Jackie
Short description
Jackie is a drama about Jacqueline Kennedy in the days immediately following the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in Dallas on November 22, 1963. The film follows the First Lady as she absorbs the shock of her husband's death, grieves, consoles her children and turns her attention to securing his historical legacy. Much of the story unfolds from her perspective, moving between her public composure and the private strain of those days.
Pablo Larraín directed the film from a screenplay by Noah Oppenheim. It was Larraín's fourth film as director, arriving after Tony Manero, No and Venice 70: Future Reloaded and before Neruda the same year. Natalie Portman plays Jackie Kennedy, with Peter Sarsgaard as Robert Kennedy, Greta Gerwig as Nancy Tuckerman, Billy Crudup as a journalist, John Hurt as a priest and Richard E. Grant as Bill Walton. Darren Aronofsky, Ari Handel and Mickey Liddell produced.
Made for a budget of about 9 million US dollars, the film took roughly 30 million dollars worldwide, a strong return on its cost. Audiences were more reserved than critics: it holds a film critics' rating of 7.9 out of 10 from 358 reviews, while on IMDb it has 6.6 out of 10 from around 87,000 votes and on TMDB 6.5 out of 10 from 2,469 votes.
What's left behind the scenes
- This is the first major film project about the assassination of the 35th President of the United States, John F. Kennedy, since the release of the biographical thriller "Parkland," which came out on the 50th anniversary of Kennedy's death.
- To get into the role, Natalie Portman studied countless articles and books about her character and watched archival newsreels.
- Jackie is a nickname for Jacqueline Kennedy.
- John Hurt continued to act after "Jackie," but this film was the last to premiere during his lifetime.
- Initially, the project was announced with Darren Aronofsky as director and Rachel Weisz as Jackie, but things soon changed. Weisz completely left the project, while Aronofsky remained as a producer.
- According to director Pablo Larraín, approximately one-third of the film was shot in one take.
- Caspar Phillipson, who played John F. Kennedy, appears on screen for only 1 minute and 40 seconds.
- Filming took place over 23 days in Paris and another 10 days in Washington and Baltimore.
- John Kennedy was rarely called John, except officially; his family all called him Jack – and the main character in the film also calls him Jack.
- In the credits, Billy Crudup's character is listed as "Journalist." This is Theodore H. White from Life magazine, who interviewed Jacqueline Kennedy.
- In the scene where Natalie Portman and Peter Sarsgaard walk through the cemetery, Jackie's heel gets stuck in the grass. The actress improvised her character's reaction in this situation.
- Chilean director Pablo Larraín agreed to direct the film on the condition that Natalie Portman play the lead role. Producer Darren Aronofsky agreed that no actress was more suitable for the role of Jacqueline Kennedy.
- On almost all posters for the film, Natalie Portman is depicted in a red dress against a red-toned backdrop. Red is traditionally associated with the Republican Party. Jackie’s husband, US President John F. Kennedy, belonged to the Democratic Party, which is associated with the color blue.
- The film's screenplay was included in the so-called "Black List" of 2010 – a list of the most promising, but unrealized projects.
- Pablo Larraín's first film shot in the United States.
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