Pablo Larrain : An Interview
Pablo Larrain
Enjeu :Quelle perspective le directeur a-t-il souhaité
représenter dans ce film ?
Objectifs visés
Objectif principal visé
Comprendre la vision du directeur Lorrain Pablo
Comprendre son choix quant à l’actrice principale
Relever les moyens mis en place pour faire le portrait de Jackie
Objectifs linguistiques
Vocabulaire descriptif : Glamorous, fashionable, iconic,
superficial, famous, powerful, tragic, elegant, naïve, demure
, rich, artificial, young, inexperienced, sterile, cold, hesitant,
ambitious, fake, beautiful, regal, demure, blood-spattered, veiled,
Activités langagières dominantes
Compréhension orale
Production orale en continu
Vers production écrite
Project : Recreating Camelot
LESSON 5
PROJECT : RECREATING CAMELOT
DEROULÉ
Etape 1 : Rebrassage : Would you go and watch Jackie ? Justify. 2 min
Etape 2 : Anticipation : Emettre des hypothèses Jackie.
Modalité Consignes
Réponse attendue
Durée
Ind
Glamorous, fashionable, iconic, superficial, famous,
powerful, tragic, elegant, naïve, demure
, rich, artificial, young, inexperienced, sterile, cold,
hesitant, ambitious, fake, beautiful, regal, demure,
blood-spattered, veiled,
3 min
Find 2 adjectives that come to your mind when you
think of Jackie Kennedy.
Share with your friend. Make sure you have
different adjectives. (4)
Let’s see what Pablo Larrain has to say.
 Etape 2 : CO – Evaluation 16 min
 Etape 3 : Enrichissement du lexique
Modalité
Consignes
Réponse attendue
Durée
In pairs
Name 2 adjectives now after the interview
After the interview: find 2 adjectives: determined,
wilful, passionate, frustrated, intelligent, composed,
sophisticated, poised, complex, multi-faceted, panicstricken, depressed, lonely, isolated, intense, private,
distant, unknown, strong, confused, responsible,
guilty, meticulous, disoriented, educated, mysterious,
courageous, shocked, scared, vulnerable, driven,
solitary, grief-stricken, delirious, deranged,
misunderstood, underestimated, calculating, fanciful,
distraught, diminished,
5 min
 Etape 4 CO – Watch the video in order to find the following information. In groups
G.A Identify the director’s main intention in making Jackie. Explain why
G.B How does he clarify that myth? What devices are used by the director to make us
understand the Camelot myth and its origin?
Pablo Larrain tends to juxtapose scenes representing 3 sides of Jackie. Identify the 3
sides and justify with examples.
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10 min
Teacher’s answers:
1. Identify the director’s main intention in making Jackie. Explain why
Pablo Lorrain comes from Chile, so his perspective is somehow more distant than an
American director’s would be. He is not as passionate about America. He does not have
any preconceived idea and is therefore more objective. He offers an unconventional
view on this event as his story focuses on Jackie during the very short period between
the assassination of her husband and his burial. His intention is to present a story
anybody, American or not, can relate to. This explains why he focuses so much
attention to clarifying the Camelot myth. He wants everybody to understand what the
myth means and how it was constructed, its origin. The movie has to resonate for
everyone.
2. How does he clarify that myth? What devices are used by the director to make us
understand the Camelot myth and its origin?
- The music score by Levi which plays a fundamental role in this film, almost that of
another character, music highlighting scenes which exemplify the myth, its
construction, or Jackie’s involvement in it, while moments of silence highlight her
isolation, and music is not used to underscore mood or emotion in scenes depicting
her interacting with other people.
- Highly intense music followed by dramatic silence:
- The lyrics of the Broadway musical
- The dissonant chords of the opening scene
- The flashbacks: memories
- Juxtaposition of Jackie’s 3-dimensional character
- The actress he chose to play Jackie
- Close-ups on Portman’s face which dominates much of the film and reflects the
tangled emotions that must have swirled through Jackie over those tumultuous
days. Close-up as a way of probing her inner feelings and an attempt at taking off
her mask
- Backshots
- Jackie as the centrepiece of many scenes as well as a symmetry in his shots
- Blending of real footage and acted scenes
- The camera following the ride to the hospital
- The plunging of the camera onto JFK’s casket as he is laying in state: view from the
heavens: overhead shot
- The almost total absence of JFK (White house visit scene, arrival at Dallas scene,
and as a lifeless body following his assassination or lying in state, or even entombed
within his casket), he remains at the margins of the film and she is thrust to center
stage. Yet even in his absence, the Pdt is still present through Jackie’s emotional
reactions and actions.
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3.Pablo Larrain tends to juxtapose scenes representing 3 sides of Jackie.PROVIDE SCREEN
CAPTURES
The public side of Jackie as
a woman of power
Disembarking Air Force one
Welcoming of the adoring
crowds- artificial and
superficial side of her
Elegant, stylish First lady
arriving with a pill box hat,
wearing her Chanel suit.
Connelly’s greeting
Her organisation and
instrumental role in
preparing this visit, in
command of the event,
purposeful.
The private , human side of
her as a vulnerable woman
Opening the White House to
American people with her
televised tour of the White
House, craftly staged, the
Princess/Queen graciously
opening the doors to her
residence of state,
displaying her work (and
expense) to the public.
She creates a White House
animated by artists and
intellectuals.
She creates and crafts a
White House honouring and
exemplifying the history of a
great nation. Her careful
inspection of the (round)
orange carpet in the Oval
(round) office. This is a
construct and she is the
architect.
Strong woman who despite
the tragedy celebrates her
son’s birthday. – almost
unreal, unimaginable,
admirable?? Questionable?
Powerful symbolism
vehiculed by a highly
ritualised pomp and
ceremony that she has
Jackie within the
mythology: the iconic lady
The ballroom scene: looking
like a Queen, the
centrepiece.
The restoration of the White
House in order to be part of
history.
-Image she wants to project
during the tour: every
movement is meticulously
thought of, every word, the
way she speaks and smiles:
part of the myth: image of a
young, poised First Lady: she
is at this stage making sure
the Kennedy administration
is remembered,
Transforming the role of the
First Lady
The fleeting moment when
dancing with JFK: ideal
image of the couple, longing
for his love (Cinderella and
Prince Charming).
The folding of the flag at the
funeral: image at the
centerpice, she stands at
the other side of the
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encouraged and helped put
in place (discussions with
organisers, head of
presidential security).
The myth momentarily
shattered.
Organising the funeral
camera. Veiled, concealing
her grief, solemn moment;
playing the role of the selfcomposed widow. Highly
ritualised scene of state,
deeply imbued with
symbolism and “royalty”
(soldiers, flags, symmetry,
guns, flowers, clothes,
disposition of people around
the casket)
The ride to the hospital:
stillness in her as if frozen in
time. Sense of loss: losing
her identity; climactic
moment, who is she at that
time? She doesn’t exist
anymore. Her death too
somehow? (symbolic death)
Intimate moment in the
shower: backshot, naked,
blood streaming down her
back: gory and upsetting
-Horror is revealed, she is
literally bathing in her
husband’s blood
Backshot preserving a
certain anonymity, seems
very difficult to penetrate
Jackie’s mind. She has so
many layers, there is
something that you will
never get.
Her face revealing her
distress and vulnerability.
She appears as a panic
stricken woman,
Gone her usual composure,
her public façade.
The autopsy scene: human
side of her, her anger,
passion, despair
The funeral: The widow and
her children, honouring a
president.
Scene in the Arlington
cemetery in downpouring
rain; unstable walk through
Close-up on her marching
with the veil on: concealing
her grief, the horror, alone
before the people, an
intense point of focus for a
nation’s grief (hysteria?)
Merriam Webster definition:
Origin and Etymology of
hysteria New Latin, from
English hysteric, adjective,
from Latin hystericus, from
Greek hysterikos, from
hystera womb; from the
Greek notion that hysteria
was peculiar to women and
caused by disturbances of
the uterus.
First Known Use: 1801
The myth is completely
annihilated in this scene.
Jackie’s construct is for the
moment utterly undone.
The funeral: the coming out
of the White house with all
the guards, the limousine,
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the cemetery highlighting
very staged coming out to
her isolation and grief, sense be remembered. Her alone
of loss; where is she going?
with two fatherless children
Disorientation; ghost-like
figure almost
Shakespearean aspect of
her.
Scene with the children : still difficult to penetrate her
feelings, you are kept at a distance. Even in her intimacy,
there remains an edge of coldness, calculation in this
scene. Is she still the public Jackie, even with her own
children (who spend the better part of their time with the
nanny).
Drinking wine when alone in the White house: her public
persona unravels. She deliriously changes clothes and
moves from room to room in her “palace”, her Kennedy
construct in tatters.
Calm and emotionless Jackie Losing her temper with
The organization of the
marching in the funeral
Bobby Kennedy
funeral procession modelled
procession throughout
Chain-smoking woman
on A. Lincoln’s procession:
Washington
making history
The kneeling down and
kissing of the casket
Activity 5: HWK : In groups: Production écrite:
A. Imagine you have interviewed Pablo Larrain and you write an article about his initial vision
of Jackie Kennedy.
B. You write about his real impression of Jackie Kennedy.
C. You write about his decision to choose Natalie Portman as the main actress.
Useful Vocabulary: to reveal, to probe, to offer, to represent, to portray, to explore, to
penetrate, to go beyond, to unveil, to clarify, to fully understand, to project, to create, to pull
the veil off, to dominate, to embellish, to highlight, to faithfully recreate, to conceal, to remain
at the margins of, to be intrigued by, to be fascinated by, to be captivated by, to long for, to
embody, to accomplish, to shape the legacy of, to account for, to emphasize, to juxtapose, to
resonate with, to confront, to struggle with, to make sense of, to overcome, to come to terms
with, to cope with, to be seen through, to experience with, to launch, to take control of, to
conceal,
Intimate moments, painful moments, after the aftermath, the funeral procession, a solemn
state funeral, the casket, the mourning dress, the assassination, the harrowing death, the
struggles, the grief, a series of tragic events,
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Hand-outs:
Activity 5: HWK : In groups: Production écrite:
A. Imagine you have interviewed Pablo Larrain and you write an article about his initial vision
of Jackie Kennedy.
B. You write about his real impression of Jackie Kennedy.
C. You write about his decision to choose Natalie Portman as the main actress.
Useful Vocabulary: to reveal, to probe, to offer, to represent, to portray, to explore, to
penetrate, to go beyond, to unveil, to clarify, to fully understand, to project, to create, to pull
the veil off, to dominate, to embellish, to highlight, to faithfully recreate, to conceal, to remain
at the margins of, to be intrigued by, to be fascinated by, to be captivated by, to long for, to
embody, to accomplish, to shape the legacy of, to account for, to emphasize, to juxtapose, to
resonate with, to confront, to struggle with, to make sense of, to overcome, to come to terms
with, to cope with, to be seen through, to experience with, to launch, to take control of, to
conceal,
Intimate moments, painful moments, after the aftermath, the funeral procession, a solemn
state funeral, the casket, the mourning dress, the assassination, the harrowing death, the
struggles, the grief, a series of tragic events,
Activity 5: HWK : In groups: Production écrite:
A. Imagine you have interviewed Pablo Larrain and you write an article about his initial vision
of Jackie Kennedy.
B. You write about his real impression of Jackie Kennedy.
C. You write about his decision to choose Natalie Portman as the main actress.
Useful Vocabulary: to reveal, to probe, to offer, to represent, to portray, to explore, to
penetrate, to go beyond, to unveil, to clarify, to fully understand, to project, to create, to pull
the veil off, to dominate, to embellish, to highlight, to faithfully recreate, to conceal, to remain
at the margins of, to be intrigued by, to be fascinated by, to be captivated by, to long for, to
embody, to accomplish, to shape the legacy of, to account for, to emphasize, to juxtapose, to
resonate with, to confront, to struggle with, to make sense of, to overcome, to come to terms
with, to cope with, to be seen through, to experience with, to launch, to take control of, to
conceal,
Intimate moments, painful moments, after the aftermath, the funeral procession, a solemn
state funeral, the casket, the mourning dress, the assassination, the harrowing death, the
struggles, the grief, a series of tragic events,
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JACKIE’s VARIOUS SIDES
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