Member review

Jackie: For many of us, we all know who JFK is and was, the 1960's space -age, cold-war US president who was killed in Dallas Texas, a story we all know and yet there is a whole other side of the coin, his wife Jackie Kennady, something I have never considered before until I heard about Jackie, and knew this was a film I desperately wanted to see. This film is a powerful set piece thanks to the visual style and raw emotional talent of Natalie Portman, who shines so brightly in the context of playing Jackie. The film is directed by Pablo Larrain, a Chilean director and Jackie is his first English director debut. Something he should be immensely proud of. Like I've said, this film is a powerful piece that is very true to its origins and shows that very well through its high production values. This biopic is something else with it's many, many flashbacks that seem out of place and disorganised, it's archival footage used and the recreation of it and the sense of the scale of it all. Well now, let's get onto the story. Jackie follows the life of Jackie Kennedy, wife of John F. Kennedy during his presidency. In the film, we see both moments between them before JFK's killing, during his killing and the aftermath his death with all of the perspective coming from Jackie and how she deals with every last bit of it, which can feel a little overwhelming at times. It's hard to say what happens in chronological order as Jackie is made through multiple flashbacks that skewer our viewpoint of what point in time we are in but I'll give it my best shot. At the beginning of the story we see Jackie living with her family in the white house, her going to campaigns and speeches, spending time with her children and her being involved in a live broadcast of a tour of the white house on American network CBS (I think that's the one) and how she collects pieces of Americas history to make the white house more cultured and historic. The story later progresses to seeing her and her husband landing in JFK after getting off their plane to give a speech, and we lot's of her preparation for the speech practising her Spanish and trying on new dresses and outfits. After getting in their vehicle and after some time, the death of JFK takes place which is one of the most graphic scenes I have seen in the cinema in a long time and in the silence of the cinema a few gasps could be heard, even though the scene lasts for only several seconds. As the story progresses further, we see Jackie having to tell her children their father is now dead, arrange the massive funeral, Jackie's emotional state crumble, seeing her almost go insane in a way actually and finally we see the funeral, very grand indeed and quite the site. To where the story finally ends with a reporter coming in to interview her and ask how she is dealing with everything, which is actually one of the centre building blocks for the film and reveals a lot about the story and the way Jackie acts and thinks later on in the story. Jackie uses a grainy film look to all its footage to subconsciously kind of take us back to the 60's especially with its colour grading which is fantastic, it really is. No matter what the scene or shot is, you wouldn't be judged at all if you thought this was set in the 60's and that's something that makes this film great. With its fantastic performances, striking colours and visuals, this film is one that makes others envious, however, its story structure is what really makes the film had a slightly sour taste in an already sweet film. I've explained the story and yet the way they present the story with the inter-looping flashbacks is what really lets the film down. I'm all for using flashbacks but when you use them in the way they are used in Jackie, the create a sense of confusion which can really irritate people, which is something I picked up on by listening to the other guests at the cinema. If you are looking to see a different perspective on the JFK presidency, an amazingly strong performance from Natalie Portman and a grippingly intense biopic that can seem a tad confusing at times, then Jackie is something you should watch, or just see it anyways because it's an amazing film. I can only be fair in saying that this film is probably one of the best films of 2017 so far or maybe the best depending on how you look at it in this particular category. My final verdict for the film is... 5/5