Best movies like The Candidate

A unique, carefully handpicked, selection of the best movies like The Candidate Starring Franz Josef Strauß, Ernst Albrecht, and more. If you liked The Candidate then you may also like: The War Room, Weiner, Welcome to Mooseport, Anytown, USA, The Candidate and many more popular movies featured on this list. You can further filter the list even more or get a random selection from the list of similar movies, to make your selection even easier.

Made with an eye to the autumn of 1980 when the German parliamentary elections took place, The Candidate examines Germany’s history past and present and Franz Josef Strauß, the man who, as the CDU/CSU candidate, aspires to be elected to the most important political office in the land.

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The War Room

A behind-the-scenes documentary about the Clinton for President campaign, focusing on the adventures of spin doctors James Carville and George Stephanopoulos.

Weiner

Documentary featuring a jaw-dropping, behind-the-scenes look at the attempted comeback of Anthony Weiner in 2013 as he mounts a campaign for New York City mayor in the wake of his sexting scandal. Featuring unfettered access to the candidate and his campaign.

Welcome to Mooseport

A US president who has retired after two terms in office returns to his hometown of Mooseport, Maine and decides to run for Mayor against another local candidate.

Anytown, USA

Three Candidates, Two blind Politicians, One Race. Anytown USA follows a tightly run race in the small town of Bogota, New Jersey and resonates as an all-too-familiar look at partisan politics in our increasingly polarized nation.

The Candidate

Bill McKay is a candidate for the U.S. Senate from California. He has no hope of winning, so he is willing to tweak the establishment.

Germany in Autumn

Germany in Autumn does not have a plot per se; it mixes documentary footage, along with standard movie scenes, to give the audience the mood of Germany during the late 1970s. The movie covers the two month time period during 1977 when a businessman was kidnapped, and later murdered, by the left-wing terrorists known as the RAF-Rote Armee Fraktion (Red Army Fraction). The businessman had been kidnapped in an effort to secure the release of the orginal leaders of the RAF, also known as the Baader-Meinhof gang. When the kidnapping effort and a plane hijacking effort failed, the three most prominent leaders of the RAF, Andreas Baader, Gudrun Ensslin, and Jan-Carl Raspe, all committed suicide in prison. It has become an article of faith within the left-wing community that these three were actually murdered by the state.

Trump 2024: The World After Trump

President Trump, the 45th President of the United States, the most polarizing figure to ever hold the office. Some have called him the worst thing to happen to America. A racist, sexist, crazy, and unhinged. Others call him a man of integrity, a true patriot, appointed by God to lead the United States. Love him or hate him this film answers the question; What will the world look like in 2024 after Trump as he battles to maintain the foundational values and the independence of the United States against a global community.

The Blind Spot

The true story of a journalist who investigates the backgrounds of the Oktoberfest terror attack of 1980.

Lola

Germany in the autumn of 1957: Lola, a seductive cabaret singer-prostitute exults in her power as a temptress of men, but she wants out—she wants money, property, and love. Pitting a corrupt building contractor against the new straight-arrow building commissioner, Lola launches an outrageous plan to elevate herself in a world where everything, and everyone, is for sale. Shot in childlike candy colors, Fassbinder’s homage to Josef von Sternberg’s classic The Blue Angel stands as a satiric tribute to capitalism.

Mogadischu

The incredible true story of Lufthansa Flight 181, which was hijacked by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine in October of 1977, and the noble efforts of stewardess Gabriele Dillmann (Nadja Uhl) to ensure the safety of the terrified passengers throughout the harrowing ordeal. When terrorists sympathetic to the cause of the German Red Army Faction seize control of the flight, German chancellor Helmut Schmidt refuses to negotiate. Meanwhile, terrorist leader "Captain Martyr Mahmud" grows increasingly agitated, and the Yemeni government refuses to let the plane land on their soil. After Captain Schumann (Thomas Kretschmann) makes an emergency landing in the sand, he is brutally executed in front of the passengers by "Captain Martyr Mahmud" (Said Taghmaoui), who then forces the co-pilot to fly the plane to Somolia. Once there, counter terrorism measures quickly get underway as the passengers brace themselves for the worst.

Portrait: Werner Herzog

An autobiographical short film by Werner Herzog made in 1986. Herzog tells stories about his life and career. The film contains excerpts and commentary on several Herzog films, including Signs of Life, Heart of Glass, Fata Morgana, Aguirre, the Wrath of God, The Great Ecstasy of Woodcarver Steiner, Fitzcarraldo, and the Les Blank documentary Burden of Dreams. Notable is footage of a conversation between Herzog and his mentor Lotte Eisner, a photographer. In another section, he talks with mountaineer Reinhold Messner, in which they discuss a potential film project in the Himalayas to star Klaus Kinski.

Swing Vote

In a remarkable turn of events, the result of the presidential election comes down to one man's vote.

Wackersdorf

Not an easy decision! District Administrator Hans Schuierer from the Upper Palatinate first opposed his own political line in 1981 and finally against the entire Bavarian Free State and Prime Minister Strauss. Because the planned reprocessing plant Wackersdorf promised 3,000 new jobs for the structurally weak region - but what if these are associated with massive health and ecological damage for future generations? Isn't it then the duty of a politician and citizen to resist?

Die Spiegel-Affäre

Under the slogan of the arms race of the superpowers, which escalates in the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962 and brings the world to the brink of nuclear war, two exemplary post-war male figures challenge an almost archaic feud: Defense Minister Franz Josef Strauss and journalist Rudolf Augstein.

Marianne and Juliane

Germany, 1968: The priest's daughters Marianna and Juliane both fight for changes in society, like making abortion legal. However their means are totally different: while Juliane's committed as a reporter, her sister joins a terroristic organization. After she's caught by the police and put into isolation jail, Juliane remains as her last connection to the rest of the world. Although she doesn't accept her sister's arguments and her boyfriend Wolfgang doesn't want her to, Juliane keeps on helping her sister. She begins to question the way her sister is treated.

Horst Schlämmer - Isch kandidiere!

So far he has earned his living as deputy editor-in-chief at the Grevenbroicher Tagblatt, but actually Horst Schlämmer had always guessed: he was destined for something bigger - too much bigger. Without further ado, he therefore quits his old job, founds his very own party and thus starts his rush to the chancellor's office. While the election machinery is quickly started and soon picks up speed, only two questions remain unanswered: Is Horst Schlämmer ready for Germany? And is Germany ready for him?

Is was, Kanzler?

October 1982: The entire German political scene is corrupt, the German government a puppet of the USA. To play it safe, the CIA replaces German politicians with compliant doubles. When the chancellor's doppelganger, of all people, is to be taken out of circulation, the secret service accidentally kills the real chancellor, who is floating dead in the swimming pool. Agent Erwin of the Federal Criminal Police Office is assigned to solve the case...

The Choice 2020: Trump vs. Biden

A look into what has shaped President Donald Trump and presidential candidate Joe Biden, where they came from and how they lead.

The Hunger Years: In a Land of Plenty

Hungerjahre is a movie about adolescence in 1950s West Germany, in which director and scriptwriter Jutta Brückner comes to terms with her own memories.

Neue Vahr Süd

Frank Lehmann, 20, still lives with his parents in the dreary high-rise housing project "Neue Vahr" in Bremen. It's the year 1980 and Frank gets drafted to the army even though his friends assure him that "he's not really the guy for it". When he gets back home, after his first week at the army, his Dad has turned his room into a TV repair shop, so Frank has to move out. Luckily his old friend Martin is starting a commune with two other Punks in Bremens leftist borough "Viertel". Frank, without further ado rents the unlivable walk-through room. From now on Frank is a traveler between the Worlds. Each week he goes from the Army, with all the unconditional rules and regulations to the commune where his friends are preaching the world revolution. Frank is trying to avoid to stick out, but fails miserably, in both worlds.

The Chiltern Hundreds

Young Viscount Tony Pym wangles National Service leave on the pretext of standing as a Tory candidate for a local seat held by his family for generations. The request is a ruse to enable Pym to marry his wealthy American fiancee while she's still in England, but his masterplan backfires when he finds himself swept into an election campaign and beaten by Labour's Mr Cleghorn – who is then made a peer. In an attempt to save face, Pym decides to stand again – as a socialist. It all proves too much for the Pyms' loyal, true-blue butler, Mr Beecham...

The Baader-Meinhof Gang on Trial

Based on the research for his non-fiction book "Der Baader-Meinhoff-Komplex", "Spiegel" journalist Stefan Aust wrote the screen play to Reinhard Hauff’s controversial feature film that re-narrates the startling trial against the RAF terrorists Baader, Meinhoff, Ensslin, and Raspe. The trial that started in May 1975 in the Stammheim maximum-security prison extended over 192 days and ended with a lifetime sentence for all defendants.

Bimbes: Die schwarzen Kassen des Helmut Kohl

During the donations scandal of 1999/2000, Helmut Kohl gave his legendary "word of honor" not to name any donors. This documentary explores the question of what this word of honor was really all about

Recount

In 2000, the election of the U.S. Presidential boiled down to a few precious votes in the state of Florida — and a recount that would add "hanging chad" to every American's vocabulary.

Scarabea – How Much Land Does a Man Need?

A Teutonic lecher on vacation has a wager with some local peasants that he can't make a walking circle from sunrise to sunset to secure some coveted land. The middle-aged businessman embarks on his journey only to be slowed down by the beautiful reporter Scarabea. With thoughts of drunkenness and sex on his warped mind, the man tries to circumnavigate the parcel of property. The story is a retelling of an ancient folk tale told by Tolstoy where the initial victim bets his soul to Satan against the land he desires.

The Dismissal

German chancellor Otto von Bismarck promises the dying emperor Wilhelm I. to be loyal to his grandson. But the gap between young Kaiser Wilhelm II. and old Bismarck is rapidly widening. It soon appears that an era is coming to an end.

Prince Jack

A dramatic look at the inner workings of the Kennedy administration.

Der Rücktritt

In 2012 German Bundespraesident Christian Wulff declares his resignation in the great hall of Bellevue Palace. At the side of his wife, he had to face the pressure of the media for 68 days while struggling for office of head of state of the Federal Republic of Germany.

Journeys with George

Documentary account of George W. Bush's presidential campaign during the 2000 election.

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