Op-Docs (TV Series) November 22, 1963 (2013) User Reviews

Looking at the Evidence

[Michael_Elliott · 19 March 2015]

November 22, 1963 (2013)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

Director Errol Morris sits down with "6 Seconds in Dallas" author Josiah Thompson to discuss the Kennedy assassination fifty-years after the event. The main discussion in this 13-minute short are the video and photo evidence that was taken at the scene. The documentary starts off talking about the various bits of photo evidence that was taken that day and we're also treated to a diagram of where the people taking the photos were. From here Thompson discusses how at the time no one seemed overly interested in this evidence except for a few media members. There's also discussion of the LIFE Magazine article that was done shortly after the assassination. History buffs will certainly be entertained by this short that once again asks the question of whether we'll ever really know what happened that day. Morris pretty much just keeps this as a casual conversation and lets Thompson state his case and what he thinks about the photo evidence. It's a very compelling documentary even with the short running time.

50 years later...and no answers

[Rodrigo_Amaro · 10/10 · 3 March 2014]

50 years has passed ever since the tragic November 22, 1963, the day President Kennedy was killed in Dallas, Texas, an unsolved crime as far most of us tend to believe. All those years later and Errol Morris interviews someone who covered the aftermath of the assassination back in 63's, reporter Josiah Thompson, who previously appeared in Morris' "The Umbrella Man" shedding some light on who was the mysterious man who opened an umbrella while JFK's motorcade was passing by. Like many theorists, Thompson believes that Kennedy was killed by a conspiracy, providing basic and provoking details about how the media coverage at the time helped forming those rushed concepts, easily buying the lone gunman theory. Mr. Thompson exposes facts concerning all the visual media available on the case, with photos, Zapruder film and the other guy who filmed from a different angle and almost no one remembers him - and with those, Thompson offers more interrogations while claiming that all those materials were altered in some way, to hide further evidence.

Along with the many TV specials and with the average "Parkland" released in theaters, this short film was the most gripping work that appeared in light of remembrance of the 50th year of the assassination. Brief, precise, giving food for thought but still not answering anything. The truth remains covered up, that was the only affirmative in here. 10/10