USA: ON THE OCCASION OF THE 38TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS, ACTOR KEVIN COSTNER DISCUSSES HIS NEW FILM "13 DAYS " ABOUT THE EVENT

Record ID: 390399

  • Title: USA: ON THE OCCASION OF THE 38TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS, ACTOR KEVIN COSTNER DISCUSSES HIS NEW FILM "13 DAYS " ABOUT THE EVENT
  • Date: 20th October 2000
  • Summary: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES (OCTOBER 20) (REUTERS) MCU (English) KEVIN COSTNER SAYING, "These were just men. These were young guys who...these weren't elder statesmen. These were guys that were in office. Jack was in his 40's, I think Bobby was in his 30's and they were faced with one of the biggest crisis the world had ever known and they, the power of their p
  • Embargoed: 4th November 2000 12:00
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  • Location: LOS ANGELES, UNITED STATES AND FILM LOCATIONS
  • Country: USA
  • Reuters ID: LVA8NSLGOQA89YZ7A3MJ04S82OHQ
  • Story Text: On the occasion of the 38th anniversary of the Cuban Missile Crisis, actor Kevin Costner sat down with Reuters Television to discuss the importance of the historic confrontation and his participation in a new film about the event.
    Thirty-eight years ago this week, the superpowers very nearly unleashed an apocalyptic nuclear exchange over Cuba - when US President John F. Kennedy faced off against the plans of Cuba's Fidel Castro and Soviet President Nikita Kruschev to base nuculear-tipped missiles on the Caribbean island.
    Now the so-called Cuban Missile Crisis is the subject of a new feature film -
    "13 Days," starring Kevin Costner and directed by Roger Donaldson.
    Although the film doesn't open until December 20, New Line Cinema had Costner speak to reporters during the event's anniversary.
    Costner agreed to do so because he feels it's important for the nation to revisit its past.
    On October 16, 1962, a series of U-2 spy plane photographs revealed that the Soviets had installed medium-range ballistic nuclear missiles in the communist island nation of Cuba - missiles that that could hit major U.S. cities within minutes.
    Discovery of the weapons turned the Cold War into a very warm confrontation bewteen East and West.
    Eight days later, on October 22, Kennedy announced the situation to the American public, sending citizens into panic.
    "13 Days" portrays the dramatic unfolding of events within the Kennedy White House and features as characters John Kennedy, his brother and Attorney General Bobby Kennedy and his Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara.
    Costner plays trusted presidential aide and confidante Kenneth O'Donnell, who served as Special Assistant to the President and was a key White House insider with a bird's eye view of the crisis.
    While Costner learned a great deal about the historical facts of the confrontation, he says he was most impressed by the humanity of the politicians who had to make crucial decisions.
    "These were just men, these were young guys who...these weren't elder statesmen," Costner says.
    "These were guys that were in office. Jack was in his 40's, I think Bobby was in his 30's and they were faced with one of the biggest crisis the world had ever known and they, the power of their philosophy and their conviction, and, against a lot of conventional wisdom that was being thrown at them, stood tall."
    Costner adds that, in his opinion, today's politicians have the same good intentions as the men of that time, but the political system has been bent out of shape too much to allow such moral convictions and ethical leadership.
    President Kennedy chose to initiate a naval blockade against Soviet ships carrying missile equipment. His strategy proved successful; the Soviets withdrew the missiles and nuclear war was averted.
    Three decades later, however, Soviets, Cubans, and Americans learned how close the world had come to a nuclear conflagration.
    At a unique conference held in Havana, Cuba, in January 1992--attended by former Kennedy Administration members, Soviet participants in the crisis, and a Cuban delegation led by President Fidel Castro--Soviet general Anatoly Gribkov informed participants that, in addition to their intermediate-range ballistic missiles, the Soviets had deployed nine tactical missiles in Cuba to be used against any U.S. invasion force.
    Even more significantly, General Gribkov stated, Soviet field commanders in Cuba had the authority to fire those tactical nuclear weapons without further direction from the Kremlin.
    The Cuban missile crisis marked the climax of an acutely antagonistic period in U.S.-Soviet relations. The crisis also marked the closest point that the world had ever come to global nuclear war.
    It is generally believed that the Soviets' humiliation in Cuba played an important part in Khrushchev's fall from power in October 1964 and in the Soviet Union's determination to achieve, at the least, a nuclear parity with the United States.
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