By Mary Shaffer
and Jerry Bunin
The Tribune

On Nov. 22, 1963, America lost a president and its innocence.

From Caesar and Gandhi to Martin Luther King and Malcolm X, political assassinations have been historical turning points, seminal events that changed how countries see themselves.

What other single event had a greater impact on modern American life than President John F. Kennedy's murder? Do we have a greater unsolved mystery? Assassinations have inspired some unforgettable movies.

In this year's thriller, ''In the Line of Fire,'' Clint Eastwood plays an FBI agent ridden with guilt because he couldn't save Kennedy in Dallas, but now has a second chance to save a president from an assassin--ex-CIA killer John Malkovich.

Some assassination film targets are worth killing, such as Hitler in ''Man Hunt'' (1941). A few almost deserve it, like the corrupt Huey Long-like senator in ''All the King's Men'' (1949).

More often they are heroic figures, advocates of peace and freedom killed by powerful forces opposed to their ideals.

No recent film has generated more controversy than ''JFK'' (1991). Oliver Stone's dazzling piece of propaganda touched a collective nerve, generated headlines long before it was released, and changed history by forcing the government to open its files on the assassination.

''JFK'' is a fictional treatment of real events. It's not a documentary or a piece of history.

The film features Kevin Costner as New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison who finds and trails a conspiracy into the highest levels of government and links JFK's death to America's escalating war in Vietnam.

Winning well-deserved Oscars for editing and cinematography, the film mingles speculation, recreations of real events, news footage and the Zapruder film to question the Warren Commission's conclusions about a lone assassin and a ''magic'' bullet.

While not historically reliable, ''JFK'' accurately reflects America's growing distrust with institutions after 1963.

''Is a government worth preserving when it lies to the people?'' Coster asks the jury. ''A patriot must always be ready to defend his country against his government.'' Other films have speculated about the events in Dallas.

One of the strangest is ''Winter Kills'' (1979), a black comedy written and directed by William Richert.

Jeff Bridges plays the unambitious younger brother of a JFK-like president assassinated 19 years earlier. When Bridges uncovers a possible conspiracy, his wealthy industrialist father (John Huston) encourages him to ''get to the bottom of it.'' The paranoid yet funny investigation touches every known conspiracy theory: the military-industrial complex, the cops, the Cubans, the mob, and even Marilyn Monroe's suicide.

Oliver Stone must have seen this film since the style, even some of the dialogue, is echoed in ''JFK.'' Heroes in both slowly build cases from scattered bits. Their stories unfurl through flashbacks told by multiple characters.

But unlike Stone, Richert doesn't take himself too seriously, often using comedy to make a point: ''Pa thinks Moses lied about the Ten Commandments,'' Bridges says. ''Because what God really said is, 'Do what you want but don't get caught.' '' As a film, ''Winter Kills'' has a history as weird as its plot.

Drastically edited by the studio and ignored at the box office when first released, the film was reacquired, restored and rereleased by Richert in 1983 to good reviews and a cult following.

It is based on a book by Richard Condon, whose novel ''The Manchurian Candidate'' also became a film with a ''past.'' Released in 1962, John Frankenheimer's film stars Frank Sinatra as a Korean war vet with recurring nightmares that hold the key to a Communist plot to assassinate the president.

After Kennedy died, his close friend Sinatra managed to keep ''The Manchurian Candidate'' and ''Suddenly'' (a 1954 film where Sinatra plays an assassin) out of circulation for decades.

While ''The Manchurian Candidate'' explores the manipulation behind the assassination plot and the assassin's psyche, ''Taxi Driver'' (1976) is still the best film about the anti-social loner mentality of a potential assassin.

In one of his most powerful performances, Robert De Niro plays Travis Bickle, an isolated, quiet, deadly timebomb searching for something to give his life meaning.

Spending long, sleepless hours in his cab, he sees life at its worst. ''All the animals come out at night,'' he says. ''Someday a real rain will come and wash all the scum off the street.''

He falls for political campaign worker Cybill Shepherd, befriends young prostitute Jodie Foster and becomes ''a man who would not take it anymore, who stood up to the scum.'' But he winds up stalking Shepherd's candidate after she rejects Bickle's attempted romance.

He buys four guns and practices in front of a mirror in one of the most famous and frequently mimicked scenes ever filmed, known by the line: ''You talkin' to me?''

''Taxi Driver'' was originally condemned for its violence, which seems tame now, and for inspiring John Hinkley to shoot Ronald Reagan when Hinkley wanted Foster, an example of life imitating art.

America isn't the only country plagued by real assassins.

Costa-Gavras' ''Z'' (1969) is based on actual events preceeding a right-wing, military coup in Greece in the 1960s.

Yves Montand is a pacifist politician murdered by fascist thugs with the complicity of the police and military, a conspiracy eventually uncovered by a dogged young prosecutor. The investigation gradually builds to a triumphant crescendo only to crash with a sober reminder of the crackdown that followed.

Told in a documentary-like style, ''Z'' is among the most effective propaganda films ever made, winning numerous awards, including Oscars for best foreign film and editing.

Like Stone, Costa-Gavras takes sides, opening ''Z'' with a bold disclaimer: ''Any similiarity to actual events or persons living or dead is not coincidental. It is intentional.''

''Z,'' like ''JFK,'' is an indictment of the abuse of power. It will make you mad. It will make you think. But you'll never forget it.

Mary Shaffer works at Cal Poly. Jerry Bunin is a Telegram-Tribune reporter. Shakespeare taught them to never kill a king.

Some Other Assassination Films

• ''Day of the Jackal'' (1973)
• ''The Dead Zone'' (1983)
• ''Executive Action'' (1973)
• ''Gandhi'' (1982)
• ''Julius Caesar'' (1953)
• ''Macbeth (1948 and 1971)
• ''Malcom X'' (1992)
• ''The Man Who Knew Too Much'' (1934 and 1956)
• ''Nicholas and Alexandra'' (1971)
• ''The Parallax View'' (1974)
• ''State of Siege'' (1973)
• ''The Tall Target'' (1951)