New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison discovers there's more to the Kennedy assassination than the official story.New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison discovers there's more to the Kennedy assassination than the official story.New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison discovers there's more to the Kennedy assassination than the official story.
- Won 2 Oscars
- 19 wins & 41 nominations total
- Jackie Kennedy - Double
- (as Jodi Farber)
- Plaza Witness #1
- (as E. J. Morris)
Storyline
Did you know
- GoofsDavid Ferrie's "confession" in Fountainbleu Hotel never happened. Ferrie went to his death denying any knowledge of Oswald or the plot to kill JFK.
- Quotes
Jim Garrison: The Warren Commission thought they had an open-and-shut case. Three bullets, one assassin. But two unpredictable things happened that day that made it virtually impossible. One, the eight-millimeter home movie taken by Abraham Zapruder while standing by the grassy knoll. Two, the third wounded man, James Tague, who was knicked by a fragment, standing near the triple underpass. The time frame, five point six seconds, determined by the Zapruder film, left no possibility of a fourth shot. So the shot or fragment that left a superficial wound on Tague's cheek had to come from the three shots fired from the sixth floor depository. That leaves just two bullets. And we know one of them was the fatal head shot that killed Kennedy. So now a single bullet remains. A single bullet now has to account for the remaining seven wounds in Kennedy and Connelly. But rather than admit to a conspiracy or investigate further, the Warren Commission chose to endorse the theory put forth by an ambitious junior counselor, Arlen Spector, one of the grossest lies ever forced on the American people. We've come to know it as the "Magic Bullet Theory." This single-bullet explanation is the foundation of the Warren Commission's claim of a lone assassin. Once you conclude the magic bullet could not create all seven of those wounds, you'd have to conclude that there was a fourth shot and a second rifle. And if there was a second rifleman, then by definition, there had to be a conspiracy.
- Crazy creditsClosing statement: What Is Past Is Prologue
- Alternate versionsA director's cut prepared by Oliver Stone for the video release features 17 minutes of footage not included in the theatrical version. Among the new material:
- Guy Bannister and his secretary talk briefly about Oswald and laugh.
- New flashbacks of Oswald's life in Dallas with his wife after his return from Russia and his contacts with George De Mohrenshildt, Janet and Bill Williams (the man who gets Oswald a job at the book depository).
- When Garrison and his assistant are at the book depository, they discuss the fact that the motorcade route was changed by then Dallas mayor Earle Cabell, brother of general Charles Cabell fired by Kennedy in 1961.
- A fake Oswald (Frank Whaley) is seen in a flashback test-driving a new car and talking about Russia to the salesman.
- In another flashback, Oswald is introduced to the New Orleans Cuban community and meets Sylvia Odio, leader of an underground anti-Castro movement.
- A new flashback of Oswald and Clay Shaw seen together at a voter's registration drive in September '63.
- Jim Garrison appears on "The Jerry Johnson Show" on TV to be interviewed. He tries to show photographs and defend his theories but he's cut short by host Jerry Johnson (John Larroquette).
- Bill Broussard meets Jim Garrison at the airport where he's leaving for Phoenix, AZ and tells him the mob will attempt to assassinate him. After a few minutes he has to flee from a public restroom when he hears strange voices in the next stall and is approached by an unknown man (a cameo by production designer Victor Kempster) who pretends to be a friend of him.
- Garrison and his staff discover that Broussard has disappeared from his apartment, and argue about the real reason why Clay Shaw has been brought to trial. While they're talking, Garrison sees Robert Kennedy on TV and says "They'll kill him before they'll let him be president".
- During the trial, more witnesses against Shaw are shown than in the theatrical version, including a obviously insane man (Ron Rifkin) who claims that Shaw discussed killing Kennedy with him.
- ConnectionsEdited into Malcolm X (1992)
- SoundtracksDrummers' Salute
Arranged by D. G. McCroskie
Performed by The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards
Courtesy of Fiesta Records Co. Inc.
Everything about this film is perfect and it shows that when an intriguing story comes together with all other elements of filmmaking that are executed brilliantly, the film works on so many levels.
First off, Stone's direction is as good as it gets. He has an incredible passion for the subject, knowledge of the art and relationship with the camera. All of his footage goes together seamlessly and makes the 3 h 08 min running time blow by. He gets a strong performance out of the entire ensemble cast especially Costner, Jones, Oldman, and Pesci.
Scalia and Hutsching's editing is a work of art and tells the complicated story with incredible precision. Richardson's cinematography lights up the screen in both colour and black and white. Both of these technical aspects of filmmaking are molded into sheer artistry by these three men who have all deserved their Oscars for this film.
John Williams' score is one of his best (right up there with his Indiana Jones and Star Wars). The script is intelligent, thought-provoking, mesmorizing and heart-wrenching. Costner's closing speech to the Jury is finer that Nicholson's in A Few Good Men, McConaughey's in A Time to Kill and Jackson's in Pulp Fiction. It is Stone and Sklar's best work.
The subject matter is incredibly controverial and subjective but Stone's delivers it with such emotion and raw power that his alternate myth to the Warren Report seems factual. The film is an investigation into the human spirit and how the vigour and dedication of one man and his team of associates can rise above the highest powers of the world and encode a message into the minds and hearts of millions. John F. Kennedy has countless achievements and qualities as a president which makes his life and term one of the most incredible and worthy of deep study.
Oliver Stone's JFK should go down in film history as one of the most important American films ever produced. Watch it with an open mind free of prejudice and predisposition and you will find yourself wanting to go to the library and learn more about this global tragedy.
Details
Box office
- Budget
- $40,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $70,405,498
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $5,223,658
- Dec 22, 1991
- Gross worldwide
- $205,405,498
- Runtime3 hours 9 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.39 : 1