VENICE: Film director Pablo Larrain said his portrayal of Jacqueline Kennedy in the aftermath of her husband’s assassination is not a biopic but rather a chance to look at an intriguing and painful story from the point of view of the former first lady.
Larrain was speaking at the Venice film festival where “Jackie,” starring Natalie Portman, will premier later on Wednesday and is competing against 19 other movies for the coveted Golden Lion that will be awarded on Saturday.
“I believe that Jackie was someone incredibly mysterious, probably one of the most unknown from the known people,” the Chilean director told a press conference.
The movie is Larrain’s first English-language feature and also his first movie centered around a female character.
“I’m not American and not necessarily attached to their history ... but I felt this was a very beautiful and intriguing story,” he said.
The movie shows Jackie in the first week after the assassination as she struggles to come to terms with the tragedy and her own grief. At the same time she seeks to comfort her two young children and prepare her husband’s funeral in a way that will make his death meaningful but also allow her to be remembered as more than a fashion icon. Portman, who won an Oscar for her role in ballet thriller “Black Swan,” said portraying someone whose looks, speech and gestures were known to everyone made this the “most dangerous” role she had ever played.
The movie recreated parts of a White House tour the first lady gave after renovating the presidential residence, making it easy to draw comparisons between Portman and Kennedy.
“And that’s terrifying because I’ve never thought of myself as a great imitator or anything,” the 35-year-old actress said.
“I was just trying to get to something that people could get past and believe that I was Jackie, and then you always have yourself in there too, inevitably.”
A big part of Portman’s job was portraying a character always in control of her identity, putting different masks on when in public, with those close to her or when truly alone.
The camera moves from Jackie recording the White House tours with a nervous smile to a first lady alone in her bedroom, sipping on Vodka, popping pills and swapping between outfits, all the while listening to a Broadway recording of “Camelot.”
‘Jackie’ film portrays mystery of first lady after Kennedy’s death
‘Jackie’ film portrays mystery of first lady after Kennedy’s death
In southeast Pakistan, Ramadan brings Hindus and Muslims closer
MITHI: Partab Shivani, a Hindu in Muslim-majority Pakistan, has fasted on and off during Ramadan for years, but this time is different as he practices abstinence for the entire holy month.
Every year, he and his friends in the southeastern city of Mithi arrange iftar, when Muslims break their daily fast, to foster peace and solidarity between the two religions.
“I believe we need to promote interfaith harmony. First, we are humans — religions came later,” Shivani, a 48-year-old social activist, told AFP, adding that he also reads the teachings of the Buddha.
“His message is about peace and ending war. Peace can spread through solidarity and by standing with one another. Distance only widens the gap between people,” he added.
Ninety-six percent of Pakistan’s 240 million people are Muslim. Just two percent are Hindu, most of them living in rural areas of Sindh province where Mithi is located.
In Mithi itself, most of the 60,000 inhabitants are Hindu.
Many of the city’s Hindus also observe Ramadan and iftar has become a social gathering where people from both faiths happily participate.
“This has been a wonderful tradition of ours for a very long time,” said Mir Muhammad Buledi, a 51-year-old Muslim friend who attended Shivani’s iftar gathering.
“It is a beautiful example of harmony between the two communities.”
Like brothers
Discrimination against minorities runs deep in Pakistan.
Following the end of British rule in South Asia in 1947, the subcontinent was partitioned into mainly Hindu India and Muslim-majority Pakistan.
That triggered widespread religious bloodshed in which hundreds of thousands were killed and millions displaced.
According to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, freedom of religion or belief is under constant threat, with religiously motivated violence and discrimination increasing yearly.
State authorities, often using religious unrest for political gain, have failed to address the crisis, the independent non-profit says.
But such tensions are absent in Mithi.
“I am a Hindu but I keep all the fasts during this month,” said Sushil Malani, a local politician. “I feel happy standing with my Muslim brothers.
“We celebrate Eid together as well. This tradition in the region is very old.”
Restaurants and tea stalls are closed across Pakistan during Ramadan.
Ramesh Kumar, a 52-year-old Hindu man who sells sweets and savoury items outside a Muslim shrine, keeps his push cart covered and closed until iftar.
“There is no discrimination among us if someone is Muslim or Hindu. I have been seeing this since my childhood that we all live together like brothers,” he said.
Muslim shrine, Hindu caretaker
Locals say Mithi’s peaceful religious coexistence can be traced to its remote location, emerging from the sand dunes of the Tharparkar desert, which borders the modern Indian state of Rajasthan.
Cows — considered sacred in Hinduism — roam freely in Mithi city, as they do in neighboring India.
At two Sufi Muslim shrines in the middle of the city, Hindu families arrange meals, bringing fruit, meals and juices for their Muslim neighbors to break their fasts.
“We respect Muslims,” said Mohan Lal Malhi, a Hindu caretaker of one of the shrines.
Mohan said his parents and elders taught him to respect people regardless of religion or color, and the traditions pass from one generation to the next.
Local residents said both communities consider their social relationships more important than their religious identity.
“You will see a (Sikh) gurdwara, a mosque, and a shrine standing side by side here,” Mohan said. “The atmosphere of this area teaches humanity.”
