Re: Thirteen Days

From: Rohit Khare (Rohit@KnowNow.com)
Date: Wed Feb 07 2001 - 16:56:52 PST


fwiw, it's very much about the excomm meetings imho.
It is not history, though, as you point out.

At 5:02 PM -0500 1/20/01, Matt Jensen wrote:
>I haven't seen it, and based on what I've read about it (Rohit's note not
>withstanding), I prefer to wait until I can see it for free.
>
>>From what I've read, the movie's take is that, after the spy photos came
>in, some generals were looking forward to a war, and only the Kennedys'
>brilliance averted it.
>
>In reality, nobody knew what Kennedy "should" have done. In hindsight, he
>made the right call. But an invasion might have been better than a
>quarantine, or blinking and letting the ships through might have been
>better than calling Krushchev's hand. The point is that at the time,
>nobody really knew how the Soviets would respond.
>
>My main gripe with what I've heard about "Thirteen Days" is that most of
>the time it keeps you out of the EX-COMM meetings. That's where the story
>is! And it hardly mentions Krushchev's *two* letters, and how RFK made
>the brilliant decision to pretend they never got the second letter.
>Rather, I get the impression we'll just see a Kennedy coming out of the
>meetings, telling Kevin Costner, "They wahnt wahr!", and then Costner goes
>off to find some Donald Sutherland character with a smoking gun. Ack!! I
>think I'd rather see "The Missles of October."
>
>If one of you who has seen the movie (and knows the history) can tell me
>my fear is misguided, please let me know. Thanks!
>
>-Matt Jensen
> NewsBlip.com
> Seattle
>
>
>On Sat, 20 Jan 2001, Rohit Khare wrote:
>
>> ... very highly recommended!
>>
>> Not necc. to see in theaters, to be sure; the DVD will be an
>> educational resource for years to come. There is definitely some
>> fiction overlaid on the story, but you couldn't write a political
>> thriller with more backbone than this slice of reality.
>>
>> Excellent reproduction of life in 1964. That, as well as the
>> gravityof the tale, really sets into perspective how much *all* of
>> our work in high-tech is an entertaining art form, not a matter of
>> life and death.
>>
>> An actual reminder, in the wake of this past campaign, that politics
>> really does matter. And a fine meditation on the weakness of leaders
>> that can be overcome by *leadership*, if that makes any sense to
>> anyone else...
>>
>> Can't really say more in its support than you wouldn't find anywhere
>> else on the Net. I wish I had nieces old enough to discuss it with --
>> and hopefully they'll be interested then!
>>
>> Best,
>> Rohit Khare
>> CEO, KnowNow Inc.
>> 2730 Sand Hill Road, Suite 150
>> Menlo Park, CA 94025
>> (650) 561 0246 (direct)
>> (206) 465 4936 (cell)
>> (603) 925-5066 (eFax)
>>
>



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