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The Brightoner's Guide to Brighton
09 January 2009
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  • RFK Must Die: The Assassination of Bobby Kennedy Review

RFK Must Die: The Assassination of Bobby Kennedy (12A)

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Review byMatthew Turner15/05/2008

Three out of Five stars
Running time: 101 mins

Fascinating documentary that presents some intriguing evidence and raises some important questions, though it's hard to believe we'll ever know the whole truth.

What's it all about?
Directed by Shane O'Sullivan (who occasionally appears in the film, though not in a Nick Broomfield-type way), the film does exactly what the title suggests and re-investigates the assassination of Senator Robert Kennedy in 1968. In doing so, O'Sullivan raises some interesting questions, such as: Who was the girl in the polka dot dress? How could the fatal bullet have been fired from almost point blank range when the shooter was a few feet away? And why were there several high-profile CIA members in the Ambassador Hotel that night?

The Good
O'Sullivan interviews some impressive subjects, including Paul Schrade (who was hit by one of the bullets), Susan Serrano (the witness who saw a girl in a polka dot dress fleeing the scene shouting "We killed him") and Munir, the likeable brother of Sirhan Sirhan, who was convicted as the assassin. He's also unearthed some remarkable material, including camera footage that appears to place the aforementioned CIA members at the scene and, most chillingly, an audio recording of an LAPD detective bullying Serrano into retracting her statement.

O'Sullivan's contention is that the CIA had Kennedy killed because of his role in the Bay of Pigs (and the fight against Castro), his anti-war stance and the fact that he'd pledged to re-open the investigation into JFK's death. Though the evidence is ultimately both conflicting and inconclusive, it's nonetheless telling that so many people who were actually in the room at the time believe that, at the very least, there was a second gun (the evidence accounting for all the bullets is particularly compelling).

The Bad
The main problem is that O'Sullivan's insistence on using his own voice gives the film more of an amateurish feel than the material really deserves, since his voice isn't really suited to this sort of thing. He's also over-reliant on dramatisation in places.

Worth seeing?
Despite its flaws, RFK Must Die: The Assassination of Bobby Kennedy is a fascinating documentary that will leave you wanting to know more. Recommended.

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RFK Must Die: The Assassination of Bobby Kennedy (12A)
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