Chazen Museum of Art | Sunday Cinematheque at the Chazen: “In the Line of Fire”

In recognition of the 60th anniversary of the assassination of President Kennedy, our series at the Chazen Museum of Art in October and November includes four movies that reflect audiences’ fascination with the murder, its effect on American society and culture, and the many conspiracy theories that emerged in the aftermath of November 22, 1963. From the 1970s, Alan Pakula’s The Parallax View and William Richert’s Winter Kills, showing in a new 35mm print, both create thinly veiled fictional spins on the assassination. From the early 1990s, Clint Eastwood stars as a Secret Service agent traumatized by his failure to protect Kennedy in In the Line of Fire; and Oliver Stone’s controversial JFK is an utterly compelling file-cabinet of a movie as it lays out its own, complicated conspiracy theories. These programs are also presented in conjunction with a new restoration of Emile De Antonio’s Rush to Judgment screening at our regular venue, 4070 Vilas Hall, on November 17.
In the Line of Fire
USA | 1993 | 35mm | 128 min.
Director: Wolfgang Petersen
Cast: Clint Eastwood, John Malkovich, Rene Russo
Eastwood is a veteran secret service agent, haunted by his inability to protect JFK in 1963 and now on the hunt for Malkovich, a chameleonic would-be presidential assassin. Both are in top form in Petersen’s sharply scripted thriller. A sterling supporting cast, several shocking twists, and a bevy of supremely suspenseful set-pieces all conspire to make this sleek cinematic rollercoaster one of the best of the 90s. (BR)
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