MovieChat Forums > All the King's Men (2006) Discussion > get the gun, get the gun.

get the gun, get the gun.

posted 17 years ago by flave70
16 replies | jump to latest

when sean penn is shot, the words "get the gun, get the gun" are heard from the crowd. however, these words are not spoken by an actor. these are from a video tape, or audio tape, made when robert kennedy was shot. while trying to get the gun away from sirhan sirhan, somebody was yelling to get the gun from him. i was wondering why the director chose to insert these words into this scene. is he trying in some way to compare robert f. kennedy to huey long? anybody else notice this??

[–] Little_Korean 17 years ago

Maybe it's just a coincedence - if someone's getting shot in front of you and you want to stop it, grabbing the gun off the assassin would be a good start.

When darkness overcomes the heart, Lil' Slugger appears...

[–] flave70 17 years ago

well, its not an actor saying it. it is from the actual night robert kennedy was shot. its a voice of a person who was there that night in 1968. so the director used that actual sound recording and put it in the movie.

[–] Little_Korean 17 years ago

Hmmm, odd. It's not as if the film tries otherwise to compare Stark with Kennedy or with any other politician other than the one Stark was based on (i.e. Long).

When darkness overcomes the heart, Lil' Slugger appears...

[–] davidandrews27 17 years ago

The point is that the assassination of Huey Long, like the RFK assassination, is said to involve more than one shooter, and possibly a member of the politician's own security force. This doesn't jibe exactly with Robert Penn Warren's portrayal of Willie Stark's death, so it's a nudge from the filmmakers. Note the so-called "goof" of the camera catching a Huey Long memorial plaque just before Willie is shot - also an intentional nudge.

[–] Little_Korean 17 years ago

I dunno - sounds like you're reading too much in a pretty straight forward scene. If they wanted to compare Stark/Long to RFK, then there way better ways to do so without flying completely under the radar of nearly all of the audience.

When darkness overcomes the heart, Lil' Slugger appears...

[–] Spyder130 17 years ago

I just thought it lended a little authenticity to the scene. I thought it was cool, but I definitely wouldn't read anymore into it about trying to compare Stark or Long to RFK.

[–] scotquinn 17 years ago

Wow.. that's a cool observation. How did you validate it? Did you make a personal comparison? I'm not being a smart alec... I'd love to find out how you figured this out.

I remember, upon first viewing, that something about the scene had a tint of deja vu to it. It could be that audio.

Interesting!

[–] PenTheater 16 years ago

That audio clip also opens the movie, with the camera spiral off of the floor engraving of the Louisianna seal in the state capitol.

maybe that's your deja vu.

[–] nutsberryfarm 12 years ago

nah. leave it, take the cannoli.

His name...was Julio Iglesias!

[–] flave70 17 years ago

how did i "figure this out"? while there are no video or sound recordings of rfk's assassination, the immediate aftermath is well documented. while wrestling the gun away from sirhan sirhan, somebody was yelling to rosey greer to "get the gun, get the gun, get his thumb and break it if you have to". this is all well known. why the director of "all the kings men" chose to put this audio in his movie is my question.

[–] Chrieraux 17 years ago

Um, "Get the Gun" or even "Get the gun, get the gun" seems like a kind of natural thing to say when someone is getting shot. If the film-maker's had put the whole quote in, "get the gun, get the gun, get his thumb and break it if you have to," then I would say they probably were trying draw some kind of connection between the two shootings. But with just "Get the gun, get the gun" I think it was just coincidence.

---------------------------------
I leave you in anguish, wallowing in freakish misery, forever.

[–] flave70 17 years ago

it was absolutely no coincidence. it was audio from the rfk assassination placed into the movie. it was something the director did by choice. my only question was why.

[–] j_krook 17 years ago

i haven't seen this movie, but i can't believe huey lewis got shot - i loved that song 'power of love.' man, i'm gonna miss him!

[–] j_krook 17 years ago

hey flave, calm down - they just wanted the guy with the guy to drop the gun, that way he wouldn't have a gun to do anything crazy with like shoot a guy.

wouldn't you want a guy with a gun, who was shooting at people, to have that gun taken away?

also, if you want to know why the director did something, maybe you should try to email him or something instead of asking a bunch of losers what they think.

[–] flave70 16 years ago

there is no deja vu. the director of this film added an audio soundbite from rfk's assassination. my only question is WHY??????!

[–] BronwynAnne 16 years ago

Yes, it was a deliberate decision made by the director and editorial. The significance is that you have two populist politicians shot in their prime. Yes, Stark is fictional and RFK isn't but Stark is based on Long. Stark/Long were corrupt and RFK wasn't really, but they were all populist in their philosophy. That is why. Good job to have noticed it.