THE assassination of president John F Kennedy exactly 50 years ago, on Friday, Nov 22, 1963, remains a dark day - possibly the darkest - in American history. The youth, glamour, hope and power that Kennedy represented were all extinguished over the space of a few horrifying seconds that even now - thanks in part to a home movie of the actual murder - remain painfully embedded in the national psyche.

Parkland is a docudrama that recreates in authentic detail the moments leading up to the death of the president and the hours and days that followed, when a wave of shock, grief and guilt swept through Dallas, the scene of the crime. Written and directed by Peter Landesman in a journalistic, matter-of-fact manner, the movie focuses on a few key people and places that were instrumental to the proceedings.

Aided by some archival footage and the weight of history, Landesman makes no effort to embellish the facts. Viewers are given a ringside seat to perhaps the most heavily scrutinised and debated event in American political history. The filmmakers don't do much by way of making judgments or presenting conspiracy theories - that well-trodden path is best left to the likes of Oliver Stone.