Hello, I need your help.
I have to write an essay about Watergate affair. To be specific, I need to write about that affair but from movies. To compare them, to write how Richard Nixon is shown in those movies, how the truth unfolded and who is responsible and so on. But, with all that I have to write about historic events, too.
Can you give me any tips and recommendations how to do that?
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I can offer a few tips on this matter. Having just concluded a Chinese film history course some of the same principles for evaluating the movies apply.
One of the first things I would do is to look briefly at the background of the directors. What you are looking for is motivations for making the movie and possible ties to the event. For instance, when considering the movie Red Sorghum I carefully considered the life experience of the director Zhang Yimou and the political climate of the time the movie was made. Things like: Hold old were they when it happened? Did they have direct involvement? Do they say anything specific about the event? (You can usually find this in things like directors cuts where commentary is included. Or interviews with the director on the subject of the movie.)
Look for context around when the movie was made. Was Watergate still a hot topic? Were there similar events going on where Watergate was once again referenced?
These things can effect portrayal of people and events in the movie. You can then compare them effectively and have an informed discourse with the movies on the facts laid out in them.
Does any of that help? Did I address the right issue?