One Bright Shining Moment

As the current political situation in the United States grows increasingly dire and reminiscent of the Nixon administration's impeachment period, Stephen Vittoria's One Bright Shining Moment seems especially relevant. Dealing with the political career of George McGovern -- specifically his race against incumbent Richard Nixon in the American presidential election of 1972 -- this documentary draws numerous parallels between that period and today with one key ingredient missing from 2006: hope. While McGovern ultimately lost his race, he left a powerful impression on his dedicated group of followers, many of whom were energized by his promise to end the war in Vietnam. It's also worth noting that McGovern's defeat came in the wake of the Watergate break-in. Even by the standards of dirty Washington politics, this wasn't a fair (or legal) fight.

So who cares about George McGovern, a failed presidential candidate who wasn't known for being particularly charismatic or good at playing the political game? Well, a great many people, as it turns out. As any seasoned journalist will tell you, it's not easy to get an interview with Warren Beatty, but here he is, celebrating the man he voted for 34 years ago. So why do people like Warren Beatty, Gore Vidal, Ron Kovic, Gloria Steinem, Howard Zinn, and Dick Gregory care so much about McGovern? One Bright Shining Moment offers a detailed explanation.

McGovern was a rare breed of politician that may well be extinct today. He actually cared about the American people and he was willing to take unpopular positions, even if it meant losing political points. As a result, he was something of an outsider in the political establishment, but he managed to make a powerful impression on his followers, many of whom believe his defeat was the great lost opportunity in recent American history, an event that may well have buried any hope for national redemption. Interviewed today at the age of 83, McGovern is as appealing and likable as ever, a man of integrity who can take pride in the choices he made during his political career.

First Run Features presents the film in an acceptable (but non-anamorphic) 1.85:1 transfer, supplemented nicely by the theatrical trailer, 10 minutes of deleted scenes, and an entertaining short film by Stephen Vittoria, entitled The Vietnam Storyteller. This is a Spalding Gray-like monologue film starring Casey Biggs, an extremely lively, engaging, and convincing speaker. Over the course of an irreverent, entertaining, and disturbing 8 minutes, Biggs summarizes the complicated backstory of the Vietnam War, while a barrage of images appear behind him.

Finally, the always perceptive, radical, and opinionated Amy Goodman (One Bright Shining Moment's narrator) makes some sharp points about the U.S. government of years past and present in a 10-minute interview. Rather than summarize her thoughts, here's the crux of her argument, an argument that makes painfully clear the desperate need for humane, idealistic politicians like McGovern in today's bleak political landscape:

"George W. Bush. Donald Rumsfeld. Dick Cheney. They've never gone to war, yet they are sending young men and women to fight their war. You have Bush and Cheney criss-crossing the country, fundraising. And yet, when was the last time either of them even went to a soldier's funeral? They haven't gone to a soldier's funeral from Afghanistan or from Iraq. These men are clearly not working for us. They're not working for the United States. They're not shoring-up democracy, they're subverting it. And they're making the world a very dangerous place."

One Bright Shining Moment offers a fleeting glimpse of what might have been. -- Jonathan Doyle