Close to the end of Jackie , the newly widowed Mrs. Kennedy (Natalie Portman) confides in a priest about her struggle after the assassination of her husband, President John F. Kennedy’s (JFK). During their conversation, the man of the cloth says, “There comes a time in man’s search for meaning when one realises that there are no answers.” The haunting statement encapsulates the former First Lady’s struggle with isolation and bereavement.
Director Pablo Larraín’s (of Neruda fame) only English film starts out with Jackie Kennedy giving that famous Life magazine interview to an unnamed journalist. With each of his probing questions, she reveals details of the incident which he’s not allowed to publish, but we are privy to in Technicolor. Larraín effectively uncovers the manufactured legacy that the former First Lady created for her deceased husband, case in point being the perpetuation of the Kennedy administration being akin to King Arthur’s kingdom. Her legendary words — “Don’t let it be forgot, that for one brief, shining moment there was Camelot” — are replicated by Larraín.
In addition to the famous Life interview (which is available online in its printed form) the film revolves around the aftermath of JFK’s assassination and Jackie’s immediate reactions. This includes her refusal to change the blood-splattered pink suit, the move out of the White House, and the funeral procession. Throughout, Larraín very cleverly zooms into Portman’s face to induce empathy in the audience. The tactic is most effective in the scene where a sobbing Jackie is violently wiping away her tears and the remnants of her husband’s blood off her face in the aircraft after the assassination. Or when she has to tell her toddler children about their father’s demise. But Larraín’s genius is most visible during a sequence that closely follows Jackie, jacked up on cigarettes and alcohol, wandering through the halls of the White House. Her face is stoic, but her grief-stricken actions — trying on different outfits and playing that famed soundtrack to Camelot — reveal an understandably broken person.
Portman deserves every bit of that Oscar nomination for Best Actress. She perfectly reproduced the real Jackie Kennedy’s peculiar accent and voice, and even her famous austere composure. But it’s the scenes when Jackie is on the brink of an emotional burst and yet doesn’t is where Portman’s skill is most obvious. Jackie ’s heroine maybe Portman, but the film would hardly be as evocative without Mica Levi’s haunting background score. The composer’s music, bordering on eerie, is the perfect accompaniment to Jackie’s grief throughout the film.
At the end of the film, when Jackie is rehashing the journalist’s notes to make sure he’s got exactly what she wants to be published, he says something that will ring true for years to come. He says that people will remember Jackie’s dignity and the way she handled things for decades to come. And indeed we do.
Published - February 24, 2017 11:58 pm IST
