The pictures of Kennedy’s assassination were seen all around the world. In repetition, enlarged, in slow motion. But the pictures don’t say anything about what it must have felt like to sit right next to him and have the dead body of your beloved husband on your lap. Chilean director Pablo Larraín, whose unusual biopic NERUDA was celebrated in Cannes and is coming to theatres soon, shows the historical events surrounding the death of the 35th president of the United States from the perspective of his wife JACKIE. The traumatic flight back to Washington on Air Force One. The moment she appears before the public in her blood drenched dress which she refuses to take off in order to show the world what she has been through. The tasteful funeral that was held while the danger of another attack was still looming and the question: how does she tell the children? Larraín depicts the hours after the attack in a painfully authentic way and mixes them with images from more innocent days that are recreated from TV footage. The young, seemingly naïve Jackie Kennedy leads the camera team through the white house and comments on the changes. Conversely, Larraín shows a newspaper interview which portrays her as a broken woman a few months after her husband’s death. Natalie Portman plays the first lady in a convincing and Oscar worthy performance during all of the phases. The set design and reconstruction of the original pictures is detailed and the camera work by Stéphane Fontaine (RUST AND BONE) is masterful. JACKIE is a fantastic, painful film about grief and the loss of a loved one.

Lars Tunçay

Translation: Elinor Lewy