（ That is the best time, that is the worst time; that is the year of wisdom, that is the year of ignorance; that is the time of faith, that is the time of doubt; that is the season of light, that is the season of darkness; It was the spring of hope, and it was the winter of disappointment; we were all heading straight to heaven, we were all heading straight to the opposite direction.)
-Charles Dickens, "A Tale of Two Cities"
Robert F. Kennedy (RFK) in early 1968 Announced his candidacy for President of the United States. It was more than four years since his brother John F. Kennedy (JFK) was assassinated that year. The Vietnam War continued that year. Although the US Congress has passed anti-apartheid and anti-racial discrimination bills, the civil rights struggle is still fierce. The younger generation is mentally depressed, wandering between heaven and hell.
If Bobby (another name for RFK) wins the election, his enthusiasm, talent, and political ideals may be able to lead the American people out of chaos, disappointment, and anger. We will never know whether American history will get better if Bobby becomes the leader of this superpower.
On April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King, the leader of the black civil rights movement in the United States, was assassinated and resigned. Two months later, on June 4, 1968, RFK, once one of the leaders of the African American Civil Rights Movement in 1963, won the Democratic Party’s California primary. This means that he will be able to successfully win the final victory in the party's primary election and become the candidate nominated by the Democratic Party to participate in the presidential election.
Shortly after the announcement, RFK was shot in the head at close range by a 24-year-old Palestinian youth named Sirhan B. Sirhan at the Ambassador Hotel of the campaign headquarters. It was the early morning of June 5th. The next day, RFK died of his injuries in the hospital, ending his 42-year-old life.
This film tells the story of what happened in the Ambassador Hotel between the early hours of June 4th and 5th, 1968. Twenty-two characters appeared one after the other, unprepared to witness another dark moment in American history.
Among them are Mexican immigrants, black old chefs, young hotel telephone operators, white executives who discriminate against people of color, alcoholic female singers and her husbands, young people running for headquarters, beautiful waiters who want to become stars, and come from the upper class. Rich people, college students who hate and fear the war in Vietnam, etc. They all have their worries and sorrows.
Just looking at this list of actors, I was so excited: Anthony Hopkins, William H. Macy, Freddy Rodríguez, Harry Belafonte, Heather Graham, Laurence Fishburne, Christian Slater, Helen Hunt, Martin Sheen, Lindsay Lohan, Sharon Stone , Elijah Wood, Ashton Kutcher, Demi Moore, and Emilio Estevez, who is the screenwriter, director and actor of the film.
Really shining acting and idol group lineup, together to interpret the death of the American dream.
This kind of multi-clue, multi-role narrative method often encounters the problems of vague focus and tedious layout. The huge and gorgeous cast also makes the story difficult to control. The director obviously restricts the role of each role, so as not to overwhelm the audience. Among them, the performances of Sharon Stone, Demi Moore and Martin Sheen impressed me very much.
Sharon Stone plays the role of a stylist in a hotel beauty salon. She married Paul, the hotel's director, and her marriage was peaceful and happy. But on this day she discovered that Paul had a bad relationship with the young and beautiful operator, and the appearance of happiness suddenly collapsed. Demi Moore plays a charming singer. Severe alcoholism, manic temper and aging body are the shadows that she cannot get rid of. Her husband was once a famous drummer, but now he has become a middle-aged man who looks weak and weak. Sharon Stone and Demi Moore have impeccable grasp of the characters, which is pleasing to the eye.
As for Martin Sheen's lines and eyes are still impeccable. Seeing him with white temples in the movie, I always think of Maran Brando who has passed away. They co-starred in "Apocalypse Now" (produced in 1979), and it has been twenty-seven years since then.
Although these 22 characters are the protagonists of individual destiny, they are all historical passers-by. Only the theme of the times reflected in a large number of historical video clips in the interstitial film is the real focus of the film.
Reappeared yesterday. We saw young Michael Wallace (a well-known American news reporter) reporting news on TV. Students in the parade used their bodies to block police batons and rifles, angry black people jumped into the car, and Dortor King gave a speech in Washington Square. , And RFK visited slums, schools, and abandoned old industrial cities. Black and white fragments appear repeatedly, reminding us of the story of that era. When the familiar "The Sound of Silence" sounded, I sat in the dark movie hall and moaned.
The worst times are also the best times. Dreams and conspiracies, enthusiasm and perplexity, wars and resistance, psychedelics and bullets... When time entered the seventies, Americans suddenly changed from imperfect fighters to vulgar uncles or decadent fugitives.
The opposition between light and darkness ended in the 1960s. Only in that era that Americans deserve the RFK speech of those remarks:
We are A Great Country.
We are A Selfless Country.
We are A Passionate Country.
When the US government into Iraq's swamp lake today, we May wish to review the United States in the 1960s with the Americans and cherish the passing of a golden age.
Or, they also begin to witness the decline of a great country.
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