Jackie (2016)

 

Jackie - 2016

Our next film is 2016's biopic "Jackie", a movie about an iconic American first lady.  The film explores how Jackie crafted the memory of her husband's presidency into the "Camelot" we've all come to associate with the Kennedy mystique.

The film's cast includes Natalie Portman, Peter Sarsgaard, Greta Gerwig, Billy Crudup, John Hurt, Richard E. Grant, Caspar Phillipson, John Carroll Lynch, and Beth Grant.

A week after her husband's assassination, Jackie Kennedy invites a journalist to her home to discuss the way she wants her husband's presidency to be remembered.  Jackie makes it clear that she expects full editorial powers just in case she doesn't say exactly what she means.

The interview gets off to a rocky start.  Naturally, Jackie is mistrustful of the journalist.  And there are things she says aloud that she instantly regrets saying.  "Don't think for one second that I'm going to let you publish that," she admonishes him.

We begin with a tour of the White House.  We see Jackie's hand at work in restoring the mansion and making it a home for the American people.

We also see a little of how the Kennedys entertained.  "You make him sound like royalty," says the journalist.  "Well, for royalty you need tradition, and for tradition you need time," replies Jackie.

We head off to Dallas and the horrors of the actual assassination.  Jackie stoically goes through the motions of watching the new president being inaugurated, and she sits by her husband's casket during the flight home, refusing to change out of her blood spattered outfit.

When she finally returns to the White House, Jackie wanders through the rooms in a daze.

She's also got to tell her children that their father won't be coming home.  And she begins to plan a state funeral for her husband which echoes one held for Abraham Lincoln.

Jackie's relationship with her brother-in-law Bobby is also explored.  We find her angry when he withhold certain facts from her and is maneuvering behind the scenes, when she wishes to be in full knowledge of and in control of everything.

Jackie struggles with a lack of sleep and becomes increasingly reliant on a mixture of alcohol and pills to help her function.

And she also has a crisis of faith and feels guilty for not being able to do more to protect her husband from the bullet that killed him.

And while her husband lies in state at the U.S. Capitol, Jackie has got to start packing up her husband's belongings and also start looking for a new home.

While battling within herself, Jackie must lead the nation in mourning for her fallen husband.  She walks behind her husband's casket and follows it all the way to its final resting place at Arlington National Cemetery.

Before she can leave Washington behind, Jackie oversees the reburial of her two deceased children: a stillborn daughter and a son who died after two days of life.  The children are placed beside the grave of their father.

When Jackie's interview is over, the journalist has nothing but admiration for her.  "You left your mark on this country, Mrs. Kennedy, these past few days.  That’s the story.  Losing a president, it’s like...it’s like losing a father, and you were a mother to all of us.  And that is a very good story.  The entire country watched the funeral from beginning to end.  Decades from now, people will remember your dignity and the majesty.  They’ll remember you."

Cast rundown:

   Natalie Portman...............................Jackie Kennedy

   Peter Sarsgaard...............................Bobby Kennedy

   Greta Gerwig...................................Nancy Tuckerman

   Billy Crudup.....................................The Journalist

   John Hurt........................................The Priest

   Richard E. Grant...............................Bill Walton

   Caspar Phillipson..............................John F. Kennedy

   John Carroll Lynch.............................Lyndon B. Johnson

   Beth Grant.......................................Lady Bird Johnson

And that's it for Jackie.  It's a remarkably well done film, and Natalie Portman inhabits the role of Jackie.  The movie was filmed mostly in Paris, where sound stages were used for the White House scenes.  The funeral scene was shot in Washington D.C.

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