Rats in the Ranks

Riveting and darkly comic examination of council politics, with many pithy visual juxtapositions by the camera crew. I would swear up and down that this was a mockumentary, if I didn't know for a fact that it was real. It's amazing how amateurish Hand's opponents seem next to him; the man presents himself as an immensely gifted small-scale politician, and I don't mean that in a good way.

Haven't seen it for ages, but everything about this film is great, from the fake niceness of the ALP Left types, to the background role of the unmanipulable, unbuyable Orogood, to the 'intervention' of the ALP Left parliamentarian, to the planning of the protagonist and how pleased he looks when he gets to put on the robe again, to the final, eponymous comment of the screwed-over ALP Right guys. A wonderful film and almost entirely in accord with my own experiences of those worlds.

Larry Hand is one of the great characters of cinema. So many great scenes. 2022 update: It is worth noting that the ALP figure who comes up with the "solution" but prefers to remain off camera was not at that time a member of the parliament of Australia but is today (since March 2022) its prime minister.

The focus on the relatively inconsequential matter of a small-town mayoral election gets to the core of politics, and as dramatic as it is, this may be the most dryly accurate depiction of politics ever produced. Disappointing? Cynical? Comical? How could it be any other way?