“Killing Kennedy” Movie Analysis

Killing Kennedy describes the presidency and assassination of 35th American President John F. Kennedy and his murderer’s life up to the point of the crime. The story is depicted from 1959 when Kennedy was getting ready to announce his presidentship, while Lee Harvey Oswald, his murderer, is shown to be at American Embassy in the Soviet Union, where he tried to give up his U. S. citizenship (Killing Kennedy). There were historical footage and dramatic reenactments in the film when the politician’s life was represented. Difficult decisions, turning points in world politics, and his worries were demonstrated in the cinematography (Killing Kennedy). It should be noted that Kennedy was not described as the positive role model in the picture, as there were scenes of his affairs in the pool. The latter character was the former Marine and claimed to be a Marxist (Killing Kennedy). His disillusion with the U.S. made him believe that he was under the control of the FBI. Moreover, there were scenes of domestic violence when he beat his Russian wife (Killing Kennedy). The lifepaths of these two personalities crossed in 1963 when the murder took place that changed the course of history (Killing Kennedy). The plot of the film is very close to the historical events of the 1960s.

The film raises the issues of domestic violence, problems of trust, and failure of people management. First, Marina had no voice in the family where Lee was a dominating person (Killing Kennedy). She was depicted as somebody who was forced to move from her country and was heavily discriminated against according to her gender and origin. Next, Lee had problems with trusting people, and he could not believe his mother, wife, and was suspecting FBI agents and did not cooperate (Killing Kennedy). Finally, there was a question of effective people management, which FBI agents failed to reach in their service (Killing Kennedy). In such a way, there are three significant problems demonstrated in the movie.

I believe that the primary purpose of the film is to depict the historical background of the assassination of influential political personalities and interpret the event. Hence its major theme is the actions and reasons for the murder, the perspectives of both sides, and the consequences of the difference in viewpoints. The actor’s play was accurate as the traits of characters in the film were shown quite concisely (Killing Kennedy). The small pieces of the historical videos inserted in the movie created an immersion effect in past events. The parallel line developed in the course of the story was an effective way of character development (Killing Kennedy). The film might be disappointing to watch for someone elderly, but young people might find it interesting to comprehend at least because of the issues it raises. Overall, I believe the creators achieved their purpose in the direction.

Although there could be some inconsistencies with what I have discovered about this topic before, I believe that the film plot is generally historically accurate. To develop the characters, the film directors had to dramatize the life of both central figures (Killing Kennedy). Closer to the end of the film, the side characters enter the picture more intensively. Therefore, to make the movie more exciting and intriguing to watch, it had to deviate from the plain historical facts. Some could argue that the film highlighted the issues more instead of making the president a positive role model, but it was not the primary purpose of the film. Hence, even though some of the points lacked further development, the film delivered its message efficiently.

Work Cited

Killing Kennedy. Directed by Nelson McCormick, National Geographic Channel, 2013.