Jackie

A perfectly sad film - it really managed to transfer all those feelings and moods to me - shock, grief, determination... I like these biographical films that really don't try to tell you everything, but instead focus on a few days, one event that helps us get to know the protagonists well, if not better. In a classic film we'd wait for scenes of “now they got to know each other, now they got married, now they have a wedding, now he has a mistress, now they have a crisis..." and they could have been ticking those off in spirit. Here, we will only go into the past every now and then when it makes sense and it is necessary to balance that terrible presence with some bright moment. Natalie Portman is great in a tough role, and from her profile she is very similar to Jackie, and if she acts stilted, I'm sure it's because Jackie behaved unnatural in those situations as well. In the book that this film is based on, she talks about two faces for privacy and for the public, and Natalie Portman captured exactly that - her heartbreaking cry after the assassination versus her stone face during Johnson's oath. The other actors were perfectly selected, and in each you will know the real character (JFK is the perfect doppelganger and it's not a mask), and the experience is enhanced by intimate directing and impressive melancholy music._____P.S. I can really recommend the book “Jackie: une femme d'influence" to everyone. It is based on two interviews with Jackie (one of them is this film) and Jackie is unusually open in them. If you look into her head and understand her feelings, you'll see how great this film is. (03/03/2021)

Jackie is actually an illustration of the opposite of Wes Anderson. Here we also have characters looking into the camera in centred compositions, characters in spacious interiors with fragmented sets and often a bold colour palette, as well as other stylistic devices primarily associated with the quirky hipster auteur. However, whereas Anderson takes delight in artificiality and stiffness suddenly interspersed with eruptions of chaotic bustle, Larraín shows the depressing nature and heaviness of rooms intended for dolls. Through the story of the first lady, who has to build a legacy of future history on a foundation of a sudden tragic loss, it surprisingly says a lot about Anderson’s creative method, which also composes from historical and artistic artefacts an idealised image of a Camelot that will never be again, but which we admire with even greater melancholy. (01/27/2022)

A non-Hollywood gem through and through, dominated by stewed emotions and a contact camera. Natalie Portman is in a different league, but I feel like this story of a fresh widow deserves a stronger framing, perhaps in a film where she's not the lead, but rather a prominent supporting character. Larraín pulls it off extremely artistically, but the stranglehold on the audience's empathy gets annoying in the second half. (12/18/2017)

A film image on how we organized President Kennedy's funeral. Unfortunately, Jackie falls into that wave of biopics that pick only a minimal fraction of a key figure's life and build on that. It conveys nothing more than the heightened emotion of a single moment, and that is a complete waste for the surface of a feature film. (10/27/2021)

Jackie Kennedy was a significant historical celebrity, and the assassination of her husband is still considered a highly significant milestone in the history of the United States. The producer logically saw potential in the leading character, but the result is one of the most unnecessary films I have ever had the misfortune to watch. Its goal is to create a replica of Kennedy's former partner and capture her during the time when she was dealing with her loss. However, Natalie Portman's portrayal lacks naturalness and spontaneity in Jackie's costume. She comes across as someone who wants to make a good impression in society, putting on a mask and trying to carefully control her emotions. Any documentary would better convey the character of Jackie and those events. This is simply a futile memory of times when women were defined by their husbands' status. Unfortunately, it is a very boring and uninteresting movie for me. Overall impression: 25%. (04/23/2018)