Critical and dialectical leadership in the movie Thirteen Days: Cinematic representations of decision‐making in a crisis situation

This paper explores how the film Thirteen Days (2000) represents leadership during the Cuban Missile Crisis through the dual lenses of critical and dialectical leadership. It aims to reveal how cinematic narratives can illuminate ethical, reflexive, and dialogic dimensions of leadership in moments of crisis. Using a qualitative film analysis, the study examines key scenes, dialogues, and mise en scène to interpret leadership discourse through critical (power, ethics, reflexivity) and dialectical (contradiction, synthesis, negotiation) frameworks. The analysis reveals that effective crisis leadership emerges from questioning assumptions, integrating opposing perspectives, and synthesizing divergent viewpoints. Moreover, cinematic construction of leadership calls for the masterly fusion of elements such as framing, lighting, and dialogues. As a whole, Thirteen Days depicts leadership as collective, emotionally intelligent, and ethically grounded behavior rather than being heroic or authoritarian. By integrating leadership theory with film analysis, this study contributes to an interdisciplinary understanding of leadership in crisis, highlighting how cinema serves as a reflective medium for rethinking about power and delegation, decision-making, and moral responsibility in extreme crisis situations.