Parkland - The Assassination of John F. Kennedy - DVD

Content: November 22, 1963: All of Dallas is looking forward to the visit of John F. Kennedy, the President of the United States. Security is in full swing, offices and businesses are closing so everyone can get a glimpse of the President and his wife. But then the unbelievable happens: Two rifle shots are fired at Kennedy, the president collapses in his limousine with life-threatening injuries. He is immediately rushed to Parkland Memorial Hospital, where young doctor Jim (Zac Efron) desperately fights for the life of the most powerful man in the world - a fight he unfortunately loses. Witness accounts, including footage recorded by civilian Abraham Zapruder (Paul Giamatti), lead Secret Service investigators on the trail of would-be assassin Lee Harvey Oswald (Jeremy Strong). But even his swift capture can't prevent too many questions from remaining unanswered and a deep wound from being inflicted on the country, the healing of which continues to this day...

Fifty years after the assassination of John F. Kennedy, filmmaker Peter Landesman takes a different approach to this traumatic event in Parkland. He places doctors, witnesses and investigators at the centre of an almost documentary-like production, into which he also repeatedly incorporates archive material such as excerpts from news broadcasts. Landesman was able to hire a first-class ensemble of actors for his film, with even smaller roles being filled by familiar faces from film and television. While some of these actors are only seen very briefly, James Badge Dale as the brother of the would-be assassin, Zac Efron as the young doctor who has to operate on the president, and Paul Giamatti as an unwilling witness to the assassination make a very strong impression indeed.

To cover such an ensemble piece, which deals with several very eventful days on different plot levels, in under ninety minutes, naturally has the consequence that some elements of the story remain a bit superficial and the whole thing seems badly overloaded. This impression is further reinforced by the sometimes very unsteady camera work, which does convey a certain authenticity and thus fits in well with the archive footage used. On the other hand, this is also a bit exhausting for the viewer, especially since it's already a bit difficult to keep track of the mass of acting figures. Towards the end, Landesman slows down the pace a bit, revealing just how strong his film could have been if it had been staged in a more unagitated and detailed manner.

Parkland is a good film, but it should have been much better due to the high ambitions of the makers and the talent of the actors. For only then could it have done justice to the great emotional power underlying the tragic events. But even though it only succeeds to a certain extent, the drama is absolutely worth watching if only because of the good ensemble and some very intense scenes and a worthwhile addition to Oliver Stone's JFK. Recommended!

Picture + Sound: The somewhat choppy camera work and the in places trimmed to old look, in which then real archive footage was inserted, let here and there minor weaknesses in the visual realization of the film, which in part, however, could also be seen as a deliberately used stylistic device. The colouring looks very coherent and the sharpness of the picture is on a very good level. The sound is in a lively Dolby Digital 5.1 mix, but with voice chatter and ambient noise in particular providing the appropriate dynamics. Good!

Extras: In addition to the trailer and nine minutes of uncommented B-roll footage from the filming, the DVD's bonus offerings include 43 minutes of promo interviews with the creators and cast. Unfortunately, no subtitles are available for these interviews.

Conclusion:Parkland is an ambitious, superbly cast drama that retraces the assassination of John F. Kennedy from the perspectives of observers, doctors and investigators. It is an attempt to retrace this event from a slightly different, very human perspective. However, due to the mass of protagonists and storylines, the whole thing seems a bit overloaded in the relatively short running time of just under 90 minutes, which is why the emotional potential unfortunately can't fully unfold. Nevertheless, just for the great actors, the good ambitions of the makers and some very intense scenes at the end there is a deserved: recommendable!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp