Analysis of Thirteen Days Directed by Robert Donaldson
“Good evening my fellow citizens…This Government, as promised, has maintained the closest surveillance of the Soviet Military buildup on the island of Cuba. Within the past week, unmistakable evidence has established the fact that a series of offensive missile sites is now in preparation on that imprisoned island. The purpose of these bases can be none other than to provide a nuclear strike capability against the Western Hemisphere.” These are the exact words spoken by John F. Kennedy in his address to the nation on October 22, 1962. The president had finally told the American people what was happening with the crisis in Cuba and what that government was determined to do about it. Bruce Greenwood, the actor who started as JFK in “Thirteen Days”, could not have been better in delivering this speech. It was as if you were witnessing that day in 1962. The entire film was brilliant written by David Self, working tirelessly with primary sources from Ernest May and Phillip Zelikow’s book The Kennedy Tapes – Inside the White House During the Cuban Missile Crisis. While it seems at times that Self forces Kevin Costner’s character, Ken O’Donnell, onto the audience, the entire film flows very well, a near-perfect recreation of the dramatic thirteen days.
The entire crisis began following the failed Bay of Pigs invasion, following which some called for President Kennedy’s resignation. When Castro appealed to the USSR for kelp, Khrushchev delivered missiles with the capability of launching a nuclear strike against the US. Thinking that Kennedy would take no action, Khrushchev began helping Cuba with the missile supply. These buildups were caught on film by the U2 spy planes flying reconnaissance missions over the area. When the photos were shown to the President the crisis began. While the background of the crisis is not black and white, it is referred to during the film using simple remarks, but used by Self to help the audience understand what exactly was taking place.
The film takes the audience through the entire thirteen days of the crisis, moving in and out of different meetings and conferences. The plot is very true to reality as so are many of the character. Both Greenwood and Stephen Culp, the actor who played Robert Kennedy, studied their characters’ voices and defining characteristics ve...
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...ife. One very interesting thing is that they have historians discussing the film in the extras, and they were blown away by its portrayal of the events. The film doesn’t drag on by switching from meeting to meeting just re-reading historical documents, but has everything a great historical drama should. Every film made should take a look at how carefully the director and writer went over the actual facts and documents to interpret the events as historically accurate as possible.
Bibliography
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Cuban Missile Crisis Memorandum of Meeting, October 17, 1962 (Avalon Project of Yale Law School)
Brinkley, David. The Kennedy Circle; Luce. 1961
Minutes of the 506th Meeting of the National Security Council. October 21, 1962 (Avalon Project of Yale Law School)
"Cuban Missile Crisis," Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2004
http://encarta.msn.com © 1997-2004 Microsoft Corporation.
“Radio and Television Report to the American People on the Soviet Arms Buildup in Cuba” . President John F. Kennedy. The White House. October 22, 1962 (jfklibrary.org)
Thirteen Days is an autobiography written by Robert F. Kennedy. It is based upon the memories of RFK during the Cuban missile crisis. He vividly recalls the thirteen days between October 16 and October 28, 1962. Within these thirteen days, havoc and stress faced the White House, especially to Senator RFK and his brother, President John F. Kennedy. The story is about the handling of the crisis by one brother and the personal account of the other. The two worked together to keep America and the world safe.
One day, in the early 60s the US Government discovered that the Soviet Union had a nuclear missile on the island of Cuba. So, the US government asked the Soviets to get rid of them. It was a bold thing to do because anything could have happened. Things between the US and the Soviets were already tense because of the cold war. For fourteen days, tension grew between the nations. Not knowing if this missile aimed and ready to fire at the US. Kennedy decided to give this speech the “Cuban Missile Crisis Address”. The address was used was to announce there will be a naval blockade on Cuba until the crisis is solved. This address was very effective because Kennedy did not say he was going to start
Thirteen days is a historical account of the Cuban Missile Crisis. It is told from the perspective of Robert F. Kennedy, senator and brother to President John F. Kennedy. It is an account of the thirteen days in October of 1962. It lasted from the 16th to the 28th. During this time many crucial events in United States.
Even though they were still in the middle of the Cold War, Russia and America were able to somewhat civilly make an equal agreement. The Soviets and Fidel Castro would remain allies, but would remove all missiles placed there prior, under the circumstances that America would lift the blockade and never invade Cuba. War was avoided, and America was proven to be the superior superpower since Russia backed down and retreated. It took nearly two weeks to solve this possible worldwide, life threatening crisis. During these thirteen days, President Kennedy proved that he wasn’t a weak, cowardly leader, and that he would take a stand in order to protect his people – showing the world that America wouldn’t just sit and let something happen, they would take action.
On October 22nd, 1962, President John F. Kennedy delivered the famous "Cuban Missile Crisis Address to the Nation" speech in response to Nikita Khrushchev’s act of placing nuclear and flying missiles on the island directly south of the United States: Cuba. The purpose of the speech was to alert the nation of the situation and inform them on how it would be handled. This speech successfully won the attention and respect of the American and Russian people through the use of multiple rhetorical devices.
May, Ernest R. “John F Kennedy and the Cuban MIssile Crisis.” BBC News. BBC., 18 Nov. 2013.
"Cuban Missile Crisis." - John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Apr. 2014.
The Cuban Missile Crisis began with a set of photographs taken over Cuba by an American pilot.2 These photographs showed that Russians were building missile bases in Cuba and placing missiles and atomic weapons there that were easily within range of the United States. President JFK and Robert Kennedy were both stunned. From this point a board of advisors was created and called the Ex Comm, who met every day during those thirteen days and debated the various courses of actions, and consequences of each, that the president could take. Kennedy emphasizes the making of this board as a lesson for future government officials because he believes that it "proved conclusively how important it is that the President have the recommendations and opinions of more than one...point of view."3
The movie Thirteen Days is 2000 docudrama and is directed by Roger Donaldson who is Australian and tries to portray the film in a serious manor. The movie is based on the 13 days of the Cuban Missile Crisis, and shows the perspective of the US political leadership, specifically Special Assistant to the president Kenny O’Donnell, President John F. Kennedy and the Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy. This film is not based on the book of the same name written by Robert F. Kennedy like the first docudrama film about the Cuban Missile Crisis, The Missiles of October; this film was meticulously researched and was based on The Kennedy Tapes: inside the white house during the Cuban Missile Crisis which was written by Ernest May and Phillip Zelikow. This is a positive for the film because Thirteen Days had the possibility to become an almost accurate film due to the declassification of important documents, but this was not the case due to the ‘Hollywood effect’ which is a key reason why this film is not history but entertainment. This film exposes how close America actually came to a Nuclear Holocaust. In this essay I shall cover all the positives and negatives to show whether or not the film is a good source of history but or actually was made for entertainment purposes. There are two main historical issues with this film that make it more entertainment than History; the first being Kevin Costner’s portrayal of Special Assistant Kenny O’Donnell, although the film is seen through his eyes and shows him to be in John F. Kennedy inner circle; in reality he may not have played an important role as the film portrays, since he was only Kennedy’s appointment secretary not the Personal advisor he is portrayed as in this film. Another historical w...
Stern, Sheldon M., The week the world stood still: inside the Cuban Missile Crisis, Stanford, 2005, p. 150
After obtaining Fidel Castro's approval, the Soviet Union worked quickly and secretly to build missile installations in Cuba. On October 16, President John Kennedy was shown reconnaissance photographs of Soviet missile installations under construction in Cuba. After seven days of guarded and intense debate in the United States administration, during which Soviet diplomats denied that installations for offensive missiles were being built in Cuba, President Kennedy, in a televised address on October 22, announced the discovery of the installations and proclaimed that any nuclear missile attack from Cuba would be regarded as an attack by the Soviet Union and would be responded to accordingly. He also imposed a naval quarantine on Cuba to prevent further Soviet shipments of offensive military weapons from arriving there.
The Cuban Missile Crisis lasted two weeks in the midst of the Cold War, and brought the world closer to nuclear war than ever before. In October of 1962 multiple nuclear missiles of the Soviet Union’ s were discovered in Cuba, a mere 90 miles south of the United States. Given the communist ties between Cuba and the USSR, this poised a considerable threat to our national security. Throughout the 14 days the two leaders, John F. Kennedy and Nikita Khrushchev struggled to clearly understand each others‘ genuine intentions. Actions taken by each state during this crisis demonstrates the realist point of view, in a variety of ways. The fundamentals of Realism will be explored and explained along with actions taken during this crisis from a realist point of view.
Cuban mistrust and nationalism, was resulting to secret agreements allowing the Soviet Union to build a missile base on the island. The U.S. found out those plans setting off a fourteen-day standoff. U.S. shi...
The Cuban Missile Crisis was one of the most important events in United States history; it’s even easy to say world history because of what some possible outcomes could have been from it. The Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962 was a major Cold War confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union. After the Bay of Pigs Invasion the USSR increased its support of Fidel Castro's Cuban regime, and in the summer of 1962, Nikita Khrushchev secretly decided to install ballistic missiles in Cuba. President Kennedy and the other leaders of our country were faced with a horrible dilemma where a decision had to be made. Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara outlined three possible courses of action for the president:
Roger Donaldson’s film, Thirteen Days dramatizes the Kennedy administration reaction to the Cuban Missile Crisis. The film discusses a time when the United States had come close to a nuclear war with other nations. The film mainly focuses on showing the audience the United States perspective of the crisis. The Cuban Missile crisis was a thirteen-day long confrontation between the United States, Cuba, and the Soviet Union. This crisis started out when both the United States and the Soviet Union wanted to be seen as the most superior nation in the world. Therefore, both nations decided to use the technology they had in order to produce nuclear missiles and other weapons to show the globe how powerful they were as nations. The United States and