Political drama has a long and illustrious history in Hollywood. Today, "House of Cards" is regarded as the very best in the genre.
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Series, satires, biopics: US politics on the American screen
Film and TV have always been part of US politics. Legends like James Stewart and Henry Fonda played American politicians back then; today it's Kevin Spacey in "House of Cards."
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Fiction and reality: House of Cards
When "House of Cards" aired for the first time in 2013, many people thought things could never be that bad in reality. With Donald Trump at the helm, that has changed. The series ruthlessly portrays how election campaigns are fought and won. Today, viewers would say that sadly, it is realistic after all.
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Political idealist I: Mr. Smith goes to Washington
Almost 80 years ago, film directors and producers painted a very different picture of politicians: heroic, idealistic. The 1939 film "Mr. Smith goes to Washington" with James Stewart in the role of the newly appointed senator is a good example for the "hopeful" undetone of politcal dramas of that era.
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Political idealist II: Young Mr. Lincoln
Henry Fonda also made sure moviegoers felt good about their politicians. In the 1939 biopic "Young Mr. Lincoln," Fonda portrays the future president in his early years - kind and benevolent.
Director Barry Levinson's 1997 "Wag the Dog" was a veritable fireworks of political jokes and satirical side blows. The story unabashedly pokes fun at US politics: a film producer (Dustin Hoffman) and an election campaign manager (Robert de Niro) do whatever is necessary to keep a US president in power.
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Election campaign satire II: Bulworth
A year later, director and leading actor Warren Beatty took a brutally honest look at election campaigns and US politics in the political comedy "Bulworth." Idealism is sorely lacking in the portrayal of a Democratic Senator running for reelection.
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Series : Commander in Chief
US film producers and writers soon discovered politics as a topic for TV series. ABC ran "Commander in Chief" with Geena Davis starring as the first female US president - a sensational scenario - years before "House of Cards" hit the screens.
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Series: The West Wing
"The West Wing" tells the story of a US president's everyday life, a huge success from 1999 to 2006. The series won many awards, drew large audiences, and in seven seasons and 154 episodes gave people what experts called a realistic idea of how politics worked in the White House.
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Campaign trail: The Ides of March
George Clooney's 2011 film "The Ides of March" was shot more in the tradition of political feature films in the 1970s. Clooney plays a democratic presidential candidate, supported by young Stephen Meyers (Ryan Gosling). "The Ides of March" paints an intelligent, complex picture of the mechanisms of US election campaigns.
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Political satire: The Campaign
This 2012 political satire comedy directed by Jay Roach had Americans flocking to movie theaters and reeling with laughter. With its crude humor, "The Campaign" was a completely irreverent look at politics and elections in the US.
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US export: Our brand is crisis
In the 2015 drama film "Our brand is crisis" starring Sandra Bullock, US election campaign strategies make it all the way to Bolivia. The film is based on true events from the 2002 Bolivian presidential election.
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Emergency plan: Designated Survivor
The Netflix series "Designated Survivor" that premiered in 2016 took a new approach. After the president and everyone else in the line of succession die in an explosion, the administration's only remaining survivor suddenly finds himself President of the United States: Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (Kiefer Sutherland).
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Moore vs. Trump: Michael Moore in Trumpland
Just weeks before Donald Trump was elected 45th President of the United States, filmmaker Michael Moore released his documentary "Michael Moore in Trumpland." He let footage of the Trump election campaign speak for itself.
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"Do you think I'm a hypocrite?"
Frank Underwood, as played by Kevin Spacey, is not known to mince words in the US political drama series "House of Cards." "Well, you should," he adds. "I wouldn't disagree with you. The road to power is paved with hypocrisy. And casualties."
While none of this is as new as some have claimed since the series first aired in 2013, the brutally honest portrayal of political cynicism and a pure striving for power has never before been presented with such clarity. Hollywood and the major US TV broadcasters have engaged intensely in politics and election campaigns for years - but they have never been as drastic in their portrayal of politicians and their actions.
Award-winning series, devoted fans
Much has been said and written about the series. Initially, the saga about Frank and Claire Underwood won a lot of praise - in Germany, too, where the series was a notch above similar series and films.
German press has compared 'House of Cards' to a Leni Riefenstahl film Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Recently, however, there has also been criticism of the show that is in its fifth season.
Germany's Die Welt daily newspaper commented that "House of Cards" looks like something Nazi filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl could have filmed, with "Washington lit from below like a Nazi building" and Robin Wright as Claire Underwood jutting her chin into the camera like a javelin thrower in the 1936 Berlin Olympics. A "master race" is apparent in the series, the paper concluded.
In any case, it's not the first time Hollywood has taken on on the world of politics. James Stewart and Henry Fonda played heroic, emotional characters in the political arena. In the 1960s, political drama became more critical, putting reality on par with the audience's wish to be entertained. In that vein, "House of Cards" is a bluntly formulated continuation of the genre.
But the popular political drama has run into a huge problem that no one could have imagined when the series launched four years ago: Donald Trump. Reality has caught up with fiction.
Is reality trumping fiction when it comes to US politics? Image: Twitter/Arnd Riekmann
When season five hit the screens in May 2017, Trump had been in office for a few months. Compared to what the 45th president of the United States has said and done, the series is beginning to look a little lacklustre.
It's a matter of taste as to what's more entertaining these days: the Underwoods' fictional wheelings and dealings; or Donald Trump's daily tweets?
