November 22, 1963 –
U.S. President John F. Kennedy is assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald in Dallas, Texas.
In the mid 70s MGR in his endeavour to win mileage in his political career, unashamedly used a line from John F Kennedy's inauguration speech (Ask what your country has done for you but what you have done for your country!) a verse in a song in one of his propaganda movies, "Naan En Piranthen'('நான் ஏன் பிறந்தேன்').
The History Channel recently screened episodes on the ever famous unofficial royal family of America - the Kennedys. Such an honour does not come cheap, as seen in the series. It had a curse associated with it.
The first episode started with a scene on the eve of the 1960 American elections, and the story is told in series of flashback interposed with 'present' (i.e. 1960) unfolding of events. It is an enjoyable 7 part series on the events pre-dating and tribulations following the appointment of JFK's presidential throne till Robert's (his confidante) assassination.
Joseph Kennedy Sr. (Tom Wilkinson), a not so religious Catholic (apparently Catholics were despised by rest of America) immigrant son who made his millions in business through whiskey licencing had sky-high political ambitions. Due to a foot in the mouth moment as an Ambassador in England during the high tension days of the pre-WW2 era, his political came crushing. He pinned his hopes high on his eye of his apple, the flamboyant first son Joseph Jr.who, unfortunately, died in combat in WW2. His father's political ambition to the White House fell squarely on the reluctant shoulders of JFK (Greg Kinnear) who had been overshadowed by his elder brother.
In this series, we are shown the day to day living behind the regalia and princely lives of the Kennedys through the lens of the director and the writer (must be with the approval of the Kennedys, of course). Joe Sr. is portrayed as a hard-driving demanding, domineering patriarchal father who gets his way for anything through emotional blackmail. He is determined to make a Kennedy a President at all cost even it means making empty promises of immunity from prosecution to the Chicago mobs to win votes. This betrayal seems to be implicated as one of the reasons for the assassinations of JFK (1963) and his brother Robert (1968) (Barry Pepper) who was the AG and later Presidential candidate.
In the part of the show, I was confused - too many Jacks! How come John was called Jack and Jackie (Katie Holmes) was JFK's wife? JFK was nicknamed Jack, talk about a match made in heaven! On top of that Robert is Bobby. In the earlier episode, we come to know that JFK's sister, Rosemary, appears to be schizophrenic and undergoes a lobotomy.
The reluctant politician matures after an indecisive swayed by Generals Bay of Pigs fiasco, he soon takes control of the driver's seat accompanied by a confidante, The AG Robert Kennedy to rule America. Putting a stop to his control-freak father's meddling, he takes control, making decisions from the heart to the chagrin of the big shot gung-ho trigger-happy generals around him. Through diplomacy, he averts an almost WW3 and improves race relations in the race-conscious South.
Save for Robert (who appears faithful to his wife with his 11 children), the Ks seem to have a weakness for the weaker sex from Sr down to JFK. The appetite just becomes more ferocious for JFK that FBI boss Hoover (the sore loser to the post of AG) had many files and footages on his clandestine activities. One of the not so gracefully out of love victim is Marilyn Monroe. It is even suggested here that his rejection drove her to gulp potent fatal concoction of mega-doses of barbiturates and alcohol.
In the bedroom front, JFK's infidelity sets a strain on his family life. JFK also has to battle with Addison's Disease, hypothyroidism, war-induced chronic nagging back pain and both husband and wife's dependency on alternative pain relief treatment from an unorthodox AMA-unapproved Eastern European doctor.
In my opinion, Barry Pepper stole the show with his stellar performance of depiction of the straight-shooting Robert K. Katie Holmes is looking pretty as the photo-friendly oft-copied (dressing and hairstyle) Jacqueline Kennedy.
Scrolling through the cyberspace, there are campaigns against the miniseries' incorrect depiction of the revered American family, citing historical inaccuracies and depiction of the world leader, a national treasure, in a very negative light. They did not want people remembering JFK as depicted in the initial script where there was a lot of sex and romping. Obviously, the final release must have been rewritten to satisfy many quarters as it looks well sanitised. I think that was the same fate when our national icon, P.Ramlee's life was attempted to be immortalised on celluloid. The last time I heard, the feat had many oppositions as the truth of his life was not so pleasant nor pleasing to the religious folks. Hence, it did not conform to the strict guidelines set by FINAS and therefore dead end!
P.S. The Kennedy curse continued on 16th July 1999 with the death of JFK's son who was born 16 days into his Presidential appointment in a plane crash due to spatial disorientation.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_d5bAbO0fM
U.S. President John F. Kennedy is assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald in Dallas, Texas.
In the mid 70s MGR in his endeavour to win mileage in his political career, unashamedly used a line from John F Kennedy's inauguration speech (Ask what your country has done for you but what you have done for your country!) a verse in a song in one of his propaganda movies, "Naan En Piranthen'('நான் ஏன் பிறந்தேன்').
The History Channel recently screened episodes on the ever famous unofficial royal family of America - the Kennedys. Such an honour does not come cheap, as seen in the series. It had a curse associated with it.
The first episode started with a scene on the eve of the 1960 American elections, and the story is told in series of flashback interposed with 'present' (i.e. 1960) unfolding of events. It is an enjoyable 7 part series on the events pre-dating and tribulations following the appointment of JFK's presidential throne till Robert's (his confidante) assassination.
Joseph Kennedy Sr. (Tom Wilkinson), a not so religious Catholic (apparently Catholics were despised by rest of America) immigrant son who made his millions in business through whiskey licencing had sky-high political ambitions. Due to a foot in the mouth moment as an Ambassador in England during the high tension days of the pre-WW2 era, his political came crushing. He pinned his hopes high on his eye of his apple, the flamboyant first son Joseph Jr.who, unfortunately, died in combat in WW2. His father's political ambition to the White House fell squarely on the reluctant shoulders of JFK (Greg Kinnear) who had been overshadowed by his elder brother.In this series, we are shown the day to day living behind the regalia and princely lives of the Kennedys through the lens of the director and the writer (must be with the approval of the Kennedys, of course). Joe Sr. is portrayed as a hard-driving demanding, domineering patriarchal father who gets his way for anything through emotional blackmail. He is determined to make a Kennedy a President at all cost even it means making empty promises of immunity from prosecution to the Chicago mobs to win votes. This betrayal seems to be implicated as one of the reasons for the assassinations of JFK (1963) and his brother Robert (1968) (Barry Pepper) who was the AG and later Presidential candidate.
In the part of the show, I was confused - too many Jacks! How come John was called Jack and Jackie (Katie Holmes) was JFK's wife? JFK was nicknamed Jack, talk about a match made in heaven! On top of that Robert is Bobby. In the earlier episode, we come to know that JFK's sister, Rosemary, appears to be schizophrenic and undergoes a lobotomy.
The reluctant politician matures after an indecisive swayed by Generals Bay of Pigs fiasco, he soon takes control of the driver's seat accompanied by a confidante, The AG Robert Kennedy to rule America. Putting a stop to his control-freak father's meddling, he takes control, making decisions from the heart to the chagrin of the big shot gung-ho trigger-happy generals around him. Through diplomacy, he averts an almost WW3 and improves race relations in the race-conscious South.
Save for Robert (who appears faithful to his wife with his 11 children), the Ks seem to have a weakness for the weaker sex from Sr down to JFK. The appetite just becomes more ferocious for JFK that FBI boss Hoover (the sore loser to the post of AG) had many files and footages on his clandestine activities. One of the not so gracefully out of love victim is Marilyn Monroe. It is even suggested here that his rejection drove her to gulp potent fatal concoction of mega-doses of barbiturates and alcohol.
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| America's darling -MM |
In my opinion, Barry Pepper stole the show with his stellar performance of depiction of the straight-shooting Robert K. Katie Holmes is looking pretty as the photo-friendly oft-copied (dressing and hairstyle) Jacqueline Kennedy.
Scrolling through the cyberspace, there are campaigns against the miniseries' incorrect depiction of the revered American family, citing historical inaccuracies and depiction of the world leader, a national treasure, in a very negative light. They did not want people remembering JFK as depicted in the initial script where there was a lot of sex and romping. Obviously, the final release must have been rewritten to satisfy many quarters as it looks well sanitised. I think that was the same fate when our national icon, P.Ramlee's life was attempted to be immortalised on celluloid. The last time I heard, the feat had many oppositions as the truth of his life was not so pleasant nor pleasing to the religious folks. Hence, it did not conform to the strict guidelines set by FINAS and therefore dead end!
P.S. The Kennedy curse continued on 16th July 1999 with the death of JFK's son who was born 16 days into his Presidential appointment in a plane crash due to spatial disorientation.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_d5bAbO0fM
Ask what your country has done for you but what you have done for your country! ... I did not MGR stole that verse from JFK.
ReplyDeleteToo many Kennedys , till I cannot follow the story.