Stockholm Film Festival

After the Nixon release, Oliver Stone was pardoned by many of his former critics, who judged the film more complex than any of the director's previous work. Perhaps burned by former bashings concerning speculation and fabrication, Stone opened the film with a written statement, spelling out/explaining that some events were his own interpretations, not actual facts. However, many scenes in the film are remakes of actual happenings in American history, such as the famous Checkers speech and the ''You won't have Nixon to kick around anymore'' -statement, after Nixon's unsuccessful bid for Governor of California in 1962. But Stone isn't - and has never been, for that matter - interested in making an objective fieldtrip to where history is made, instead he takes his viewers straight inside the huddle.
The film itself, by many means, is a masterpiece, clearly flavoured by Citizen Kane, both in camerawork, editing and cinematography, and certainly when it comes to narrative. Nixon, played efficiently by a fantastic Anthony Hopkins - joined by Stone's superbly cast actors - is described as a mastermind of politics who, basically, did everything right, but in the end screwed up because of his constant feelings of inadequacy. As Henry Kissinger, brilliantly portrayed by Paul Sorvino, murmurs at one point: ''Can you imagine what this man might have been had he ever been loved?'', summing up the man and his career in one sentence.

ELIN LARSSON

Medverkande

Anthony Hopkins,Joan Allen,Powers Boothe

Producent

Clayton Townsend

Manus

Stephen Rivele,Christopher Wilkinson,Oliver Stone

Foto

Robert Richardson

Musik

John Williams

Talat språk

English, Mandarin, Russian

 

Andra filmer från sektionen Lifetime Achievement Award

Se alla festivalfilmer från 2004