EKasica

A very dear film by the young Naruse Mikio, and the theme is what it so often is in the great Japanese cinema of the 1930s, 40s and 50s: the heart wants what it wants. The lovely daughter is played by Chiba Sachiko, and she would later marry Naruse. The wonderful Japanese actor Maruyama Sadao plays the father. Maruyama would later be exterminated in the U.S. terror bombing of Hiroshima.

Yes, the story is well-known and conventionally told. The direction of "Thirteen Days" is no better than what you'd find in a movie made for Lifetime TV. But I'm giving this film a "9" because of Bruce Greenwood. John F. Kennedy has been portrayed -- on stage, TV and movies -- by many many actors. No one until Bruce Greenwood has gotten him right. Greenwood's performance embodies why JFK still has such a hold on America's heart. And it has nothing to do with charisma, the Peace Corps, the Alliance for Progress, the space race, the Missile Crisis, or sex.<g> It has to do with the enormous decency and empathy of the man. Not only was he smarter and more courageous than others we have had since, he was more understanding of the hurts, doubts, and longings of other people on this planet. To not use force when force is all on your side -- that is the true hero. And hooray for the great actor Bruce Greenwood for reminding us of that.

Everything works here -- expect for the jerks at ABC who refused to pick this up as a weekly series. (This was the pilot.) One of the most stylish TV movies ever made, everyone is at their best: Peter Strauss & Barbara Williams(what a couple they would have made each week!), Jennifer Edwards as the beautifully cooky fill-in secretary, Jurasik as Pete's cop buddy, Mancini's music, and -- of course -- the writing and direction of Blake Edwards. Along with his great portrayal of Dick Diver in the Dennis Potter version of "Tender is the Night"(1985), this is Strauss's best work -- the role he was born to play: smart, stylish, cooly heroic. Looking back now from the era of "men" such as Ben Affleck, Guy Pearce, Ethan Hawke, ad nauseum -- Strauss is more and more the real thing. (As is Williams.) Terrific.