Monday 6 February 2017

Film: 'Jackie'



Jacqueline Kennedy is the subject (played by Natalie Portman), interviewed a few days after the funeral of President J.F.K. by a nameless newspaper reporter  (Billy Crudup), and now revealing a very different persona to the manufactured one that she'd displayed to the world up to just a few days before. 
The film concentrates on two aspects - viz. the period between the assassination in 1963 and the burial in Arlington National Cemetery - and the televised 'tour' of the White House that Mrs Kennedy filmed in 1961, a few months after her husband's inauguration.

Even though the film, when shorn of the opening titles and end credits, is only a little over an hour and half long, I did find the material rather thin to be stretched over that time, with the result that it seemed needlessly attenuated now and then.
But even more importantly, as one who still vividly remembers those earth-shaking days, as well as the earlier TV programme, I did find myself constantly struggling to see Natalie Portman as the (former) First Lady. Hair style and clothing is, of course, presented to perfection, but I think that facially she only resembles her very, very approximately. I had to keep reminding myself that Portman was doing a portrayal rather than an impersonation but I did find the lack of close resemblance off-putting. (I am perfectly aware that Portman has received an Oscar nomination for the part). I'm sure that those younger viewers for whom the image of Mrs K was not an intrinsic part of their lives will be able to accept Portman's role easier than I could.
Robert Kennedy, J.F.K.'s brother, is played by Peter Sasgaard (also not looking very like the original) and Jackie's female assistant and confidante is Greta Gerwig, whom it is always good to see. A more poignant note is struck by seeing John Hurt, who died only a few days ago, here in his final role, as Jackie's wise old priest, one of the few to whom she can open up her mind.

The interview which frames the film, as well as frequent returns to it, shows Jackie taking absolute control, demanding complete editing rights - a steely side which we weren't aware of at the time. On the other hand, in the White House tour she is portrayed as unsure, a bit shaky and nervous, and having to look to the side for prompts, aspects which I don't recall picking up from the actual programme at the time. But then I haven't seen it since then. Maybe I'd notice such things if I saw it again.

The funeral arrangements are laboriously drawn out, with Mrs K changing her mind, arguing with others of different opinions such as whether to follow the hearse in a closed car or to walk behind it, leading all the foreign dignitaries, and thus risk another assassination attempt, not least to herself and her two young children.
The showing of the actual assassination is held back until near the end of the film, and it is rather bloody (though brief), resulting in her iconic, pink two-piece being blood- and brain-spattered, an image we see a number of times earlier in the film.

I thought the film was okay, but not special enough to be as memorable as I'd been banking on. Chilean director Pablo Larrain manages fair enough with his material, but there weren't any moments which made me sit up and think "This is good!" It was useful in finding out things which I didn't know, such as that she was a heavy smoker, something which had been kept from the public. I wasn't even aware that the president himself smoked - and of course it was only years later that we got to know of his serious physical ailments, details of which, nowadays, it would be impossible to keep out of the media.

It's not a bad film, but it's not one that I'd urge people to see unless, like me, you are curious about filling in the gaps of your knowledge around this momentous, tragic event..........6.


10 comments:

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    1. To be honest, J.G., now that I've rated it with a '6' I'm feeling guilty that I didn't give it a 6.5. I think we'll let it stand, but I don't think you'd be going to see it anyway.

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  2. I don't know about this one. it just seems kinda try hard: Portman IS Jackie!!!!!
    And the lack of a true resemblance would be off-putting to me as well.
    Plus, the subject matter doesn't seem all that interesting.
    Yeah, i might pass, too, though when it comes on cable, if there's absolutely nothing else on ... ?

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    1. Bob, even though when she was Mrs President for nearly three years, and was considered to be the ultimate in glamour, I don't think that Jackie K (later, Jackie O, of course) was a particularly interesting person. This film takes two of the three points in her life when she was world news (the third being when she married Onassis) and milks them to death. I think that seeing it as a TV programme gets closer to justifying having a full-length feature about her.

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    2. A TV movie might have been a better choice, yes.

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    3. That's what it already felt like for much of the time, Bob.

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  3. If this is still in the cinema when we go to Cornwall next I am hoping to see this. If the Mr doesnt want to come I am sure his mum will. She loves the cinema experience as much as I do.

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    1. It'll probably be still playing into next week, Sol - riding on the back of the BAFTAs on Sun evening - and then later also at the Oscars. Do go, especially as I want to hear from someone who really liked it, as you may well do, and that would be totally fine by me.

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  4. This got a lot of hype but it seemed to quiet down. I've always been fascinated by the stories given that the Kennedys were so much a part of my American life throughout the 60s and 70s. I love your reviews but I haven't yet seen ANYTHING!

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    1. I think that the less one knows about the subject the more one might get out of this film, Mitch. At her big moments I suppose she was the most famous woman on earth but after her marriage to Onassis she became little more than a curiosity and it was only the trashy mags that had any further interest in her.

      I hope you get the chance to see some of the films I've seen so far, but you really ought to see 'La La Land', and make it a priority to see it on the big screen.

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