1. By watching the movie Thirteen Days, a person can gain valuable knowledge of the historical event known as the Cuban Missile Crisis. This big occurrence was actually a series of smaller events and decisions that lead up to a paramount situation in which the world was on the brink of nuclear war. By watching the film, a viewer will learn just how close the situation was from turning into a third world war, as well as get an inside view into the level of stress and intense decision-making that the president and his staff were experiencing during those two weeks in 1962. The film focuses on the United States' view of the crisis, and doesn't delve much into what the Soviet Union's experience was like, but it still informs the viewer of the communication between the two sides, the decisions made by both leaders, and why and how they came to resolve the situation.
Many specific details are shown in the movie, as the film did a very good job about being as historically accurate as possible, but the movie also does a good job of interpreting how the major government officials would have reacted to and handled the situation. One of the major takeaways from the film is how hard of a decision it was for the president, John F. Kennedy, and his advisors to make about what course of action to take to get rid of the missiles. They are shown throughout the movie stressing and arguing over what is the best plan to remove the threat of missiles, which is backed up by historical sources that describe how the White House and Pentagon reacted to the news of the missiles. The president formed the Executive Committee of the National Security Council, known as ExComm, in order to generate solutions to the pressing issue. This group of advisors included people in the president's office, like his brother and the Attorney General Robert Kennedy and his Special Assistant Kenneth O'Donnell, but also chiefs and officers that handle military affairs. Many of the people in his office prefer a more diplomatic approach, while the military hot-heads want to take immediate action and perform and air-strike followed by an invasion. The president eventually decides on an intermediate course of action, a naval quarantine, as it takes physical action while not initiating war when there is still hope for peace. The film shows the duress and anxiety that John F. Kennedy is under while everyone is telling him what the best thing to do is, but also how well he handles the pressure and stress of the situation, and never panics or loses hope.
Another important takeaway from the movie is the communication between Kennedy and Russian leader Nikita Khrushchev, and between the White House and the Kremlin, all leading up to how crisis is avoided. It shows the letters from Khrushchev and backwater sources like the Russian spy Alexander Feklisov, but also shows how even though there was communication between the two nations, there was still a sense of uncertainty throughout the whole encounter. Neither side knew the other's true intentions, and they were constantly second-guessing what the other side was doing and what decisions they should make. This is shown in the movie on the American side of things, as the White House scrambled to try to verify if the Russian Agent was a legitimate source sent from Khrushchev, and if he could be trusted or not with the news of the possibility of a peace deal. However, even when Khrushchev was the one directly communicating via teletype letters, there was still uncertainty in what he intended to do and how he felt about the situation, shown through a team of officials analyzing his letters and speculating as to what he meant, his tone, and all other sorts of conjectures. A viewer will be able to see and experience the stress and miscommunication during the Cuban Missile Crisis if they watch this film, and can get a better understanding of why the situation was so close to ending in disaster.
2. The film Thirteen Days was a very good representation of the real-life situation that was the Cuban Missile Crisis, but there were still a few things that are important that could not be learned from the film. This could be because of time reasons and the simple fact that the filmmakers cannot include every detail in a two hour movie, or because it could not completely capture some of the more broad aspects of the situation due to its focus on the crisis itself.
The film did not really show the public view of John F. Kennedy, or how his handling of the crisis affected that public opinion. The movie included some hints about his reputation after the failed Bay of Pigs invasion early in his presidency through the military chiefs attitude and language towards him, but never really showed the general population's thoughts of him. Furthermore, there was nothing at the end of the movie showing how his reputation changed after the crisis was resolved. He obviously has the respect and admiration of some of his close advisors and people in his office, but the broader view of his success is not shown, even though my research says that his image was strengthened and improved both domestically and internationally because of the crisis. I think this would be an interesting addition to the film, to display how his decisions and actions during this event changed public opinion of him to the citizens, as well as other government officials, at the time.
The other thing that the film did not show was how the Cuban Missile Crisis, its events, and its result globally affected the Cold War society. There was not much detail on what the world relations were like at the time of the crisis, and definitely not anything about how things changed after narrowly escaping nuclear war. I think the film could have shown what steps were taken by the U.S. and U.S.S.R. after the missile crisis was over, such as the installation of the teletype "Hotline" between the White House and Kremlin and the signing of the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. Both sides were reflective after the crisis, and realized how devastating and destructive a nuclear war could have been and how close they really were to disaster. In this spirit of improvement, tensions between the two sides lessened a little, and small steps to peace were made. The Hotline was installed to give a direct telephone link between their nations, and hopefully prevent a lack of communication in the case of another similar situation. The sides also took the first steps in agreeing to the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, as they realized that the nuclear arms race could potentially be a very destructive ordeal.
3. If the film had an additional 20 minutes, I would suggest that they add on to the end of the film in continuation of the outcome of the Cuban Missile Crisis. I think they could show how the crisis truly affected the worldwide society, and not just that it was resolved and everything was over. I think this makes the resolution of the crisis even more impressive, as it shows that it not only temporarily solved disaster, but also led to decreased tensions between the nations in the years following. It not only saved the U.S. from destructive nuclear missiles and the world from a nuclear war in that moment, but also for the future as it set up the possibility for peace and safety. So, if scenes were added that showed the Hotline being installed, the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty being signed, or of JFK talking about his hopes for peace between the sides (a little more than the audio part of the speech that they played over the scenes at the end), I think it would give a little more resolution to the movie and to the historical event.
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