13+days


 * THIRTEEN DAYS**

In October 1962, U-2 surveillance photos reveal that the Soviet Union is in the process of placing missiles carrying nuclear weapons in Cuba. These weapons have the capability of wiping out most of the Eastern and Southern United States in minutes if they become operational. President John F. Kennedy (Bruce Greenwood) and his advisers must come up with a plan of action to prevent their activation. Kennedy is determined to show that the United States will not allow a missile threat in its virtual back yard. The Joint Chiefs of Staff advise immediate U.S. military strikes against the missile sites followed by an invasion of Cuba. However, Kennedy is reluctant to attack and invade because it would very likely cause the Soviets to invade Berlin. Kennedy sees an analogy to the events that started World War I, only this time nuclear weapons are involved. War appears to be almost inevitable.

The Kennedy administration tries to find a solution that will remove the missiles but avoid an act of war. They settle on a step less than a blockade, which is formally regarded as an act of war. They settle on what they publicly describe as a quarantine. They announce that the U.S. Naval forces will stop all ships entering Cuban waters and inspect them to verify they are not carrying weapons destined for Cuba. The Soviet Union sends mixed messages in response. John A. Scali, a reporter with ABC News, is contacted by Soviet "emissary" Aleksandr Fomin (Boris Lee Krutonog), and through this back-channel communication method the Soviets offer to remove the missiles in exchange for public assurances from the U.S. that it will never invade Cuba. A long message in the same tone as the informal communication from Fomin, apparently written personally by Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev, is received. This is followed by a second, more hard line cable in which the Soviets offer a deal involving U.S removal of its Jupiter missiles from Turkey. The Kennedy administration interprets the second as a response from the Politburo, and in a risky act, decides to ignore it and respond to the first message, assumed to be from Khrushchev. There are several mis-steps during the crisis: the defense readiness level of Strategic Air Command (SAC) is raised to DEFCON 2 (one step shy of maximum readiness for imminent war), without informing the President; and a routine test launch of a U.S. offensive missile is also carried out without the President's knowledge.

After much deliberation with the Executive Committee of the National Security Council, Kennedy secretly agrees to remove all Jupiter missiles from southern Italy and in Turkey, the latter on the border of the Soviet Union, in exchange for Khrushchev removing all missiles in Cuba. Off the shores of Cuba, the Soviet ships turn back from the quarantine lines. Secretary of State Dean Rusk (Henry Strozier) says, "We're eyeball to eyeball and I think the other fellow just blinked."


 * VOCABULARY**


 * blockade:** an act of sealing off a place to prevent goods or people from entering or leaving.
 * nuclear:** denoting, relating to, or powered by the energy released in nuclear fission or fusion.
 * invasion:** an instance of invading a country or region with an armed force.
 * advisors:** a person who gives advice, typically someone who is expert in a particular field
 * military:** soldiers or armed forces.
 * refused:** indicate or show that one is not willing to do something.
 * happening:** an event or occurrence.
 * agreement:** harmony or accordance in opinion or feeling; a position or result of agreeing.
 * medium:** the middle quality or state between two extremes; a reasonable balance.
 * description:** a spoken or written representation or account of a person, object, or event.
 * report:** give a spoken or written account of something that one has observed, heard, done, or investigated.
 * entire:** with no part left out; whole.
 * maintain:** to keep up or continue.
 * outbreak:** the sudden or violent start of something unwelcome, such as war, disease, etc.
 * bomb:** a container filled with explosive, incendiary material, smoke, gas, or other destructive substance, designed to explode on impact or when detonated by a time mechanism, remote-control device, or lit fuse.
 * defense:** the action of defending from or resisting attack.
 * President John F. Kennedy:** The youngest elected precedent (elected at age 43). He was also the man who led our country though WWII and the Cuban Missile Crisis. He was assassinated November 22, 1963, in Dallas, Texas.
 * Soviet Union:** U.S. Fought with soviets in WWII and against them in 13 Days.
 * United States:** It emerged from World War II as the first country with nuclear weapons and a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union left the United States as the sole superpower. The country accounts for 43% of global military spending and is a leading economic, political, and cultural force in the world.
 * Cold War:** the continuing state of political conflict, military tension,proxy wars, and economic competition existing after World War II (1939–1945) between the Communist World – primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies – and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States and its allies.
 * Cuban Missile Crisis:** a confrontation among the Soviet Union, Cuba and the United States in October 1962, during the Cold War.
 * Premier Khrushchev:** led the Soviet Union during part of the Cold War. He served asFirst Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964, and as Chairman of the Council of Ministers, or Premier, from 1958 to 1964. Khrushchev was responsible for the partial de-Stalinization of the Soviet Union, for backing the progress of the earlySoviet space program, and for several relatively liberal reforms in areas of domestic policy.

Find a list of the key events of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Is this the story that is told in the film Thirteen Days? If it isn't, then why not? What else has been included? What has been missed out? Below are some comments by the film makers:
 * WHAT HAPPENED?**

I saw the Cuban Missile Crisis not just as a chapter in history but as a great story - the ultimate cinematic political thriller with the fate of the world in the balance. That’s where the real tension lies - in how the decisions were made, and how these young men handled the toughest dilemma anyone could face. When you meet these people, who in some ways have come to seem larger than life, and you hear their fears in their own words, you get a very frightening sense of the incomprehensible fire power and military might that each side was marshaling. The nuclear guns were loaded on both sides in a stare down of global proportions, and there’s never been anything like it. -Roger Donaldson, director

There are many, many accounts of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Thirteen Days now joins that vast body of work as one view of the event. It is drawn from the record, but narrowed and focused and dramatized to create a coherent, accessible and entertaining story. We don’t offer this film as the final word or definitive document, but rather as a departure point to encourage conversation and exploration of leadership in the nuclear age whose awful spectre we all still live under. -Peter Almond, producer

What are the main elements that these two film makers emphasize about the story? How might these elements of the story of the Cuban Missile Crisis differ from those that are important to elements which might be used by a historian? Peter Almond stresses that the film should be seen as a departure point for conversation and exploration. He suggests that the film could lead to discussion about leadership. What other aspects of the Crisis could the film, Thirteen Days, lead us to talk about?


 * DRAMA, STORY AND HISTORY**

One of the main problems a film-maker may face when producing a film about a historical event is that the audience will ‘know the ending’. If we take Thirteen Days as an example, we know that the Cuban Missile Crisis was resolved and that nuclear war did not break out. Yet the whole film revolves around the drama of the real possibility that war might break out during those days in 1962.

Think of other historical films which also faced the same problem: Gandhi (we know that Gandhi gets assassinated) - Titanic (we know the boat sinks!) - Braveheart (we know that Wallace is captured and executed). What keeps us, the audience, interested? What makes us enjoy films where we know what will happen at the end? Before you see Thirteen Days, write down what type of film you were expecting and where you think you got these expectations from; was it through seeing the trailer of the film, or a poster or what a friend had told you? Having seen the film, which of these expectations do you think were fulfilled?

Roger Donaldson, the director, describes the film as a political thriller. Have you seen any other films that might fit into this genre? What were the main features of these films?

As a typical Hollywood film, Thirteen Days presents the events of the Cuban Missile Crisis from the historical point of view of the USA. However, history is not one-sided! Look again at the key events which you used earlier to compare with the story told in Thirteen Days. If you were retelling the story from the point of view of the Soviets or the Cubans how would it be different? Just as we are shown the events unfolding in the White House, there must have been similar dramas occurring in the Kremlin and in Havana. What would the different perspectives on these events be in those two places? Would the story still be called Thirteen Days? How, within a filmed version of the story, would the dramatic events be shown? If we talk of heroes as an essential part of any story, how could either Castro or Khrushchev be seen in a heroic way?
 * VIEWS OF HISTORY**

The events that are shown in the film Thirteen Days reveal just how close the world came to nuclear war. Key to the solution of the Crisis was the reaction of John F Kennedy, his brother Robert and Nikita Khruschev.
 * THE CRISIS**

From your own study of the Crisis and your viewing of the film, can you answer the following questions: 1. Why do you think that the Soviet Union wanted to install missiles in Cuba? 2. What were the main reasons for the Americans seriously considering military action to remove the missiles from Cuba?

3. What were President Kennedy’s main objections to his military advisers’ suggestions for the three possible solutions to the Crisis? 4. Why would America not wish to appear ‘weak’ in the eyes of the world at this particular point in history? 5. In what ways did the Missile Crisis relate to America’s view of Fidel Castro and the political situation in Cuba?

Thirteen Days only represents the American point of view of the Crisis. We see the Crisis develop through the eyes of the president and his brother and also Ken O’Donnell, the presidential aide. How are these characters presented to us? How are they made sympathetic to us as members of a film audience?

A number of different websites are listed at the end of this study guide. Visit each site and see how the thirteen days of the Cuban Missile Crisis is presented. As you look through each site think about who created it and what their particular attitude to the events might be. Two of the sites give actual documents from the Crisis itself. Look at these and think about how these documents would help: a) a historian b) a film maker c) someone who has just watched the film
 * RESEARCH**

For more detailed information on the Cuban Missile Crisis as well as original source material visit the following websites:
 * WEB LINKS**

The National Security Archive - [|www.nsa.gov/publications/publi000333.cfm]

NSA and The Cuban Missile Crisis by Thomas Johnson and David Hatch []

This site gives an excellent overview of the Cuban Missile Crisis. [|www.marxists.org/history/cuba/subject/missile-crisis]

As the name suggests, an alternative view of what happened during the Cuban Missile Crisis which makes an interesting comparison to the more ‘American’ sites.

Official website [|www.thirteen-days.com]