THE 100 GREATEST MOVIE
SEQUENCES OF ALL TIME

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NUMBER ONE

#11

Jim Garrison's speculation and final summation on the Kennedy assassination in the trial of Clay Shaw
F R O M
JFK (1991)

This final sequence from Oliver Stone's greatest film was a pure masterpiece of film assembly. And it was another fine example of why film is the greatest and most powerful of art forms, because of its ability to show through moving images different aspects of different events and allow the viewer to decide. Stone used a variety of different film stocks, as well as actual footage of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy to show the audience different theories on the assassination during Jim Garrison's presentation of evidence in his trial against New Orleans businessman Clay Shaw. In it, Stone assaults the viewer with quickly edited images showing a speculation that three shooters were involved in the killing and showed in time with the Zapruder film where and how each shot struck, a total of six shots. Then immediately afterward, Stone presents the "official" version of what happened, with the lone nut Lee Harvey Oswald firing only three shots. The whole sequence is incredibly powerful, because Stone uses the cinema to bring back history, as he does so often with his films, and in this particular case, to re-examine history and perhaps place it under a whole new light.

Jim Garrison, played by Kevin Costner, follows up this visual onslaught, which also debunks the single bullet theory in a very convincing visual way, with a very passionate and well-written speech on what really happened with the conspiracy and cover-up of JFK's murder, a speech which challenges the viewer to take more political action. Stone cements this home with an eerie shot in which Garrison's last line is directed straight to the viewer, as Costner looks directly into the camera and into the viewer's eyes -- "It's up to you."


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