By Forris Day JR
(Narrated by Kevin Spacey)
The television footage of John F. Kennedy’s assassination is probably some of the most analyzed film ever captured. People have spent the last 50 years looking at it frame by frame, pixel by pixel trying to discover what “really” happened. I say “really” because as you probably already know the killing on that November 22, 1963 day has generated dozens of conspiracy theories. Some may be true while others are just ridiculous. I am not a conspiracy theorist. I am not a fool either. I know that all we see is not really the whole story.
When I got my paws on a copy of “The Day Kennedy Died” I was at first thinking “Oh great, another version of what happened that day”. My first inclination that this film might be better than many others was the fact that is was a Smithsonian Channel presentation so it immediately got points for that. I was not disappointed.
“The Day Kennedy Died” is a minute by minute account of the hours up to and the days after United States President John F. Kennedy was killed. It is told through the eyes of several people who were there including the CIA agent who was only several feet away from the president when he was shot. There are interviews and first hand accounts from a man who worked with Lee Harvey Oswald, the assassin, and the woman who rented a room to Oswald. These people were dragged into American history unwittingly by a man, who on the outside was friendly and courteous, but on the inside had the darkest of evil churning in his gut.
The movie comprises of film and video compiled from many different angles and edited smoothly together giving you the feel that you are witnessing the events in real time. The story is narrated by Kevin Spacey in a very direct and factual way. There are no agendas, at least none that I could see, in the movie. Just a minute by minute fact-based presentation and I really liked that a lot. You can certainly take away what you want from the presentation but I liked how straightforward the information is given.
I learned some interesting facts too such as Kennedy’s motorcade was heading to a meeting with many area businessmen where Kennedy was set to speak. I also learned why he was in an open top convertible, something that seems strange. He wanted to feel available and accessible to Americans so he did not want the top up on his car. Would the top have saved him? It wasn’t bulletproof but maybe it would have diverted the bullets or blocked the view of the shooter. Who knows.
It also touches on President Kennedy’s wife Jackie and how popular she was in the eyes of the public. Again more stuff I did not know. I also got the sense, quite simply by seeing the footage, that Jackie was not happy but she really tried hard to be there for the President. A really nice documentary. Well worth the watch.
Rating 9/10 – “Straightforward history lesson”