Thirteen Days
Directed by Roger Donaldson
Written by David Self
With Kevin Costner, Bruce Greenwood and Steven Culp
At major cinemas
REVIEW BY KIM BULLIMORE
For two weeks in 1962 the sights of the world's largest superpower were trained on a small island in the Caribbean and the world stood on the brink of nuclear war. Roger Donaldson's new movie, Thirteen Days, surprisingly manages (almost) to do away with all the Hollywood hoopla and flag-waving that normally surrounds movies of this kind and soberly reveals the "inside story" of the White House's response to what has become known as the "Cuban missile crisis".
In 1962, the Soviet ambassador to Cuba, Alexandr Alexiev, asked the revolutionary Cuban government to allow the Soviet Union to station on Cuban soil 24 medium-range and 16 intermediate-range ballistic missile launchers, each equipped with two missiles and a nuclear warhead. The missiles and the military personnel that were to accompany them would remain under the command of the Soviet military.
The proposal, which was accepted by Cuba, was precipitated by the failed US-sponsored invasion of Cuba by CIA-trained Cuban counter-revolutionary emigres at the Bay of Pigs in April 1961. Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev proposed the placement of the missiles as a way of deterring further US-backed invasions and coups.
The first missiles arrived in mid-July. The Soviet Union's plan was to install the missiles in Cuba in secret. Once the missiles' existence were revealed, the Soviet Union would then negotiate a pact with the United States that included a commitment to not invade Cuba and to dismantle the US naval base on Cuban soil at Guantanamo Bay.
In early September, US U2 spy planes discovered the missile sites and installations. However, it was not until October 16 that the US military was able to provide photographic proof of the existence of the missiles to President John F. Kennedy.
Donaldson's Thirteen Days examines the period from when the Kennedy and his brother Robert are presented with the photographs until the conclusion of the crisis.
Rather than focusing on the normal flag-waving rhetoric of the USA as saviour of the "free world", Donaldson and writer David Self focus on the flaws and strengths of the main characters, the Kennedy brothers, JFK's political aide Kenny O'Donnell, Adlai Stevenson (US ambassador to the United Nations) and the parade of military advisers.
Self has drawn much of the information for his screenplay from official tapes made during the period, which were later published under the title of The Kennedy Tapes: Inside the White House During the Cuban Missile Crisis, and Bobby Kennedy's memoirs detailing the events. As a result, Self's story focuses on the uncertainty of JFK, his inner circle and their obsessions and demons.
The film still manages to portray the "Camelot" image of the Kennedy brothers as "men of goodwill", but, surprisingly, the USSR takes a secondary position as the enemy in the film. This role is primarily reserved for the US military leaders, in particular, General Lemay, who informs the White House that his boys will "get those Red bastards". Throughout the film, the battle rages between the White House, which seeks to find a diplomatic way out of the situation, and the military leaders who are intent on "bombing Cuba back to the stone age" for their loss of face at the Bay of Pigs.
Cuba, although it is the focus of events, is hidden in the Soviet Union's shadow and is portrayed as nothing more than a satellite state. While making one or two references to the Bay of Pigs, Castro and the revolutionary government, the movie fails to explore the reasons for Cuba's acceptance of the missiles and Cuba's role during the 13 days explored by the film.
The performances by Bruce Greenwood and Steven Culp, who play the Kennedy brothers, are measured and their characters are well portrayed. The only real complaint I have in relation to the acting was the grating nature of Costner's accent.
Thirteen Days manages to successfully and soberly portray the Kennedys' version of the missile crisis. While one or two minor discrepancies can be found in the historical sequence of events, and Cuba is not portrayed as a political entity in its own right, the film manages to gives an accurate portrayal of events. It even gives the Soviet Union a small amount of credit for ending the crisis.