The three-time Oscar nominated Jackie has arrived on DVD and Blu-Ray and is the most triumphant of achievements. Natalie Portman stars as First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy in a revelation of a turn that scored her her latest Academy Award nomination or Best Actress.
As a longtime studier of all things Kennedy, you can imagine our surprise at how much was revealed in Jackie that was previously unknown. First and foremost, so much of what is respected and revered about the late President was due to how his widow handled his legacy in the days following his assassination.
While still wearing the iconic pink dress that she donned for their open air ride through the streets of Dallas (still stained with her husband’s blood), Kennedy realized that history would be keenly focused on the next several hours and subsequent days and those would be cementing moments to how her husband would be remembered. In Jackie, director Pablo Larraín keenly focuses his camera in an almost dizzying manner that captures the chaos of November 22, 1963 and the days that follow where a nation held its collective breath as the entity that would become known as American Camelot came crashing down.
It is an extraordinary piece of work — made all the more haunting by the Oscar nominated score by Mica Levi and also nominated costume design by Madeline Fontaine. Each frame is like a postcard to a bygone era that died with the bullets that flew through the cool Dallas morning air.
Portman gives her most stirring performance to date, and yes that is saying something for the actress who won an Oscar for Black Swan. Portraying one of the most recognizable figures of the 20th century is no easy task, in that every single viewer will come to this experience with a multitude of preconceived notions about what they think Jackie Kennedy should be like, act like, talk like and how news reels captured how she did all of the above.
What Portman does is make us forget all of that as we wade into her version of the icon that transports us to one of America’s darkest weeks as we immerse ourselves in her grief, mourning, strength, fortitude and fierceness of forming her husband’s legacy. Feel her heartbreak as she tells her young children that their father will not be coming back. Marvel as she studies how Abraham Lincoln was memorialized. Stand proudly with her as she speaks up for her children as White House staff seems to suggest the quicker they move out of America’s house the better or the transition and solemnly witness her majesty as she wears all black and carries the heartbreak of a nation on her shoulders as her husband’s casket is carried by a horse-driven carriage down the streets of Washington, D.C. to Arlington Cemetery (an idea that was also hers).
The entire experience of Jackie is nothing short of a movie miracle. For more, check out our theatrical Jackie review.
When it comes to bonus features on the Jackie Blu-Ray, there are sadly not too many. But, this film is so powerful and so important, that it is no questionably a must-own.
From Jackie to Camelot featurette is truly the sole featurette and shines a spotlight on the making of the film, mostly through interviews with the cast, which includes equally marvelous turns by Peter Sarsgaard as Bobby Kennedy — a priceless confidant to his sister-in-law during the most trying of times, Greta Gerwig as White House Social Secretary Nancy Tuckerman and Billy Crudup as “The Journalist,” who frames our story as he interviews the reclusive former First Lady soon after leaving the White House.
For even more insight, might we suggest a second viewing of the film with the audio commentary turned on. The insight provided by Larraín and Portman is uncanny. For fans of the film, Kennedy buffs or even history appreciators, the director and his star’s grasp of the history behind the fantastic film enhances the entire Jackie experience and takes it to a whole new level. Not only do they shed light on the behind-the-scenes making of Jackie, but also one gets a sense their adoration to the subject matter that comes through in every single frame.
Film Grade: A+
Bonus Features: B