Jackie

JACKIE

Director : Pablo Lerrain
Year : 2017
Genre : Drama
Rating : ****1/2

Ever since those immortal shots rang out across Dallas on 22nd November 1963, the assassination of President John F. Kennedy has been a continuous source of inspiration for filmmakers and screenwriters. From Oliver Stone's lauded 1991 drama 'JFK' to the infamous Zapruder movie which inadvertently documented the execution, the murder of Kennedy is a moment which is sure to be discussed in cinema for many more years and even decades to come. But while the shooting and it's immediate after-effects are now common knowledge, one key witness to the killing has very often been overlooked; that of Jacqueline Kennedy, JFK's devoted wife who sat next to him on that fateful day and bared witness to his gruesome and horrific death.

Now her story has finally been told in 'Jackie', director Pablo Lerrain's extraordinary English language debut which sees Natalie Portman starring as America's favourite first lady. Framed around Theodore H. White's now famous 'Life' magazine interview with JFK's widow entitled ''An Epilogue'', this multi-layered and deeply emotional film goes back and forth in time, reconstructing key moments before, during and immediately after Lee Harvey Oswald's remorseless bullets found their target. In the central role, Portman is simply amazing, delivering a performance of exquisite delicacy and repressed fury and one that is sure to win the 'Black Swan' actress another Academy Award next month. 

Echoing Jackie's idiosyncratic vocal patterns and breathy intonations, Portman's portrayal rapidly drifts from impersonation to full body and soul transformation and while some of the lesser story elements don't always come together in a completely cohesive manner, her breathtaking performance anchors 'Jackie' with an air of incalculable grief and paralyzing fear - a key scene in which she removes her beautifully elegant and iconic Pink Chanel suit stained with the still-warm blood of her recently murdered husband is powerful, upsetting and utterly indelible.

Underpinning all of this is Mica Levi's dissonant and mesmerizing orchestration of wailing string glissandos which hints more towards the eerie soundscape of 1970's slasher horror than it does a sombre and respectful biopic, signifying Mrs. Kennedy's sadness and post trauma with an unsettling and sometimes downright creepy intensity. 'Jackie' boasts a fine supporting cast including Richard E. Grant, Peter Sarsgaard and Greta Gerwig and while all do superb work here, this is undoubtedly Natalie Portman's movie. And she dominates every second of it, whether on screen or not.