Chappaquiddick

Rumors flew in the day that followed the accident: that Kennedy had been drunk, that he and Kopechne were headed to the beach for a tryst, that he had abandoned her in the sunken car, that he had fled the scene of the accident, that he had conspired to cover up the truth of what happened. in a telev...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Film & history 2018-12, Vol.48 (2), p.10-14
Main Authors: Miller, Cynthia, Riper, A. Bowdoin Van
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
American history
Conversation
Hearing
Kennedy, Edward M
Motion pictures
Movie reviews
Truth
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Rumors flew in the day that followed the accident: that Kennedy had been drunk, that he and Kopechne were headed to the beach for a tryst, that he had abandoned her in the sunken car, that he had fled the scene of the accident, that he had conspired to cover up the truth of what happened. in a televised address on the night of July 19, Kennedy denied all suggestions of impropriety, asserted that he-along with his associates Paul Markham and Joseph Gargan-had made multiple attempts to rescue Kopechne, and asked his constituents to pass judgement on whether he should remain in office. Talk of Kennedy as the presumptive Democratic nominee for 1972 evaporated, and his 1980 primary challenge to incumbent president Jimmy Carter went nowhere. The filmmakers implicitly accept the sequence of events established at Kennedy's court hearing on July 25 (which constitutes the official record of the event) and use them as a narrative framework on which to hang the story that genuinely interests them: how the accident and its aftermath transformed Kennedy (Jason Clarke) from a charming but feckless lightweight overshadowed by his older brothers into a mature and wily politician. When Kennedy's brief entry into the conversation makes clear that it is professional: an invitation to work for his 1972 presidential campaign, as she did for his brother's in 1968.
ISSN:0360-3695
1548-9922