Watergate

In his documentaries No End in Sight, about the invasion of Iraq, and Inside Job, about the financial crisis of 2008, Charles Ferguson brought us vivid, on-the-spot exposés of shattering geopolitical events. His masterful new film takes us more than 40 years into the past, providing a sweeping, epic narrative of growing presidential misconduct, and the lengthy, winding and meticulous investigative and judicial process that followed. On the brink of a constitutional crisis, the trials restored the rule of law and preserved the American political system. Ferguson interviews still-living participants, now in their 70s and 80s, who make compelling, sometimes wryly funny witnesses, and he uses Richard Nixon’s now-legendary tapes to recreate his most hair-raising rants to chilling effect. The contemporary relevance - with America’s political and legal system under new attacks - makes the film particularly potent. (Telluride Film Festival)