The United States turns 250 this week, and to ring in the country’s semiquincentennial, I did what came naturally: Make a list of movies that define and explain American history.
It was no small task, to be sure. What started as an exercise to find just five movies about the United States ballooned into something bigger, messier, more complex — kind of like the country itself.
But I didn’t do it all alone. Joining me in this quest to find the great pageant of America was my colleague Christopher Rosen. Together, we came up with a list of 22 movies (and some extras beyond) that provide a perfect primer not just on American history but on the American experience.
Our lists contain multiple best picture winners (12 Years a Slave, The Best Years of Our Lives, The Godfather), several all-time classics (All the President’s Men, Do the Right Thing) and even some unexpected choices (Michael Ritchie’s underrated Smile; Sean Baker’s scathing Red Rocket).
So, happy 250th, America. To paraphrase Henry Gibson in Robert Altman’s Nashville, you must be doing something right to last 250 years. This is a great history lesson and a good weekend to take time and reflect on all we’ve been through and all we’ve done.
And to eat a hot dog.
The full list of movies discussed (ordered by the era in which they are set, not release date):
Slavery and the Civil War
- 12 Years a Slave (dir. Steve McQueen)
- Glory (dir. Ed Zwick)
- Lincoln (dir. Steven Spielberg)
- Django Unchained (dir. Quentin Tarantino)
American West
- The Searchers (dir. John Ford)
Early 20th Century
- Killers of the Flower Moon (dir. Martin Scorsese)
- Citizen Kane (dir. Orson Welles)
1940s
- The Best Years of Our Lives (dir. William Wyler)
- The Godfather (dir. Francis Ford Coppola)
1950s & 1960s
- The Right Stuff (dir. Philip Kaufman)
1970s
- All the President’s Men (dir. Alan J. Pakula)
- Born on the Fourth of July (dir. Oliver Stone)
- Breaking Away (dir. Peter Yates)
- Dazed and Confused (dir. Richard Linklater)
- Smile (dir. Michael Ritchie)
1980s
- Do the Right Thing (dir. Spike Lee)
1990s
- Armageddon (dir. Michael Bay)
2000s
- The Social Network (dir. David Fincher)
2010s
- American Honey (dir. Andrea Arnold)
- Get Out (dir. Jordan Peele)
- Red Rocket (dir. Sean Baker)
Future
- Idiocracy (dir. Mike Judge)
