Oliver Stone's JFK -- What Makes This Movie Great? (Episode 55)

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Oliver Stone's 1991 movie JFK is part drama, part essay, part conspiracy theory. The movie presents viewers with the most exciting rundown of one version of who killed John F. Kennedy, the American President who was murdered in Dallas in 1963.
JFK stars a massive cast of famous actors: Kevin Costner, Jack Lemmon, Donald Sutherland, Tommy Lee Jones, Joe Pesci, Kevin Bacon, and on and on. It uses historical footage, reenactments, color photography and black and white, courtroom drama scenes, and everything else to get you to believe in and doubt its version of events.
I admire the editing and filmmaking in JFK tremendously, but I find that the movie defeats itself by making conspiracy theories seem obtuse and crazy. Although this is the opposite of what Stone intended, we have seen that since at least the 1990s, "conspiracy theory" has become a perjorative term. JFK doesn't just dabble in conspiracy theories; it says that they must exist and you must believe in them.
If you're new to the JFK assassination, the movie JFK is a decent place to start. It's the most wildly entertaining rundown of many of the JFK assassination details.
All reasonable comments welcome, including reasoned disagreements. I ban foolish talk on sight; it's a tremendous waste of life.
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1 июн 2024

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Комментарии : 45

@waltermartinez5890 2 года назад

JFK (1991) is a classic masterpiece. They dont make them like this anymore. And there will never be a young filmmaker with the same style like Oliver Stone

@RexBernard-kr7md 2 месяца назад

I hope they don’t make them anymore. This movie caused a generation to be misguided

@amster37 3 года назад

In my past life as a high school pop culture teacher, I paired this film with the ABC doc "Peter Jennings Reporting: The Kennedy Assassination--Beyond Conspiracy." Students were then asked to write about which they found to be more persuasive and why. The point was not to solve the assassination, rather to develop self awareness of how we interact with differing presentations of the same story. If you haven't seen the Jennings film, check it out. It deals directly with the Stone film. By the way, great analysis of the Stone film. As a historian, I loathe it. As a movie viewer, I love it. Cheers.

@LearningaboutMovies 3 года назад

very interesting!

@sanderhamerslag7050 3 года назад

I love how Stone uses various film formats and the use of color and black white film to make actual footage blend almost seamlessly together with what Stone( or Robert Richardson who deservedly won an Oscar for best cinematography) filmed creating a very immersive experience that draws the viewer in even more.The movie is a marvel of editing (Joe Hutshing and Pietro Scalia Oscar for best editing) although Stone would raise that bar again with the equally controversial Natural Born Killers which in many respects IMO is much overlooked and it's themes even have become more relevant in the passing of time. Where Natural Born Killers is a satire of and contemplation about mass media and it's and modern society's fascination with mayhem,murder and destruction JFK apart from being one of the (if not THE)best political thrillers is ultimately a contemplation about politics,democracy,war,power and the basis of that power. Add to that flawless acting performances of those involved and a gripping score by John Williams and you have on of the best movies of all time IMHO .I have this movie on 2nd place of my all time favorite movies(after Kubrick's 2001 A Space Odyssey)of my very extensive (over 1200 titles) movie collection.The movie may not be accurate all the time with presenting certain theories but as far as creating a believable illusion(which film in essence is)it passes gloriously and Stone at his best can be a true modern Wizard of Oz much like the late Stanley Kubrick.

@LearningaboutMovies 3 года назад

you remind me that I need to watch Natural Born Killers because it may say something to us in this period where most people are now aware of fake news and sensationalism in media.

@sanderhamerslag7050 3 года назад

@@LearningaboutMovies Yes and the harmful effects of too much TV /media and the fascination of modern culture with for example serial killers ,conspiracy theories,real life soaps and crime in general(considering the popularity of shows like Cops) also telling is that the movie ends with images of the O.J. Simpson chase and the Mendez brothers trial. But from an editing perspective the movie is again interesting because apart from all the editing stuff of JFK Stone also uses stock film footage,scene clips from popular and B-movies,TV shows ,video 8 footage,animated sequences,negative images where Stone often places these in the background as a sort of "landscape" of the inner thoughts of the main characters and to underline the almost cartoonish tone of the movie Also this movie has great acting in particular the over the top performances of Tommy Lee Jones and Robert Downey Jr (as a sort of Geraldo Rivera pastiche where the interview scenes between Mickey(Harrelson) and Downey's character very much mirrors Rivera's interview with Charles Manson)plus the great contemporary soundtrack and the story by Quentin Tarantino. In many respects Natural Born Killers falls under the same category as Kubrick's controversial A Clockwork Orange (where both movies have had real life incidents where people were influenced by the movie)and one could even argue that David Fincher's Fight Club also belongs to this category since all three examine the violent nature of modern society(all three from a different unique perspective).

@LearningaboutMovies 3 года назад

that's excellent. I saw this in college, back when it was controversial because of its depiction, yet no one I recall was talking about what you are. If indeed Stone packed all of that in the movie, it's worth studying.

@sanderhamerslag7050 3 года назад

@@LearningaboutMovies Well on the extras of the DVD there is a making of documentary where Oliver Stone raises a lot of these things and the intend of having a sort representation of the inner thoughts of the main characters that either are projected on the characters or in the background. Stone also references the Rivera-Manson interview on the commentary track during the prison sequence of movie and the lineage to Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange (although Kubrick's movie is more like a philosophical satire about violence,and to a lesser degree the social security society).And on the Fight Club commentary track David Fincher ,Edward Norton and Brad Pitt discuss the influence of both A Clockwork Orange and Natural Born Killers on their movie.Also both Kubrick and Stone pay homage in both movies to one of their previous movies .Kubrick has an LP with the 2001 A Space Odyssey soundtrack when Alex visits the record store and in one of Stone's inner landscape shots we see the scene of Pacino in the shower with chainsaw murder from De Palma's Scarface(for which Stone wrote the script).

@captainjakemerica4579 Год назад

JFK used the black and white style more effectively in JFK than Natural Born Killers that movie is an eyesore with the constant changes

@acrossbarrier 3 года назад

Despite less screen time, this was Gary Oldman's favourite role. Also , as per Ebert this movie's editing was great. One can learn a lot from this movie.

@LearningaboutMovies 3 года назад

this is one of the most complex editing jobs ever, and it's really amazing. I sometimes use this in film class to explain complicated scenes, although now I have to explain who JFK was to students.

@tahuaroa 2 года назад

just watched this today… great movie, fantastic cast. great review, keep up the good work. SUBBED

@LearningaboutMovies 2 года назад

thank you, and welcome to the channel.

@jamesbroady1280 2 года назад

One of my faves. The film has made the JFK assassination my favorite U.S. History subject. The rabbit hole goes so deep you'll end up in China once you dive in.

@LearningaboutMovies 2 года назад

As the movie suggests, the assassination extends to the CIA, foreign policy, and world events.

@CoachatCole Год назад

JFK was the first movie that used flashback scenes

@PaulWhytcross 2 месяца назад

In what parallel cinematic universe? Flashback scenes in film have been around since 1901.

@bobbysealejunior6590 3 года назад

Garrison was the DA of New Orleans, not Dallas.

@LearningaboutMovies 3 года назад

if I said Dallas, then thank you for that correction. The movie begins by showing him as the New Orleans DA.

@bobbysealejunior6590 3 года назад

Learning about Movies S’all good, my bro. 👍🏽

@captainjakemerica4579 Год назад

Pretty sure he stayed in New Orleans throughout the whole investigation

@ashulman2008 Месяц назад

this film s the most compelling nonsense in film history. Amazing but nuts

@nanettemacy9376 10 часов назад

Garrison was from New Orleans

@Back4Fungame 3 месяца назад

great

@judhudon6235 Год назад

So you're main idea is that Stone's style is fabulous but his message in flawed. Wow, that is some sort of supreme stupidity since the movie actually led to a second federal investigation that concluded that JFK's death was most likely a conspiracy at the highest level of our government. You also state that there are too many details for the viewer to assimilate. Still more bunk. I have watched JFK at least ten times and every time I come away with a deeper understanding of the killing. Indeed, this movie, along with some of the better books on the subject, have led me to suspect that "the Wall Street crowd," were the puppetmasters. I guess that makes me some sort of nut!

@LearningaboutMovies Год назад

So now if we don't believe the gay Louisiana mafia was involved, we are supremely stupid. Great take!

@9Ballr 4 месяца назад

The second federal investigation into the assassination of JFK by the HSCA was concluded in 1978, 13 years before the movie JFK was released. When the HSCA reviewed the draft of its final report on the JFK assassination in December, 1978, it concluded that Oswald acted alone in killing JFK and J.D. Tippit. It was not until the very end of its investigation that the HSCA heard from Mark Weiss and Ernest Aschkenasy about the police motorcycle dictabelt recording, purporting to show that there were four shots. Foolishly, the HSCA accepted this interpretation of the dictabelt recording as accurate, and based solely on that piece of evidence--contrary to everything else they had found--concluded that there was likely a second gunman. The National Academy of Sciences reviewed the acoustic evidence that the HSCA had relied upon to conclude there was likely a second gunman, and in May of 1982 determined the following: "The acoustic analyses do not demonstrate that there was a grassy knoll shot, and in particular there is no acoustic basis for the claim of 95% probability of such a shot.The acoustic impulses attributed to gunshots were recorded about one minute after the President had been shot and the motorcade had been instructed to go to the hospital. Therefore, reliable acoustic data do not support a conclusion that there was a second gunman."

@raymondhartmeijer9300 Год назад

I enjoyed the film, it's a great made film, but I don't believe in the theory the film tries to sell us. Sure enough we know things about Oswald, a trained shooter, a Marxist who supported Cuba, USSR (and North Vietnam probably), so he could've had a number of reasons to kill the president. And there are some strange incidents surrounding the assasination, for example I think the car was cleaned right after Kennedy was killed. But strange circumstances do not automatically discredit an official reading. Like with any case, there are bits of information missing, and that can cause conspiracy theories to emerge. But that says nothing about wether these hold up

@raymondhartmeijer9300 Год назад

@@aaronz7056 yeah

@raymondhartmeijer9300 Год назад

@@aaronz7056 well I wouldnt go so far to say Stone was unethical in showing us plain lies, as im not familiair enough with the man and the motives for this film. Seems he is exploring one of the conspiracy theories, as a filmmaker one has a right to do this, but like I said, I don't buy into its conclusions. The famous "back and to the left" argument regarding Kennedy's head, is nonsense, Kennedy was not shot in the face, but through the back of his head from the piont where Oswald was standing. Thats just one example. Sad thing is that it seems a lot of people base their understanding of the Kennedy murder simply on this film. They once saw it, and automatically believe this is what happened

@kevzsabz8253 3 года назад

A very good film but this was my least favourite Oliver Stone movie unfortunately. I pretty much prefer his Vietnam war film Plattoon. He's like Francis Ford Coppola because earlier in their careers they make iconic and incredible films but in their late-careers their films are very much lackluster unfortunately. 😥😥

@LearningaboutMovies 3 года назад

see I disagree, from a filmmaking perspective. This is far more advanced than Salvador or even Platoon (which a video from me is coming out on that soon). But, of course, you have to be interested somewhat in the minutiae of details in the JFK assassination. I'm not sure how anybody can stomach this movie with out at least being intrigued by that before watching the movie.

@kevzsabz8253 3 года назад

@@LearningaboutMovies I already watch it back when i was 10 years old in the late-1990s. I also do think there are two actors who are miscast in this movie. My uncle formerly worked with a casting director for a play and film productions in France, United Kingdom, and Philippines so that's why castings are very important to see if who is much perfectly fitted for the charater. For example Frank Langella in the Ron Howard film Frost/Nixon, don't get me wrong he is a great actor but he was definitely miscast as Richard Nixon in my opinion. 😊😊