Jackie: Die First Lady (2016)

Jackie: Die First Lady: Directed by Pablo Larraín. With Natalie Portman, Peter Sarsgaard, Greta Gerwig, Billy Crudup. Following the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy fights through grief and trauma to regain her faith, console her children, and define her husband’s historic legacy.

“I mostly fell for this exploration of grief, grace and mythmaking. Even when it was a bit too on the nose (the faults mostly lie in the wraparound story). Itu0026#39;s concerned with how someone copes in the spotlight, how someone can make a legacy from the idea of a thing, how a person is more important than their legend but also how their legend shapes how that person is forever perceived.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eItu0026#39;s telling in the universe of the film that Jackie herself is first obsessed with redesigning the White House in what is ostensibly a superficial act of decorating, but then is revealed to be, in reality, attempting to reflect more than the legends of past presidents but also the men who shaped them. A reminder that all legends start with a simple human being doing things only a person can do. A grandiloquent gesture of political humanity for a house full of ghosts.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThereu0026#39;s a lot else to like here. Natalie Portmanu0026#39;s performance does indeed capture Jackie Kennedyu0026#39;s persona, but also the legend of her and the real woman behind it all. Watching the real White House tour video on YouTube showed me how accurate Portmanu0026#39;s breathy accent and meticulous demeanor really were. Beautifully composed, with notes of elegance and grotesqueness in equal measure. And a wonderful, tragic, near other-worldly score by Mica Levi.”