Bobby (2006)
Bobby (Alternative title: Bobby - The last day of Robert F. Kennedy and Bobby - They all had a dream ) is an American film drama by Emilio Estevez from the year 2006 . The film shows fictional events at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles on the night of June 5, 1968.
action
The film takes place on June 4, 1968 and almost exclusively in the Ambassador Hotel. Senator Robert F. Kennedy - only called Bobby by his admirers or in reference to his brother John F. Kennedy RFK - has announced himself for the celebration of the primary elections for the upcoming US presidential election in November 1968. While preparations for the evening in the hotel are in full swing, some of the hotel guests have other worries, but nobody can and will not escape the hustle and bustle around Kennedy.
First there is John Casey. Casey never tires of talking about times gone by. He was a bouncer when the hotel opened in 1921 and met many Hollywood greats over the years. Even though he's now retired, he's always drawn back to the hotel after the death of his wife, even if it's only for a game of chess with his old friend Nelson.
When the kitchen helper José starts his job, a nasty surprise awaits him. Once again he is supposed to work a double shift and work until midnight. He's particularly annoyed because he has tickets to an LA Dodgers game that he was planning to go to with his father. When he tells his colleague Miguel about this, he explains that the Mexicans are now the new fringe group and suggests that he sell the tickets.
Racism is also the subject of a conversation between HR manager Daryl and hotel manager Paul. Daryl has assigned all Mexican employees to double shifts so that they cannot participate in the primaries, on the grounds that one half is illegal in the country and the other half speaks little English. But Paul wants to ensure that all citizens can participate in the election. He therefore asks Daryl to notify the employees in writing in Spanish that they can vote and that this time will also be paid. Then he fires Daryl.
The young Diane visits the manicure studio of the hotel, which is run by Miriam, the wife of the hotel manager Paul. The women start talking and Diane says that she will get married that day to save her friend William from being sent to the Vietnam War . In this respect, too, the hopes of the younger generation rest on Bobby Kennedy, who has announced that he will end the Vietnam War as soon as possible should he become president.
To do just that, Kennedy's campaign staff have their hands full. Wade and Dwayne also send their people door-to-door on election day to get as many votes as possible for Kennedy. The two volunteers Cooper and Jimmy, who are still flirting with the waitress Susan at breakfast, are also part of the team - because they too are threatened with Vietnam if they are called up. But instead of going from door to door, they prefer to go to Dealer Fisher to get a joint . However, Fisher persuades the two of them to try LSD for a change .
The hotel guests also include the aging diva Virginia Fallon, who is supposed to appear in the framework program for Kennedy's celebration, and her husband Tim. Tim has actually had enough of his wife's demeanor - not least because he is constantly allowed to walk her dog - but he cannot part with her because she is the one who brought the money into the marriage. Instead, he takes refuge in conversations with John Casey, whom he has known as a regular at the hotel for a long time. The regular guests also include the married couple Jack and Samantha, who are Kennedy's supporters and who came especially for this celebration. However, Samantha realizes that she has forgotten the right shoes. Jack doesn't understand why the shoes have to match the dress, but loves his wife too much to be able to refuse her.
Kennedy's campaign manager Wade, meanwhile, has to shake off the Czechoslovak journalist Lenka, who desperately wants to do a short interview with Bobby. Not even Wade's declaration that the senator could not possibly give an interview for a “communist newspaper” deterred the stubborn woman. To the chagrin of the hotel employees, who have also noticed her in the meantime, she tries her luck again and again.
In the kitchen there is a heated argument among the staff - especially chef Edward and Miguel - over the issue of racism. José is torn between his friend Miguel and his supervisor and stays out of the discussion as much as possible. There are, however, many similarities between his and Edward's views. When the two talked in private later, he finally gave Edward the tickets for the Dodgers game. Meanwhile, Miguel has got José a transistor radio so that he can at least hear the game.
As William and Diane get married and Jimmy and Cooper try to cope with the aftermath of their first trip, everything is heading for the big climax of the evening. Wade, who has meanwhile received the first election results, announces that Kennedy is ahead with an overwhelming majority. Kennedy himself gives a fiery speech to his supporters before he wants to leave the hotel through the kitchen. But while he was talking to some employees there, Sirhan Bishara Sirhan appeared in the crowd and fired at him several times. Not only Kennedy himself, but Cooper, Jimmy, Daryl, Samantha and William are also hit by the bullets. José, who is closest to Kennedy, holds the seriously injured man's head and gives him his rosary . The only one keeping a cool head right now is Wade. He asks the guests whether a doctor is present. Rescue workers who arrive quickly take Kennedy to the hospital and treat the remaining injured while the crowd is in shock. In the final scene in the kitchen - with the exception of Casey and Nelson - all the people who were featured in the film are found.
Reviews
- Ray Bennett described the film in the Hollywood Reporter as "sentimental" and "nostalgic". He praised the camera work, the editing and the film music.
- Kai Mihm in epd Film 3/2007, p. 42: "The film tells - calmly, without bold effects and large gestures [...] Estevez is less about the analysis of the political background than about the mood of society."
- The film magazine Cinema wrote: “The individual narrative strands are of different quality, some would be completely dispensable, others are bizarre and highly dramatic. All of them are about trust, tolerance, belief in a better future, and often also about the failure of self-imposed claims. [...] Emotional ensemble film about one of America's blackest hours - ripe and symbolically charged ”.
Awards
Estevez and his film took in 2006 the competition for the Golden Lion of the International Film Festival of Venice in part. When the Golden Globe Awards were presented on January 15, 2007, Bobby received nominations for best film drama and for best film song ( Never Gonna Break My Faith ). At the Screen Actors Guild Awards 2007 the film was nominated in the category "Best Acting Company".
The German Film and Media Evaluation FBW in Wiesbaden awarded the film the title valuable.
background
The filming took place in California and lasted 35 days. Much of the film was shot in the Ambassador Hotel, the original location of the Kennedy assassination attempt, the demolition of which began just a few hours after filming ended. The total production costs of Bobby be less than 10 million US dollars estimated.
The world premiere of the film took place on September 5, 2006 at the Venice International Film Festival . On September 8, 2006, the film was shown at the Deauville Film Festival ; on September 14, 2006 - at the Toronto Film Festival . The film opened in Germany's cinemas on March 8, 2007. The rental DVD started on September 11, 2007, and since October 12, 2007 the DVD has been available for purchase.
Film music
The film's soundtrack consists largely of titles from the 1960s, including, for example, Come See About Me by The Supremes , Tuesday Afternoon by The Moody Blues , I Was Made to Love Her by Stevie Wonder or The Sound of Silence, and the instrumental piece Anji by Simon & Garfunkel . On the one hand the tracks Louie, Louie , which is sung by Demi Moore, and on the other hand the song Never Gonna Break My Faith , sung by Aretha Franklin and Mary J. Blige as well as the Boys Choir of Harlem were newly recorded . The composer Mark Isham is responsible for the film music . Also included on the soundtrack is part of an original speech by Robert F. Kennedy.
Historical accuracy
Only a few scenes in the film correspond to real events. With the exception of Bobby and Ethel Kennedy and Sirhan Bishara Sirhan , all characters are fictional. This also applies to the injured. Five other people were injured in the attack, but they were not portrayed in the film. The pictures of the kitchen helper who held Kennedy's head after the assassination and gave him the rosary went around the world at that time; however, the figure of José is also an invention.
Bobby Kennedy is only played in a few scenes by actor Dave Fraunces , most of the scenes with him are archive footage from speeches and election campaign events. Some sequences of the film are also highlighted with speeches.
swell
- ^ Review by Ray Bennett
- ↑ Cinema.de: film review
- ↑ Filming locations for Bobby
- ↑ Start dates for Bobby
Web links
- Bobby in theInternet Movie Database(English)
- Bobby atrotten tomatoes(English)
- Bobby at Metacritic (English)
- Bobby in the dictionary of international films