Review of Report

Report (1967)
6/10
Report
17 July 2016
Warning: Spoilers
There are a few films from the book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die that are almost impossible to find and watch, but after trying various sources I finally found this 13 minute short. The title says exactly what the film is, it is a report featuring archive footage and news voice recordings of the day that President of the United States John F. Kennedy was assassinated. It starts with JFK and his wife Jackie riding in the car with the motorcade, when suddenly it fades to black momentarily, the recorded voice reporting that something has happened, it flashes for a while while the reporters explain the situation, with the President rushed to hospital, and witnesses telling how two shots were confirmed, with the possibility of a third. It the repeats the old film reel countdown as the latest breaking news update is announced, that the President has been assassinated and is confirmed dead on 22 November 1963. The film then goes back with the reporters talking about the events before the shooting, with excerpts of JFK and his wife arriving on Air Force One, JFK meeting the Pope, JFK attending an event with bull fighting, and finally the funeral with his grave escorted to the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle. While the narration continues, there are flashes of other relevant archive footage, including the arrest of Lee Harvey Oswald, the book depository where the shots were fired, the rifle that fired at the President, the wedding of JFK and Jackie, and text about when JFK was inaugurated - 20 January 1961. There are also flashes of other archive footage recorded at the time, and from other random sources, including a commercial for Tappan Food Waste, a mushroom cloud from nuclear testing, a bullet fired to break a light bulb, the movie Bride of Frankenstein, footage from the Vietnam war, slow-motion of a needle popping a bubble pop, a roaring tiger and a female typist. It may be very hard to find, it's certainly not a film I can see myself watching more than once, but I can agree it is a must see film because of its historical significance, particularly to journalism and news casting, the assassination of JFK was and still is one of the biggest news events in history, a most interesting short documentary. Good!
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