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Primary
7.6
/10
214 Ratings

Synopsis

Wisconsin, United States, 1960. Ahead of the state’s primary, Hubert Humphrey, senator for Minnesota, and John F. Kennedy, senator for Massachusetts, rally for votes. From Wisconsin’s main streets to its farmland, the presidential candidates engage with the electorate, each in their own style.

Our take

A pioneering example of direct cinema, Robert Drew’s riveting documentary gets within a hair’s breadth of its subjects to offer a candidate’s-eye-view of a historic election. Highlighting the dominance of spectacle over substance, its vision of celebrity politics has only gained in relevance.