The Watergate Caper: Richard Nixon and the Death of the American Dream

A dense, archival plunge into paranoia and political rot, equal parts fascinating and dispiriting, with a wry satirical edge.

Directed by

Shane O'Sullivan

Genres

History, Documentary, Crime

Starring

Richard Nixon, Daniel Ellsberg, Richard Helms

Tagline

"Others may hate you, but those who hate you don't win unless you hate them, and then you destroy yourself" - President Richard Nixon

Overview

The Watergate Caper is an archival documentary, narrated by Harry Shearer (This is Spinal Tap), tracing the rise and fall of Nixon from the presidential primaries of 1968 through the Watergate break-in of June 1972 to his resignation two years later, killing trust in the political process and the American presidency in the wake of the Vietnam War. The film draws on hundreds of hours of TV news taped off-air by the Nixon White House to tell the untold story of the Watergate burglars. How did tapping the wrong phone with a bug that didn't work lead to their arrests and Nixon's resignation? It also explores representations of the Nixon years in popular culture, using the music, commercials, and cinema of the era to evoke a fevered political landscape of culture wars, dirty tricks, paranoia and assassination.

How it feels

Dark, satirical, tense and cynical. Measured and needs your attention.

About

Politics, corruption, power, deception

Content

Mild violence, sexual content and language. No gore.

Note

Written by AI, so it can be wrong. Full breakdown

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Watch the trailer on YouTube (opens in a new tab)