I AM JFK Jr
US, 2016, 90 minutes, Colour.
Directed by Derik Murray
This documentary on John F Kennedy Jr is part of the series, I am… They have all been produced by Derek Murray who sometimes works with direction, directing this film. The value of the series is that within 90 minutes they offer a portrait of the subject, a great deal of newsreel footage, photos, documents as well as a wide range of talking heads, members of family, friends, commentators, historians.
John F Kennedy Jr was very popular with Americans during the latter part of the 20th century. He was immortalised in the photos connected with the assassination of his father, especially standing with his mother and her urging him to salute the casket, a photo which recurs during the film and which endeared the Kennedys even further to the mainstream American public.
The film makes the point that the Kennedys were the closest Americans came to American royalty. Camelot was used in connection with the Kennedys. Which meant then that John Jr was heir apparent in the eyes of the public. It also meant that he was under continual scrutiny by the media, photos when he was little, prying photos as he was growing up, the fact that he was tall dark and handsome meant that he was very popular in magazines, covers, appellations of the sexiest man… By the end of the documentary, we are very conscious that he had very little private time for himself, the media always there, and, especially, at the time of the death of his mother.
And Jackie Kennedy appears in so much of the footage, in so many of the photos. Interestingly, the documentary acknowledges the presence of Caroline Kennedy and the family but her privacy is respected in this film. But, the American public could never get enough of Jacqueline Kennedy and then when she became Jacqueline Onassis, Jackie O. The film of the commentators emphasise the young man’s devotion to his mother, her love, her discipline, her continued support of him – and the pathos of her final illness and death and his dignified announcing this to the press.
Much is made of his failure of his law exams the first time round. Fortunately, he had something of a sense of humour and could refer to this later. There is always the issue of his relationships, girlfriends, his years with actress Daryl Hannah. And then there was his courtship and secret marriage with his wife, Caroline, the effect of such invasion of privacy and her. However, with the disappearance of their plane and their dying at a young age, this was ultimately not an issue for them.
Much is made of his establishment of the political-cultural magazine, George, in 1995, his range of interests, interviewing such characters as the hostile segregation advocate, George Wallace, governor of Alabama, and even inviting Hustlers Larry Flynt to an official event. Flint is one of the talking heads as is, surprisingly, Mike Tyson, more articulate than usual, respect for his friend John Kennedy who took up his cause when he was returned to prison.
Most of the talking heads are historians, political commentators. However, there is a welcome number of friends from his time at Brown University, illuminating what he was like at this stage of his life, and the establishing of firm friendships. It is Michael Reagan, son of the President, who is able to corroborate what it is like to be the heir of a president and be continually on the public eye.
There is the pathos of his love of flying and its leading to the disappearance of his flight, his death of the death of his wife and her sister.
An interesting and respectful look at the subject of the film – and a reminder of movements in America politics and history in the latter part of the 20th century.
