A personal favourite of mine since Léon: The Professional, Natalie Portman has been in the movie-making business most of her life. When she gained her first Academy Award for her exceptional performance in Darren Aronofsky’s psychological thriller, the Black Swan, I remember thinking: maybe this is as good as it gets, she doesn’t need to raise the bar any higher. And yet, here we are again, looking up on the big screen, unable to pay attention to anything else but this fragile, 160 cm tall woman.
Biographical movies always mean a great challenge to both the director and the protagonist. How to capture the features, all the small and almost unnoticeable details? What’s even more important than carefully adopting these precise observations, is to get the gist of a human being, the essence, the reasons, the spirit.
Chilean director Pablo Larraín wasn’t afraid to show Portman’s face at all, the film abounds with beautiful close ups, letting us know that Natalie Portman did the job: she doesn’t even need words to express the depths and charisma of Jackie Kennedy’s character, the way she looks and holds herself create a perfect image of the former First Lady. The concept of the movie offers a somewhat intimate perspective, as Jacqueline Kennedy recalls the shocking details and the aftermath of the assassination. Wearing a bloody coat and skirt, still in tears but refusing to get rid of the stained clothes, we all get to sense the heartache along with the grace and strength of a woman, who has just been widowed. The most important element of the film is probably the light it casts not only on the First Lady, but on the Kennedy couple, as well. The sobbing and the inconsolable sorrow of Jackie states that John F. Kennedy was not only the 35th President of the United States, but he was also a man, a husband, father, brother and son.
After such tragedies, people are likely to question their own beliefs and moral standards as everything they used to believe in seems to lose its meaning in these difficult times. The movie didn’t shy away from this, either: Portman’s deep conversations with a priest paint a very truthful and lively picture of humanity and the way we all try to deal with the loss of a loved one.
We’re definitely cheering for Portman to turn her Golden Globe – and probable Academy Award – nomination into another statuette!
The movie arrives to the Hungarian cinemas on 9 February!