ostensibly a traditional political film, but make no mistake, this film is as much about political abuses as any you'll see.