Jackie (A- or 3.5/4 stars)
I've read some amazing raves for Chilean director Pablo Larain's 'Jackie', a unique biopic which chronicles the complicated & defiant reaction of a woman left in the wake of national tragedy. But I've also read that this film can be cold & distant. So I went into 'Jackie' with some trepidation. Natalie Portman - who plays the iconic Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy - is an actress who I've always admired {her Black Swan performance knocked my socks off}, if not flat-out loved. Having said all of that, this film is strange, mercurial, aesthetically impressive, & Portman gives a hypnotic performance to rival Isabelle Huppert's (from Elle) as Best Actress this year. 'Jackie' is not a film to enjoy, per say ... but it's a fascinating curio that held my gaze throughout.
We all know what happened that fateful day in Dallas, Texas on 11/22/1963, when then-President John F. Kennedy (Caspar Phillipson, a JFK dead-ringer) was assassinated while riding in a motorcade, his loyal wife, 1st Lady Jacqueline Kennedy at his side. But in this movie, we learn what happened in the hours & days after that horrific tragedy -- and how Jackie coped with the monumental loss of her husband, with whom she had a ... complicated marriage. We see the toll that grief takes; through Jackie trying to wash off her husband's blood in post-traumatic horror, to dealing with Lyndon B. Johnson's (John Carroll Lynch) nightmarish swearing-in, to telling her children the dire news, to juggling some prickly White House officials, to planning an epic {and epically dangerous} funeral, & most importantly, preparing to preserve JFK's legacy; all while also finding a way to hang onto her sanity.
She finds 'some' solace in her secretary Nancy Tuckerman (Greta Gerwig), her bro-in-law, Robert F. Kennedy (Peter Sarsgaard), & an appointed priest (John Hurt), who doesn't mince words about how he feels, she feels, & what faith might or might not offer her in this terrible time. Aside from a look back at her famous 1962 CBS tour of the White House, in which she let the American public into her home, this film is told in a series of fractured flashbacks. Jackie recounts those horrible hours & days of the tragedy to a journalist (Billy Crudup) during a thorny interview; an interview designed to cultivate a certain heroic, legendary, undying image of JFK. Popular on Broadway, and one of JFK's favorite plays, Jackie insists, "Don't let it be forgot, that for one brief shining moment, there was Camelot".
'Jackie' put me in a bizarre, unsettling kind of state. Whether it was the oddly-structured framing device/flashback concept or Portman's deeply personal portrayal or Mica Levi's somewhat sinister, dissonant music that aids the jumbled emotions of the film, I was just really entranced. Director Larrain creates a searing exploration of grief; adding depth to this already complex story by refracting Jackie's story through the prism of the journalist. What fascinated me most about the proceedings was how Jackie tried to strengthen JFK's legendary narrative. i.e., how she micro-managed the funeral procession for maximum historical impact, patterning it after Abe Lincoln's; how she pushed the tragedy into public view {staying in her blood-spattered pink outfit}; insisting Carolyn & John Jr. be at her side, etc..
Natalie Portman eerily reconstructs Jackie; not only replicating her walk, accent, & cadence of speech ... but offering us a potential version of how the 1st Lady dealt with matters in those devastating hours/days. Struggling with emotions of disbelief, heartache, confusion, anger & fear, Portman glides through the White House like a ghost. Through watery eyes {no doubt due to her heavy drinking, chain-smoking, & pill-popping}, we see moments when she just "can't take it", as well as moments of brilliant clarity when expressing exactly how she's feeling & what she wants to do moving forward. And through all of this turmoil, we experience it through Stephane Fontaine's superb lensing & some impeccable design (recreation of the White House, wardrobes, 1960s milieu). 'Jackie' is solemn, yet mesmerizing; showing the mourning process of a woman who is conflicted in her feelings for her dead husband, while simultaneously trying to secure his legacy -- fascinating stuff.
We all know what happened that fateful day in Dallas, Texas on 11/22/1963, when then-President John F. Kennedy (Caspar Phillipson, a JFK dead-ringer) was assassinated while riding in a motorcade, his loyal wife, 1st Lady Jacqueline Kennedy at his side. But in this movie, we learn what happened in the hours & days after that horrific tragedy -- and how Jackie coped with the monumental loss of her husband, with whom she had a ... complicated marriage. We see the toll that grief takes; through Jackie trying to wash off her husband's blood in post-traumatic horror, to dealing with Lyndon B. Johnson's (John Carroll Lynch) nightmarish swearing-in, to telling her children the dire news, to juggling some prickly White House officials, to planning an epic {and epically dangerous} funeral, & most importantly, preparing to preserve JFK's legacy; all while also finding a way to hang onto her sanity.
She finds 'some' solace in her secretary Nancy Tuckerman (Greta Gerwig), her bro-in-law, Robert F. Kennedy (Peter Sarsgaard), & an appointed priest (John Hurt), who doesn't mince words about how he feels, she feels, & what faith might or might not offer her in this terrible time. Aside from a look back at her famous 1962 CBS tour of the White House, in which she let the American public into her home, this film is told in a series of fractured flashbacks. Jackie recounts those horrible hours & days of the tragedy to a journalist (Billy Crudup) during a thorny interview; an interview designed to cultivate a certain heroic, legendary, undying image of JFK. Popular on Broadway, and one of JFK's favorite plays, Jackie insists, "Don't let it be forgot, that for one brief shining moment, there was Camelot".
'Jackie' put me in a bizarre, unsettling kind of state. Whether it was the oddly-structured framing device/flashback concept or Portman's deeply personal portrayal or Mica Levi's somewhat sinister, dissonant music that aids the jumbled emotions of the film, I was just really entranced. Director Larrain creates a searing exploration of grief; adding depth to this already complex story by refracting Jackie's story through the prism of the journalist. What fascinated me most about the proceedings was how Jackie tried to strengthen JFK's legendary narrative. i.e., how she micro-managed the funeral procession for maximum historical impact, patterning it after Abe Lincoln's; how she pushed the tragedy into public view {staying in her blood-spattered pink outfit}; insisting Carolyn & John Jr. be at her side, etc..
Natalie Portman eerily reconstructs Jackie; not only replicating her walk, accent, & cadence of speech ... but offering us a potential version of how the 1st Lady dealt with matters in those devastating hours/days. Struggling with emotions of disbelief, heartache, confusion, anger & fear, Portman glides through the White House like a ghost. Through watery eyes {no doubt due to her heavy drinking, chain-smoking, & pill-popping}, we see moments when she just "can't take it", as well as moments of brilliant clarity when expressing exactly how she's feeling & what she wants to do moving forward. And through all of this turmoil, we experience it through Stephane Fontaine's superb lensing & some impeccable design (recreation of the White House, wardrobes, 1960s milieu). 'Jackie' is solemn, yet mesmerizing; showing the mourning process of a woman who is conflicted in her feelings for her dead husband, while simultaneously trying to secure his legacy -- fascinating stuff.