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As an individual intrigued by Lee Oswald, and NOT because of conspiracies, Kennedy, political views held by Oswald, or anything else (I just think he's cute), I purchased this to see what new images it may contain, and, given that he lived in this interesting place I have only ever read about, MINSK, I wanted to see it, as the video claims it is all shot on location there. Too, having recently read Priscilla Houser McMillan's "Marina and Lee," I was curious to see if there would be any focus on his having met her in 1961 at a dance in the elaborate Palace of Culture center there. Well, the narrator blows that off in a terse "Lee met Marina Prusakova at a nurse's union dance at a dance hall," or words to that effect, hardly the gloriously romantic scenario the books made it out to be, and the "dance hall," if they really had visited it, was pretty dang GRAND, looking something like a Russian Parthenon, but - I digress. This has the feel of a low-budget documentary, but that is NOT a bad thing - indeed, it is born out of a sincere effort to do this project with little funding - no doubt a LOT of cost was incurred just in flying to and shooting in Russia. The packaging makes it sound a LITTLE more intriguing than it is, claiming they very nearly got in trouble HERE or ran into confrontation THERE, but it is quite tame when viewed, and nothing TERRIBLY new is revealed, although there are some new and different interviews with some of Oswald's co-workers, one of whom refused to be interviewed before, AND they show the CURRENT OWNER of Lee's apartment in Minsk, the one he shared with Marina. Evidently he did not KNOW this when purchasing it, and, as an old man, thinks it's kinda cool... Anyway, the piece is VERRRY slanted toward the "Oswald Pulled the Trigger" notion, it is a GIVEN in these folks' eyes, so it is hard to be objective when watching this, at least for me, when they are saying things like "in a mere six months Oswald would be shooting the President," or, "after slaying Kennedy, Oswald proceeded to..." etc. One cool thing they did was the inevitable scene-simulations, portraying Lee in the USSR during this period of his life, his problems with the Soviet and American Embassies, and his time with Marina, all shot of course in sepia tone. Little was done, however, to make things appear dated, as the interiors of the offices they used were obviously modern. Little else, like architecture or even the very rustic appearing interior of their apartment, could be construed as contemporary, but the obvious modern lamps and office equipment, they could have at least moved it OUT of camera range, but I am sure this was the least of their concerns, these are documentary film makers with a STORY to tell, dangit! Anyway. I wanted to see vintage stuff, that makes any scene-simulation a lot better for me. Too, they obviously hired Russian talent for the parts of Lee, Marina, his bevy of girlfriends (funny, I DO NOT recall his "partying ways" in what I have read, just that he "lived well" in Minsk where the factory put him up with a nice apartment) and embassy officials. The acting is stiff, BUT - if you think Lee is cute too, the fellow they got (who looks nothing like him besides being slender and brunette) is HOT. Demetri something-or-other (hence my guessing they hired locally). The recreation of Lee contemplating suicide in the Hotel is really nice, the actor is brooding and has his shirt open and I loved it...Read full review
I was going to say average but I guess it would be better for someone without much knowledge of Lee's stay in Russia. Some good pictures and insight to Lee's girlfriends in Russia. Good overview of his apartment in Russia and what it looks like today -very interesting. The KGB had there eye's on Lee as is proven here. One negative thing was in few parts the background music was too loud to here some of the narration. Dave ( Where's Lee when we really need him? )
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