Jackie
Director: Pablo Larraín
Stars: Natalie Portman, Peter Sarsgaard, Greta Gerwig
Duration: 200 mins
Class: 12
KRS Releasing Ltd
In Jackie, Natalie Portman and Chilean director Pablo Larrain come together to lift the curtain slightly on the enigma that was the iconic Jackie Bouvier Kennedy, wife of assassinated US President John Fitzgerald Kennedy. The film offers us a hitherto unseen insight into a woman who, as Larrain himself states, was stylish, desirable, sophisticated… and one of the most photographed women of the 20th century.
Throughout her time in the limelight, Jackie Kennedy was inexorably linked to her husband’s rise to the higher echelons of political power, his brief presidency, and ultimately his assassination that fateful day of November 22, 1963.
This is an event that has been pored over by historians, conspiracy theorists and filmmakers ad nauseam in the decades since the event. In the eponymous film, Noah Oppenheim’s incisive script pulls the focus away from JFK, directing the spotlight intently on the immediate aftermath of the assassination on the First Lady as she came to terms with the unendurable and overwhelming emotions that followed.
The movie is inspired in part by the interview carried out by journalist Theodore H. White with Jackie at Hyannis Port, for Massachusetts for Life magazine mere days after JFK’s death. The interview is a springboard for a series of flashbacks, as Jackie tells her story, revealing a woman who seemed to experience the five stages of grief in one fell swoop – denial in her moments of aloofness; anger in her outbursts to those around her; bargaining in her attempts to organise a funeral that would both celebrate and cement her husband’s legacy; depression as the world she has lived so briefly crumbles around her, and acceptance, as witnessed in the calmness and confidence with which she faced the journalist (played by Billy Crudup).
An exacting role which demands excellence, and Portman provides it
Unsurprisingly, this throws up a gamut of emotions, from the deepest of sorrows to some welcome humour. She opens up the to the journalist, offering a rare, candid confession of her feelings, while at times blatantly toying with him. One outburst is so startlingly honest that he is compelled to state: “I’m guessing you won’t allow me to write any of that,” to which she replies “No… Because I never said that.”
The costumes, makeup and hair that so exquisitely capture the iconic look, certainly help. Yet, no outward trappings can match the enthralling way Portman catches the essence of the woman and the swirl of emotions she negotiated with grace in those difficult days.
It’s an exacting role which demands excellence, and Portman provides that excellence every step of the way. She provides it in her gait, mannerisms, emotions and in Jackie’s soft, breathy voice, which never resorts to mimicry.
The actor is no stranger to complex roles, as her Oscar-winning turn in Black Swan so easily demonstrated. She could very well walk off with a second Oscar for this role, for her portrayal offers an insight that is intimate and riveting as she negotiates those impossibly difficult days. Her rapid mood swings at once alienate and invite the sympathy of those around her, including her brother-in-law Robert Kennedy (Peter Sarsgaard), who provided her with rock solid support, and her assistant Nancy Tuckerman (Greta Gerwig).
Moreover, it’s a portrayal that goes a long way in accurately illustrating the abject horror of what Jackie underwent. After all, this is a woman who had to endure blood and fragments of her husband’s skull splashed all over her as the motorcade raced in vain to the hospital. Then, there was the agony of seeing Lyndon B. Johnson being sworn in on Air Force One mere hours after the assassination and being denied the chance to grieve privately as the eyes of the world were upon her. The film offers us the chance to look back on this popular figure with a newfound sense of respect and admiration.
Mica Levi’s Oscar-nominated score provides a haunting accompaniment to Jackie’s journey, from its powerful discordant notes that so accurately capture her oftentimes fraught state of mind; to its quieter moments, underscoring Jackie’s more vulnerable feelings.
Special mention also goes to John Hurt, the acclaimed stage and screen actor, who died last weekend, aged 77. He portrays Jackie’s priest and confidant, a friend in need, the person she can be most honest with.