Originally from Ireland, the Kennedys escaped during the starvation in the beginning of the 20th century. The family earned a living quick, so the young John attended Harvard University. In 1960, he beat the much older republican politician, Nixon with just 0,2%, and started his regiment on 20 January 1961. He was the first president, who used the media efficiently: his radio speeches and articles reached millions. He was somewhere between politics and popculture, with his famous friend/mistress, Marilyn Monroe, singing Happy Birthday Mr. President, and his wife becoming a style icon and inspiring movies. He was beloved and he is considered to be successful ever since, except for his mistake during the Cuban rocket crisis, that almost led to a 3rd World War.

But all these facts did’t made him as famous as his assassination did, and the scandals surrounding it.

On his way to death

Kennedy got murdered in Dallas, Texas on 22 November 1963. His visit has been a part of his campaign, where he tried to establish his position and placate the different fractions of the Democratic Party. The president was going to a public speech in his open car. When they passed the corner of Elm and Houston Street, shots were fired. Jackie and the governor of Texas got injured, but John got shot on his back, and the bullet escaped around his gorge.

The perpetrator

An employer of the library, from which the shots were fired, Lee Harvey Oswald was suspected to have committed the murder. He got caught that night, in a theater, where he killed a cop too. He had no easy life: he grew up without a father, partly in a penitentiary. In 1963, he was 24 years old. He was known to have physiological disorders as well as a inferiority complex. He spent a few years in the Soviet Union, and ever since he was an active communist.

He never got to know, what the verdict was, since he got murdered two days following the attack. When the policemen brought him to the basement of the police station, a man called Jacob Leon Rubenstein (known as Jack Ruby) jumped out of the crowd and finished him off. He was a bar-owner with Jewish origins, who insisted that his love and respect for the president motivated him to become a murderer himself.

The verdict

Since this was one of the most famous crimes in the American history, a special corp, the Warren Commission was trusted to find out the truth. They declared that Oswald was a lonely murderer with no group or organization behind him. But we have to wait a few more years to be sure, since they encrypted the details of the investigation for 75 years.

However, this assassination was on the covers for years, and the CIA, the KGB and even mafia got accused by the media ever since.

Biographical movies always mean a great challenge to both the director and the protagonist. How to capture the features, all the small and almost unnoticeable details? What’s even more important than carefully adopting these precise observations, is to get the gist of a human being, the essence, the reasons, the spirit.

Chilean director Pablo Larraín wasn’t afraid to show Portman’s face at all, the film abounds with beautiful close ups, letting us know that Natalie Portman did the job: she doesn’t even need words to express the depths and charisma of Jackie Kennedy’s  character, the way she looks and holds herself create a perfect image of the former First Lady. The concept of the movie offers a somewhat intimate perspective, as Jacqueline Kennedy recalls the shocking details and the aftermath of the assassination. Wearing a bloody coat and skirt, still in tears but refusing to get rid of the stained clothes, we all get to sense the heartache along with the grace and strength of a woman, who has just been widowed. The most important element of the film is probably the light it casts not only on the First Lady, but on the Kennedy couple, as well. The sobbing and the inconsolable sorrow of Jackie states that John F. Kennedy was not only the 35th President of the United States, but he was also a man, a husband, father, brother and son.

After such tragedies, people are likely to question their own beliefs and moral standards as everything they used to believe in seems to lose its meaning in these difficult times. The movie didn’t shy away from this, either: Portman’s deep conversations with a priest paint a very truthful and lively picture of humanity and the way we all try to deal with the loss of a loved one.

We’re definitely cheering for Portman to turn her Golden Globe – and probable Academy Award – nomination into another statuette!

The movie arrives to the Hungarian cinemas on 9 February!

• Robert Francis Kennedy 1925. november 20-án született, Brookline-ban, Massachusetts államban
• Összesen nyolc (!) testvére volt
• Édesapja politikusi mivoltából kifolyólag a család sokat költözött – a kis Robert élt többek között Angliában is, ahová apját nagykövetnek helyezték ki
• Kennedy korábban befejezte a gimnáziumot, csak hogy jelentkezhessen az amerikai tengerészethez kiképzésre (a Harvardra járt, miközben tartott a felkészülés) – végül majdnem két évig szolgált
• Az egyetem alatt természetesen amerikai focizott – az első meccsen touchdownt szerzett
• 25 évesen, 1950-ben vette feleségül szerelmét, Ethel Skakel-t
• Politikai karrierjét legfőképpen bátyjának, John F. Kennedynek köszönheti, akinek az elnöki kampányán segédkezett – majd követte őt egyenesen a Fehér Házba
• Aktivitásával és lelkesedésével messze kitűnt mindenki közül, végül az elnök személyes igazságügyi tanácsadójává avanzsált
• Nagy szerepet játszott abban, hogy bizonyos államokban eltörölték a halálbüntetést
• Bátyja, az elnök meggyilkolása után nagyon sokáig volt maga alatt – mikor egy filmet készített bátyja életéről, megjelenésekor a premier közönsége 22 percig tapsolt, mielőtt egyáltalán megszólalhatott volna

Robert F. Kennedy is jól mutatja, hogy mennyire fontos a családi összetartás. Talán bátyja nem is jut el az elnökségig, ha Robert nem segíti és támogatja, ahol éri. Nos, le a kalappal Robert! És boldog szülinapot!



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