Thirteen+Days

1. A man dreams he is a pilot and wakes up at home to a family of 5 kids. 2. oct. 1962 is when the Cuban missile crisis is discovered 3. The soviet Union is putting missiles into Cuba 4. Ted Sorenson was the special council member of the president 5. 32 soviet missiles were discovered. 6. Robert was secretary of Defense. 7. The president decides to take the missiles out of Cuba. 8. Congress is assembled to make a plan. 9. The president and congress disagree on war tactics. 10. They suggest to blockade Cuba 11. Pierre Salinger, was the Press secretary for the president 12. Should missiles be placed in Cuba it would be the gravest threat to the U.S.-President Kennedy 13. China invaded India 14. Kennedy pretends to be sick for the press. 15. Sunday, oct. 21 The president and his men attend Church. 16. Monday, oct.22 the president request airtime for all radio and TV stations at seven pm so he can give a urgent speech to America. 17. President Kennedy tells everyone they will blockade Cuba. 18. Tuesday, Oct. 23rd the Soviet Union responds to the speech saying they wont attack the U.S. 19. Kennedy and his political adviser think the military sergeants are tricking them into starting a war. 20. Kenny O'Donald gets a sassy operator to talk to a military commander in charge of a air force trip to Cuba. 21. Kenny O'Donald warns the air force commander to not get attacked on the trip. 22. The Pilots get pictures of the Cuban missiles and return safely. 23. The Air Force commander is asked if they were shot at in Cuba and he confirms it. 24. Kenny O'Donald is worried about his family. 25. Americans are practicing duck-and-cover drills. 26. The Blockade is started. 27. The U.S. navy is threatened by a Soviet Submarine. 28. The Russian Ships stop at the Blockade.

Thirteen Terms:  blockade: obstruct: hinder or prevent the progress or accomplishment of nuclear: of or relating to or constituting the nucleus of an atom invasion: the act of invading; the act of an army that invades for conquest or plunder advisors: an expert who gives advice military: of or relating to the study of the principles of warfare refused: show unwillingness towards happening: an event that happens agreement: the statement (oral or written) of an exchange of promises medium: a means or instrumentality for storing or communicating information description: a statement that represents something in words report: a written document describing the findings of some individual or group entire: constituting the full quantity or extent; complete maintain: keep: keep in a certain state, position, or activity outbreak: a sudden violent spontaneous occurrence (usually of some undesirable condition) bomb; an explosive device fused to explode under specific conditions defense: military action or resources protecting a country against potential enemies\

Identify:

President John F.Kennedy: 35th President of the United States; established the Peace Corps; assassinated in Dallas (1917-1963) Soviet Union: a former communist country in eastern Europe and northern Asia; established in 1922; included Russia and 14 other soviet socialist republics (Ukraine and Byelorussia and others); officially dissolved 31 December 1991 United States: North American republic containing 50 states - 48 conterminous states in North America plus Alaska in northwest North America and the Hawaiian Islands in the Pacific Ocean; achieved independence in 1776 Cold War: a state of political hostility between countries using means short of armed warfare Cuban Missile Crisis: The Cuban Missile Crisis was a confrontation between the United States, the Soviet Union, and Cuba in October 1962, during the Cold War Premier Khrushchev: led the Soviet Union during part of the Cold War. He served as First 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 early Soviet space program, and for several relatively liberal reforms in areas of domestic policy. Khrushchev's party colleagues removed him from power in 1964, replacing him with Leonid Brezhnev as First Secretary and Alexei Kosygin as Premier.

WHAT HAPPENED? 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:

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?

VIEWS OF HISTORY 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?

THE CRISIS 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.

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?

RESEARCH 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

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

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

NSA and The Cuban Missile Crisis by Thomas Johnson and David Hatch [| http://library.thinkquest.org/11046]

AThis 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]