An American Affair : Great "Magic bullet" look

An American Affair: Catharine, Adam &
John F. Kennedy

I don’t know anything about John F. Kennedy except the magic bullet stuff. I heard Marilyn Monroe committed suicide for him .That’s really too much to digest, at least for an Asian. Anyway, even without any knowledge about American history, the movie “An American affair” is fully enjoyable. Audience will watch the story through the eyes of a 13 years old kid , Adam . He was just a normal kid studying in a Christian Missionary school and having normal attractions about simple things. Thousand of curiosities and little confusions about illogical things were the bricks and mortar of his imaginary world. His parents were journalists. The movie perfectly portraits the American political instability in that period. Even one character cracked a joke “ is there any life in Washington without politics ??” Unanswered answer “No”. I will say, director tried to embellish it too much. In anywhere in this world, irrespective of year & date, intellectual people talk like that only. Movie starts its story when the kid became fascinated about his “Girl next door”. A middle aged lady, artist, loves to capture nature, different shades of life in her pictures.

Catharine did like to destroy any type of perfect form, figures of life. No doubt the character entered in the screen with a haze of mysteries. Mystery started climbing through a convex curve. Suddenly in one evening Adam discovered Jhon F. Kennedy at her door in an emotional moment. The camera angels through the window and the behavior of the body guards created a perfect secrecy for the scene. It was a dame need. New links about Catharine’s life started becoming clear. She had a son. Why & how she lost him are not clear and not needed also. Through the eyes of a young kid the director tried to analyze the bloody politics. Catharine had lots of contacts. All big shots. They loved her. I am not sure she loved them or not but yes , she gave herself. But why??? May be she was confused, May be she was lonely. All these questions are unanswered and that makes the movie more interesting. With time Adam’s attraction became affection. It is not right to call it love. Because his kiddy mind was very much aware about love, kiss and sex. He tried to have a girl friend but the failure compelled him more towards Catharine.

Movie perfectly describes the unstable situation of Washington DC in 1952. Contrast creates beauty. In one hand the audience will face the ugly side of politics and on the other hand , they will nurture the cuteness and innocence of Adam. I really liked the evening scene. Adam got caught by Catharine’s ex-husband while his eyes were flying through the windows her house and forcefully entered in the house. The milieu was great. Catharine was having wine with her friends. Dim yellow light like life had lost its strength. Classical Indian music was a great addition in that calm atmosphere. Husband did not like it. He was dunk and started shouting. It became very awkward for Catharine when he begged her to come back in front of everyone. She realized her husband is giving her a hint that she was just a prostitute for Jhon F Kennedy, like the thousand others of white house. She was stoned by these words. Sometimes in life, you want to keep few things only in your subconscious mind. The emotional vibration which originated from her deep heart, touched the eye shadows, “Like the lazy ocean hugs the shore”. She waved ,” You cant hurt me anymore Graham , not you, not your Government , no one can touch me.” Surprised Adam was standing at the corner of the room. Two matured people were shouting for love but he could only feel love between them.

Catharine was really close to Kennedy. It became clear to Adam but it hardly mattered to him. Adam’s childish mind could not understand the depth and real meaning of her relationship with the president. She got used by her husband and the bad people who were planning to kill Kennedy. She used to write all her words in a diary which Adam took wrongly in a very critical scene. She was having sex with “one” of her boy friends and Adam was watching that from the cupboard. His eyes were wet and shocked. She caught him but said “don’t be ashamed of being excited. Just don’t do it again.”

The bad Cuban killed Kennedy. Whole Country was crying. Catharine tried her best but it was his fate. The murders were scared of only one thing. That diary. She had written everything in that. They were searching for it madly. Ultimately they got it from Adam’s house and in front of him, they burnt it. Adam understood something bad was going to happen but it was too late. He was coming to meet and tell the thing to Catharine but in the subway , her dead body was lying alone. Blood was coming out from her head. Eyes were open.

Director compared her last moments with big condolence ceremony of Kennedy. Catharine at least got a pure love. The last scene was great. Adams got a present from Catharine Cowel. It was an artistic love which was indifferent of fate, time & form. Curtain dropped. An old jazzy number slowly captured the wind.

“Why does by my heart go on beating
Why do eyes of mine cry “