オリバー・ストーンの映画
このたび、まだ現役のブッシュ大統領についての新作「W.」を発表したストーン監督。
かつてJ.F.KやNixonという映画を製作したこの方は、今から１０年前にキング牧師とRFKのドキュメンタリー映画にもプロデューサーとして関与していたのですね。
それが、Assassinated: The Last Days of King and Kennedy。
New York Timesのレビューがありました。
The public journeys of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy come together tomorrow in ''Assassinated: The Last Days of King and Kennedy.'' As the unequaled black leader and the untested white politician moved toward their early deaths, they found themselves united in the causes of peace, racial equality and economic uplift.
The men emerge through the memories of those who worked with them, were inspired by them, loved them. They may not be the coolest historians, but for millions of others, too, King and Kennedy represented a hope of reconciliation even as the nation seemed to be unraveling. This first documentary by Oliver Stone's new television production team establishes their place amid the drama and turmoil of the times. (Rest easy; despite Mr. Stone's reputation, no conspiracy theories are promoted in these two hours.)
Moving back and forth between King and Kennedy, ''Assassination'' brings back the events that shook the nation and transformed the men: the murder of John F. Kennedy; the war in Vietnam; the race riots. As the war kept escalating, King divided the civil rights movement by attacking the Johnson Administration. Robert Kennedy found his cause in visits to impoverished sections of Mississippi.
From family members, we get King's shifting moods of exhilaration at the victories of nonviolence and depression at mob riots, and Kennedy's energy and passion once he was caught up in a cause. If King was a prophet, Kennedy was a crusader. The young politician's calculations for entering the 1968 Democratic primaries are played down by these friendly observers; his aspirations to moral leadership are emphasized and perhaps exaggerated.
The documentary is particularly sharp at catching the perilous times, the high emotions, the craziness in the air. Both men knew the risks they courted in their public appearances. Warned of threats, Kennedy insisted on carrying on with his Presidential campaign. King's reflections turned to mortality; in a famous speech that only increases in power with the years, he tells his followers of seeing the promised land: ''I may not get there with you.''
In the program's inspiring ending, Kennedy is seen walking behind the mule wagon in the King funeral procession. A few weeks later, mourners are lined up along the 200-mile train route of his own last journey.
A mourner for both men says, ''Suddenly within a few weeks the two bright lights that were shining in this country had gone out, and hell, we were in the dark.''
RFKのモラル・リーダーシップへの大望が強調され、おそらく誇張されているという指摘が面白い。どんな風に編集してるのかなあ。
そして、二人の死を嘆くある人が
突然、数週間の内に、この国に輝いていた二つの明るい光が去ってしまった。そして、なんてことか、我々は闇の中にいたんだ。
と言ったというのが、重い。
