Close-Up – rewatching the film classics: JFK, 1991

Hollywood has a century-long tradition of political narratives, such as Oliver Stone's 1991 film JFK. The film begins with a staccato drum tattoo that transitions into a swelling string movement, and the voices of leaders rise from the depths of the past as Stone, known for directing Salvador, Platoon, and Wall Street, builds a complex mosaic of American history. The images and sounds masquerade as a factual account, but they are anything but objective. Bruce Isaacs explains that Stone's creative storytelling uses historical bits and pieces as building blocks to tell a story more interested in an idea of the 'truth' of JFK's presidency and assassination than in the facts.