This film, called 'Parkland', opens by informing the audience that on the 22nd of November 1963, President John F Kennedy was assassinated, while on a visit to Dallas, Texas.
Parkland is the name of the hospital that the shot President was taken to.
Early scenes show real-life footage of JFK, mixed in with dramatized scenes. This works well and gives this film a real documentary feel.
The film is not about the assassination or the main participants as such, but rather this is the background, and the film concentrates on ordinary people who were caught up in the assassination.
A very fine balance has been achieved by the film-makers. Events are not shown directly but rather through the eyes of the unwilling participants. So we see an excited Abraham Zapruder looking forward to seeing his President. We see him filming, though we do not see what he is filming. We do see the reaction of Abraham Zapruder.
We do not see the shooting, but do see the chaos and confusion after the shooting. An ordinary day at the hospital changes as the bloodied President is brought in. The scenes are grim; the party of the President, and the hospital staff, all are covered in blood. The President himself is shown only partially. Major wounds are not shown.
Abraham Zapruder filmed the assassination. His was the only complete film of the whole event. Law enforcement agencies needed to see the film. They do and so does Abraham Zapruder. We, the audience, though, merely see the Zapruder film as a small reflection off the glasses of Abraham Zapruder, or in some similar way, that saves us from watching the brutal reality.
Those who failed to protect their President are shown doing their best to protect Jacqueline Kennedy and Lyndon B Johnson, and also trying with dignity to travel back to Washington DC. It is the decent touches, the small things, that ordinary people do, throughout the film, that impress.
Of course, law enforcement officials are concerned to get the killer. When Lee Harvey Oswald is revealed as a suspect, this sends shock-waves through law-enforcement. His family too have to come to terms with this situation. This is shown well.
Film, two of whose producers are Tom Hanks and Bill Paxton, is based on the book 'Four Days in November' by Vincent Bugliosi. This respected lawyer prosecuted Charles Manson and later wrote a best-selling book about the trial. In later years he has written about legal matters such as the OJ Simpson trial. His 'Reclaiming History: The Assassination of President John F Kennedy' was written to destroy the arguments of the conspiracy-theorists.
The Lee Harvey Oswald of this film is an enigma, reflecting reality. The part is a small one in the film. In real life, the facts are well known and generally accepted. Lee Harvey Oswald was a Marine, who had been trained as a sharpshooter and marksman, he has been described as "an excellent shot". In 1959 he had defected to the USSR, returning with his Russian wife, in 1962. Earlier in 1963 he bought a rifle and shot at a retired soldier. 16/10/63 he started work at the Texas School Book Depository which President Kennedy's motorcade drove past.
This film concentrates on the ordinary people at the site of the shooting and at the hospital, as well as the bodyguards and law enforcement officials, and the families. This does not lessen the impact of this film, rather it heightens it, as we see the horror through their eyes. Filmed in a documentary style that puts us there, only very occasionally did the camera swing too quickly. Thus filming style is much superior to the recent 'Captain Phillips'. Background music too, intruded unnecessarily, only to a very limited degree.
All actors played their parts superbly, and so no one can be singled out for special praise. The acting, along with costumes and sets, makes us the viewer feel we are watching a documentary made at the time. We are totally sucked in. Having said that however, the subject matter makes this film very difficult viewing.
From the film, it is clear that this was the biggest failure in the history of law enforcement in America. It is stated so, in the film, in blunter language. The USA experienced further assassinations of major political figures, later in the sixties. In the eighties, the singer-songwriter John Lennon was shot dead. However on the 30/3/81 an assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan failed. He became the first President of the USA to survive being shot in an assassination attempt. Since then however there has also been 911.
The constitution of the USA allows it's citizens to bear arms. It also provides that if a President dies in office, the Vice-President is sworn in as replacement. This film depicts the day when President Kennedy, like President Lincoln before him, was assassinated. President Johnson would go on to implement many of the ideas of President Kennedy. These days the citizens of the USA still retain the right to bear arms but it's Presidents rarely if ever travel in open-topped cars.
Rated 15 in the UK, 'Parkland' is a bloody and factual film of a sad day. 10/10.
Parkland is the name of the hospital that the shot President was taken to.
Early scenes show real-life footage of JFK, mixed in with dramatized scenes. This works well and gives this film a real documentary feel.
The film is not about the assassination or the main participants as such, but rather this is the background, and the film concentrates on ordinary people who were caught up in the assassination.
A very fine balance has been achieved by the film-makers. Events are not shown directly but rather through the eyes of the unwilling participants. So we see an excited Abraham Zapruder looking forward to seeing his President. We see him filming, though we do not see what he is filming. We do see the reaction of Abraham Zapruder.
We do not see the shooting, but do see the chaos and confusion after the shooting. An ordinary day at the hospital changes as the bloodied President is brought in. The scenes are grim; the party of the President, and the hospital staff, all are covered in blood. The President himself is shown only partially. Major wounds are not shown.
Abraham Zapruder filmed the assassination. His was the only complete film of the whole event. Law enforcement agencies needed to see the film. They do and so does Abraham Zapruder. We, the audience, though, merely see the Zapruder film as a small reflection off the glasses of Abraham Zapruder, or in some similar way, that saves us from watching the brutal reality.
Those who failed to protect their President are shown doing their best to protect Jacqueline Kennedy and Lyndon B Johnson, and also trying with dignity to travel back to Washington DC. It is the decent touches, the small things, that ordinary people do, throughout the film, that impress.
Of course, law enforcement officials are concerned to get the killer. When Lee Harvey Oswald is revealed as a suspect, this sends shock-waves through law-enforcement. His family too have to come to terms with this situation. This is shown well.
Film, two of whose producers are Tom Hanks and Bill Paxton, is based on the book 'Four Days in November' by Vincent Bugliosi. This respected lawyer prosecuted Charles Manson and later wrote a best-selling book about the trial. In later years he has written about legal matters such as the OJ Simpson trial. His 'Reclaiming History: The Assassination of President John F Kennedy' was written to destroy the arguments of the conspiracy-theorists.
The Lee Harvey Oswald of this film is an enigma, reflecting reality. The part is a small one in the film. In real life, the facts are well known and generally accepted. Lee Harvey Oswald was a Marine, who had been trained as a sharpshooter and marksman, he has been described as "an excellent shot". In 1959 he had defected to the USSR, returning with his Russian wife, in 1962. Earlier in 1963 he bought a rifle and shot at a retired soldier. 16/10/63 he started work at the Texas School Book Depository which President Kennedy's motorcade drove past.
This film concentrates on the ordinary people at the site of the shooting and at the hospital, as well as the bodyguards and law enforcement officials, and the families. This does not lessen the impact of this film, rather it heightens it, as we see the horror through their eyes. Filmed in a documentary style that puts us there, only very occasionally did the camera swing too quickly. Thus filming style is much superior to the recent 'Captain Phillips'. Background music too, intruded unnecessarily, only to a very limited degree.
All actors played their parts superbly, and so no one can be singled out for special praise. The acting, along with costumes and sets, makes us the viewer feel we are watching a documentary made at the time. We are totally sucked in. Having said that however, the subject matter makes this film very difficult viewing.
From the film, it is clear that this was the biggest failure in the history of law enforcement in America. It is stated so, in the film, in blunter language. The USA experienced further assassinations of major political figures, later in the sixties. In the eighties, the singer-songwriter John Lennon was shot dead. However on the 30/3/81 an assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan failed. He became the first President of the USA to survive being shot in an assassination attempt. Since then however there has also been 911.
The constitution of the USA allows it's citizens to bear arms. It also provides that if a President dies in office, the Vice-President is sworn in as replacement. This film depicts the day when President Kennedy, like President Lincoln before him, was assassinated. President Johnson would go on to implement many of the ideas of President Kennedy. These days the citizens of the USA still retain the right to bear arms but it's Presidents rarely if ever travel in open-topped cars.
Rated 15 in the UK, 'Parkland' is a bloody and factual film of a sad day. 10/10.