Years of Lightning, Day of Drums

John F. Kennedy: Years of Lightning. Day of Drums will disappoint those who have felt compelled to save the "real Kennedy" from his image. The United States Information Service does not show the "man behind the myth," the "unknown JFK," or the "Kennedy without tears." It declines even to give a balanced assessment of his administration. Rather than penetrating the public image that Kennedy cultivated while he lived, this film refines and embellishes it by using his death--"the day of drums"--as a dramatic contrast with his "years of lightning."

After describing each "face" of his administration--the Peace Corps, the Alliance for Progress, civil rights, the space program, anticommunism, and an end to the arms race--the camera shifts abruptly to the funeral procession. At one moment, for example, Kennedy is in Costa Rica--speaking, laughing and shaking hands. "He was never to stand in Latin America again," says the narrator, and the scene breaks to a view of the casket in the rotunda.

Using this technique, the USIS attempts to communicate the "spirit" of Kennedy's two years and 10 months as President: his "youth, intellect and vigor." And it is most successful when it lets Kennedy speak for himself. Around the world, says the narrator, the Kennedy administration confronted communism with the determination of our people to defend freedom, justice, etc. But the "face" of anticommunism does not come alive until Kennedy himself stands before a crowd of cheering West Berliners and challenges those people "who do not see the issue between communism and freedom," those who think that "communism is the wave of the future," those who would surrender: "Let them come to Berlin."

When, at the end, the narrator takes over completely, the film very nearly dissolves into fantasy. After scenes of Ireland's pleasant countryside, there are pictures of Kennedy's family; the austere background music of the first hour is replaced by a twinkling Irish ballad. There is the inevitable comparison with Lincoln (he alone "sits unmoved" as the procession passes by) and there are shots of the eternal flame ("the torch has been passed"). As the curtain closes, the narrator says that "Kennedy is invisible, but so is peace, and so are love and dreams."

As these lines suggest, the USIS is occasionally trapped by its own preoccupation with image. In all of this lightning and drums, there is really very little substance--very little, indeed, that has not been heard many times before. The film treats only superficially the "six faces" of Kennedy's administration; it concentrates on Kennedy's successes in foreign affairs, neglecting most of his domestic policy. Even with regard to foreign affairs, it rarely ventures more deeply than a routine State Department press release. The Peace Corps, for example, is described as a program designed "not to take over the weak, but to leave behind the strong."

And yet, except for the closing scenes, most of the film is technically effective. Switches from color to black and white break the monotony. The scenes of Kennedy are well-chosen and some of his best speeches have been included. There are some beautiful shots of the earth taken from Glenn's space capsule, some humorous scenes of Kennedy on his visit to Ireland, and a few snatches of Kennedy's wit.

In one scene, Kennedy drops the medal that he is about to pin on Alan Shepard, the first astronaut. As worried aides scramble to retrieve it, Kennedy tells Shepard with mock solemnity that "this medal has gone from the ground up." That quip, of course, loses something in writing. And yet, it is more revealing than most of the narration, which never advances beyond the observation that Kennedy was "an uncommon man" who "built his program in an uncommon manner."