In 1968, ABC had the idea to pit left-winger Gore Vidal and arch conservative William F. Buckley Jr. in a series of televised debates to coincide with the Republican and Democratic conventions going on that year. Over the course of 10 debates, the feud had escalated to such a degree that the pair would be haunted by it for the rest of their lives.
Morgan Neville and Robert Gordon uses extensive footage from the debates paired with new interviews and other archival footage of Vidal and Buckley to convey the cultural significance of these debates in BEST OF ENEMIES. I saw the film at SXSW, and though the subject matter (a 50-year-old political debate) may seem dry on the surface, the white-hot tension between the two is undeniably exciting and cinematic. This was the beginning of the talking-heads-centric news environment we still see today, with pundits paired together because of, and not in spite of, their inherent idealogical disagreements. Buckley and Vidal are both fascinating subjects, and this trailer only hints at how magnetic their respective personalities come across in the film.
This is great stuff, both for the historical/cultural analysis it provides, but also for the simple pleasure of watching two equally skilled (or at least approximately so), highly intelligent opponents jab at each other in front of a national audience. Glad the trailer works hard to do it justice.
BEST OF ENEMIES begins the debate on July 10th.
