Film director Pablo Larrain said his portrayal of Jacqueline Kennedy in the aftermath of her husband’s assassination is not a biopic but rather a chance to look at an intriguing and painful story from the point of view of the former first lady.
Larrain was speaking at the Venice film festival where Jackie, starring Natalie Portman, premiered on Wednesday. It is competing against 19 other movies for the coveted Golden Lion that will be awarded tomorrow.
“I believe that Jackie was someone incredibly mysterious, probably one of the most unknown from the known people,” the Chilean director told a press conference.
The film is Larrain’s first English-language feature and also his first movie centred around a female character.
“I’m not American and not necessarily attached to their history... but I felt this was a very beautiful and intriguing story,” he said.
Portman, who won an Oscar for her role in ballet thriller Black Swan, said portraying someone whose looks, speech and gestures were known to everyone made this the “most dangerous” role she had ever played.
I believe that Jackie was someone incredibly mysterious, probably one of the most unknown from the known people
The film recreated parts of a White House tour the first lady gave after renovating the presidential residence, making it easy to draw comparisons between Portman and Kennedy.
“And that’s terrifying because I’ve never thought of myself as a great imitator or anything,” the 35-year-old actress said.
Portman as Jackie Kennedy.“I was just trying to get to something that people could get past and believe that I was Jackie, and then you always have yourself in there too, inevitably.”
A big part of Portman’s job was portraying a character always in control of her identity, putting different masks on when in public, with those close to her or when truly alone.
“She’s a symbol for all these people, she is a mother, she’s a wife, a betrayed wife, she’s a person just trying to find her way in the world,” Portman said.
“There are so many things she’s dealing with.”
Larrain said the movie was not trying to deliver all the answers but rather leave something for the audience to digest.
“You don’t completely get who she was because it’s just not possible, and I found beauty in that fact,” he said.