The Kennedy Incident

In May 1939, three months before the outbreak of WW II, the future US president, John F. Kennedy, visits the Estonian capital, Tallinn, staying for two days. There, his path crosses with two very different girls – a call girl, who is willing to abandon everything for love, and a ‘decent maiden’, who is willing to sell out everyone. The story is first told through the eyes of Monika, the call girl, who is only supposed to entertain the young guest, but who falls hopelessly in love. She permits herself to nourish hopes of purification through love, and is bitterly punished – a prostitute has no right to fall in love. The second version of the story is told through the prism of Claudette, Monika’s friend. She is initially asked along to chaperon Monika, but things take a different turn. When Claudette is approached by her former beau and his colleagues from the German embassy, she agrees to exchange her loyalty – both to her friend and to the guest – for cash.