As the dominant popular art form of the 20^th Century film is a very tempting medium for the transmission of political ideas. Film either on television or in the cinema allows an issue to be expanded on or a story to be told in some depth.

Further by adopting the visual language and tools of the popular film maker, the ideologue can transmit a message to a public who would otherwise find reading a tract such as "Mein Kampf" unbearable. To an extent the political aspect of most films is designed to register in a subliminal manner.

If you doubt the strength of film as a political took consider that under the Nazi's Joseph Goebbels the propaganda minister controlled film production. In the former Soviet Block all films were commissioned by and paid for by the party. Even the capitalist system promotes itself through film.

There are three main forms of film that have political subtexts.

*Documentary films such as "Feed", "Triumph of the Will", "Olympia".

*Feature films such as "Bob Roberts", "Wag the Dog" or "Pretty Woman"

*Animation such as "Animal Farm" and "Maus" or the Disney cartoons produced throughout World War 2.

The Documentary film maker tries to present a rounded balanced view of an issue, event or person. Most documentaries are filmed cheaply using 8mm film or video. Many documentary film makers rely on natural light. However this is not the universal situation. Two of the greatest documentaries ever made "Triumph of the Will" and "Olympia" were commissioned by Hitler to showcase the Nazi's 'perfect society'. Leni Riefenstahl (Director) was working with a huge budget and not only utilized many of the techniques of feature film makers, but invented a number of her own. Both films achieved their aims- promoting the glory of the Nazi Party.

Animation is a powerful tool for a political film maker, as it is not bounded by reality. Therefore it is possible to create a very powerful message, one with a number of layers of meaning embedded within it. A good example is the 1950's version of "Animal Farm" George Orwell's anti-totalitarian tract. "Animal Farm uses animals to highlight the old maxim "Power corrupts, but absolute power corrupts absolutely". Merging the pigs with men and so on creates powerful imagery that appeals on the sub-conscious level. Other films such as "Maus" which depicts the Jews of the Holocaust as mice prey to the Nazi cats.

Feature Film , the Hollywood movie is the most popular type of film, it is also the one with the most levels of meaning embedded beneath the surface. A Hollywood film such as "Pretty Woman" has a political subtext as assuredly as a film like "Doctor Strangelove" In the case of "Pretty Woman" the message is the capitalist one of money beign a root to happiness.