Jackie- Film of the week

As a gunshot interrupts former First Lady, Jackie Kennedy’s retelling of her husband’s assassination, I knew I was in for an incredibly honest and emotional rendition of the story.

Nominated for three Oscars and winning over 40 awards, Jackie was, and still is deemed as one of the best biopics of the 21st Century.

After her husband’s murder, Jackie Kennedy (Natalie Portman’s) world is completely shattered. Traumatized and reeling with grief, over the course of the next week she must confront the unimaginable: consoling their two young children, vacating the home she painstakingly restored, and planning her husband’s funeral.

Jackie quickly realizes that the next seven days will determine how history will define her husband’s legacy – and how she herself will be remembered.

The story of American President John F Kennedy is hardly a secret, publicised to such an extent that just about everyone could tell the story as if they witnessed it themselves.

President Kennedy’s wife’s story, however, has been kept under wraps, shielded from the public, both by her own desire and that of the media.

2016’s Jackie tells this story, not skipping over the rough bits or tip-toeing around the heavier parts; instead telling the story in such a transparent and honest way.

Natalie Portman portrays the tragic icon, and what a performance it is. Projecting such emotion and hurt through the screen onto us, making us feel every emotion alongside her, making us experience the events just as she did all those years ago.

She was nominated for Best Actress at the 2016 Academy Awards, and it’s outrageous that she didn’t win. Her performance is a masterclass in biographic acting; nailing Jackie’s walk and talk, not downplaying or glorifying her as other films do.

Supporting Portman was Peter Starsgaard, Greta Gerwig and Richard E. Grant, and while their acting was great by any standard, Portman greatly outperforms them, really re-enforcing her position as one of the greatest actors of her generation.

The film is directed by Pablo Larrain, the man behind the recent Princess Diana biopic Spencer. The direction is something different, something refreshing, featuring longer, calming shots, rather than the faced-paced, nauseating ones we’re used to.

This allows Portman, along with her fellow actors to reach through the screen, acting directly to the audience, helping us understand and appreciate what’s happening; something which many, possibly even most films cannot achieve.

Overall, Jackie is an incredibly emotional and powerful retelling of such a tragic story.

Jackie is streaming now on Netflix.

BY JACK BAXTER