虽然历史是人民创造的，历史的记忆却偏爱那些留下印记的风云人物。美国人对肯尼迪夫妇的记忆也是如此。原因有三：首先，肯尼迪是一位年轻帅气、富有理想主义的总统，和美丽优雅的第一夫人杰奎琳堪称绝配，能够引领时尚风潮，令人过目不忘；其次，肯尼迪在达拉斯遭到暗杀，使得这位充满活力的年轻总统出师未捷身先死，令人扼腕叹息；最后，肯尼迪遇刺这一扑朔迷离的案情是一件令人不断探究的奇案。正因为此，肯尼迪遇刺成为了电影的好素材，有多部电影描写此事，其中包括奥利弗·斯通（Oliver Stone）的《刺杀肯尼迪》（JFK）。2016年上映的《第一夫人》（Jackie）则是视角和风格都很独特的一部。
　　《第一夫人》由帕布罗·拉雷恩（Pablo Larraín）导演，诺亚·奥本海姆（Noah Oppenheim）编剧，娜塔莉·波特曼（Natalie Portman）主演，通过第一夫人杰奎琳来讲述她在肯尼迪总统任期内的白宫岁月以及在1963年总统遇刺身亡后的心路历程。影片的剧情基于美国著名政治记者和历史学家怀特（Theodore H. White）在肯尼迪遇刺不久后代表《生活》杂志对杰奎琳的专访。
　　《第一夫人》摄制完成后被选送到威尼斯国际电影节竞选金狮奖，并于2016年12月2日由福克斯探照灯影业在美国发行。影片上映后受到普遍好评，并获得第89届奥斯卡评奖委员会的三项提名：最佳女演员、最佳原创配乐和最佳服装设计。这部投资仅800万美元的人物传记片在全球收获了超过2500万美元的票房收入，是一部成功的小成本电影。

一、电影特色：创伤与记忆交织、客观与主观并存

　　《第一夫人》从计划到摄制完成经历了六年时间。剧本最初是编剧奥本海姆为HBO迷你电视剧系列创作的，讲述从肯尼迪总统被刺到其葬礼的四天之内第一夫人杰奎琳的心路历程，尤其反映她最脆弱的时刻。最初斯皮尔伯格曾计划监制该电视剧系列，但却因故退出了。后来电影公司雇用了不擅长拍摄传记片和塑造女性人物的智利导演拉雷恩执导该片。在阅读了有关杰奎琳的书籍之后，拉雷恩对肯尼迪夫妇的兴趣与日俱增，认为丈夫遇刺后杰奎琳的情绪反应具有一部电影所需要的所有因素：愤怒、好奇、悲伤和爱情。2012年福克斯探照灯影业就邀请波特曼主演该片，但直到2015年5月才最后敲定此事。
　　为了演好杰奎琳这一公众都很熟悉的角色，波特曼作了充分的准备：观看了大量关于杰奎琳的录像带，尤其是一遍遍观看杰奎琳向公众介绍白宫的录像；阅读了大量关于杰奎琳的传记；仔细听了杰奎琳的采访录音带，主要是《生活》杂志记者小阿瑟·施莱辛格（Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr.）1964年初采访杰奎琳的长达八个半小时的录音（肯尼迪遇刺身亡后，杰奎琳只接受过三次采访，这是其中一个）。
　　波特曼坦言，刚接手这一任务时很没有信心，因为她对杰奎琳的理解只停留在其作为时尚偶像的表面（superficial understanding as a fashion plate）。随着研究的深入和角色的展开，波特曼对这位第一夫人有了更加深入的了解，发现杰奎琳在不同的人面前展示出了两种不同的性格—— 一种是公众面前的温婉和美丽，一种则是私下的坚定和聪慧。“When she was doing interviews， [her voice] was a lot more girly and soft， and then when you hear her talking to Schlesinger at home， you hear the ice in the glass clinking and the voice is a little deeper and her wit comes out more， so you get this real sense of the two sides.”
　　模仿杰奎琳在不同状况下的不同嗓音对波特曼来说也是一个巨大的挑战。该片制片人达伦·阿伦诺夫斯基（Darren Aronofsky）甚至认为，杰奎琳的嗓音是该片能否成功的关键。在语言指导塔尼娅·布卢姆斯坦（Tanya Blumstein）的训练下，波特曼的嗓音逐渐从模仿进入到自然的状态。波特曼说，杰奎琳的服装也有助于她进入角色。

　　可以说，波特曼对杰奎琳的塑造从美丽的外表到复杂的情感与微妙的表情都是比较成功的，所以受到观众的广泛好评。截止到10月中旬，流行电影网站烂番茄上321篇评论的正面评价率为87%，平均打分为7.9/10。该网站的综合评价是：“Jackie offers an alluring peek（诱人的窥视）into a beloved American public figure’s private world—and an enthralling（迷人的）starring performance from Natalie Portman in the bargain（另外）.”另一家大众影评网Metacritic基于52篇影评给予该片百分制的81分，说明了大家的一致好评（universal acclaim）。
　　《好莱坞报道》（The Hollywood Reporter）影评人戴维·鲁尼（David Rooney）对《第一夫人》的评价很高，认为该片在刻画悲伤中的私人情感方面异常出色：“Extraordinary in its piercing intimacy and lacerating（悲痛的）in its sorrow.”《综艺》（Variety）影评人盖伊·洛奇（Guy Lodge）也高度赞扬这位智利导演对历史上最受欢迎的第一夫人大胆的、复杂多面的刻画：“Chilean helmer（电影导演）Pablo Larraín makes an extraordinary English-lingo debut（首部英語片）with this daring， manyleveled portrait of history’s favorite First Lady.” 　　尽管如此，《第一夫人》仍然遭到一些批评，主要集中在其历史的真实性和客观性上。《达拉斯晨报》（The Dallas Morning News）影评人安娜·帕克斯（Anna Parks）批评了影片中刻画的杰奎琳与继任总统约翰逊夫妇之间的负面关系。她注意到，现存的杰奎琳与约翰逊夫妇之间的书信往来和录音电话（1963年12月2日）表明杰奎琳与约翰逊夫妇在肯尼迪葬礼安排上具有良好的合作关系。
　　对于影片中采访杰奎琳的记者没有姓名的质疑，编剧奥本海姆认为记者的角色融合了怀特、曼彻斯特（William Manchester）和施莱辛格三个人（他们在肯尼迪遇刺身亡后分别对杰奎琳进行过采访）。
　　关于影片中杰奎琳对肯尼迪政治遗产的夸大和溢美之词，如称肯尼迪政府的白宫为后世不可企及的“亚瑟王宫殿”卡米洛（Camelot），怀特后来对自己发表的采访文章作过解释。肯尼迪遇刺身亡一周之后，杰奎琳将怀特请到其在馬萨诸塞州海恩尼斯港（Hyannis Port）的居所，目的是通过这次采访来抢救其丈夫的政治遗产。杰奎琳向怀特建议，他这篇为《生活》杂志撰写的采访文章应将肯尼迪及其政府比喻成英国中世纪传说中的亚瑟王及其神秘的宫殿卡米洛。当时同名音乐剧《卡米洛》正在百老汇上演。杰奎琳对该剧结尾的歌词尤为关注：“Don’t let it be forgot， that once there was a spot， for one brief shining moment that was known as Camelot.”她暗示这是肯尼迪最喜爱的歌词之一，并补充道：“There’ll be great Presidents again， but there’ll never be another Camelot again. […] It will never be that way again.”
　　怀特留意了杰奎琳的暗示和建议，将采访撰写成一篇1000字左右的文章，当晚口授给《生活》杂志的编辑们。当编辑们抱怨卡米洛的主题有些过分时，杰奎琳则反对进行任何修改。
　　通过这种叙事，肯尼迪在任期间的美国政府被美化成了当代的卡米洛：“a magic moment in American history， when gallant（英勇的）men danced with beautiful women， when great deeds were done， when artists， writers， and poets met at the White House， and the barbarians（野蛮人）beyond the walls held back（被挡在墙外）.”怀特后来解释说，将肯尼迪政府比成卡米洛是出于对丧夫而陷于悲伤中的杰奎琳的善意，他的文章是对历史的误读（a misreading of history），因为肯尼迪的魔幻卡米洛从未存在过：“The magic Camelot of John F. Kennedy never existed.”

二、故事大纲

　　The film begins with Jackie Kennedy receiving a journalist for an interview at her home. After some small talk（闲谈）and introductory questions， the journalist turns to his inquiries about the assassination and its aftermath（余波）for Jackie and her family. In a series of flashbacks（闪回，回顾）， Jackie is shown in her emotional reaction to the events of the assassination and her interaction with members of the White House close to the President. Lyndon Johnson（林登·约翰逊，肯尼迪政府的副总统，肯尼迪遇刺身亡后继任美国总统）and his wife are shown comforting Jackie in the aftermath. Robert Kennedy（罗伯特·肯尼迪，肯尼迪总统的弟弟，肯尼迪政府的司法部长）soon appears to help her， in planning the funeral and looking after the family. Jackie is especially concerned for the well-being of the children in adjusting to the loss of their father. As the film returns several times to the journalist interviewing Jackie， she makes clear that she maintains the right to control which parts of the interview may come to press and which parts are to be withheld（扣留）. By the end of the film， Jackie’s recollections（回忆）make clear that her reminiscence（回忆，旧事）of her years at the White House was best recalled in her memory as those associated with the Camelot created in Washington during her husband’s term as President.

三、精彩对白

　　Don’t Marry the President
　　Journalist： You’ll have to share something personal， eventually. People won’t stop asking until you do.
　　Jackie： And if I don’t， they’ll interpret my silence however they want？ “Her brow furrows（紧蹙）. Her lips are drawn（紧闭）. She holds back her tears， but she can’t hide her anger.”
　　Journalist： Most writers want to be famous. Jackie： You want to be famous？
　　Journalist： No， I’m fine as I am， thank you.
　　Jackie： You should prepare yourself， this article will bring you a great deal of attention.
　　Journalist： In that case， any advice for me？
　　Jackie： Yes. Don’t marry the President. Are you afraid I’m about to cry again？
　　Journalist： No， I’d say you’re more likely to scream.
　　Jackie： Scream what？
　　Journalist： “My husband was a great man.”

Explain to Her Daughter Where Their Father Has Gone

　　Caroline： Mommy， why are you dressed so funny？
　　Jackie： Because something very sad has happened. And this is how we dress when something sad happens. Caroline： Mommy， where’s Daddy？ Jackie： Daddy’s not coming home. Caroline： Why not？
　　Jackie： Daddy had to go see your baby brother Patrick. In heaven.
　　Caroline： Why？
　　Jackie： Because I’m here with you. We don’t want Patrick to get lonely， do we？
　　Caroline： But what about us？
　　Jackie： Caroline， I need you to be a big girl. You can be brave， right？ You can be a soldier？ A very bad man hurt Daddy. Daddy would come home if he could. But he can’t. He has to go to heaven.
　　Caroline： Can I say goodbye？
　　Jackie： Yes， of course you can， my love.

Jack Was Perfect

　　Jackie： How would you write that？
　　Journalist： “She lights yet another cigarette and explains through her soft sobs that Jack wasn’t perfect， but he was perfect for our country. And I ask about his flaws， and she explains...”
　　Jackie： Perfect people can’t change. Jack was always getting better， stronger. Sometimes he would walk into the desert alone， just to let himself be tempted by the devil. But he’d always come back to us， his beloved family.

Seeking Comfort from the Priest

　　Jackie： I wrote him a letter. That night， before we moved the casket（棺材）to the Capitol（國会大厦）. Do you know what I wrote？ That I wanted to die.
　　Priest： I understand. 　　Jackie： Do you？
　　Priest： I do. Unless you are asking my permission.
　　Jackie： No， only crass（愚笨的，冷酷的）， selfindulgent people kill themselves. No， I was just hoping that if I walked down the street next to Jack’s body， maybe someone would be kind enough to do it for me.
　　Priest： In front of the whole world？ Famous life， famous death.
　　Jackie： I never wanted fame. I just became a Kennedy.

Camelot

　　Jackie： There’s one last thing. It’s more important than all the rest. You know， every night before bed， we had this old Victrola（维克多牌留声机）. We’d listen to a couple of records. His favorite was Camelot.
　　A： The musical？
　　Jackie： Oh， I’m so ashamed of myself. Every quote out of Jack’s mouth was either Greek or Roman. And that last song， that last side（唱片的最后一面）of Camelot， is all that keeps running through my mind. “Don’t let it be forgot， that for one brief， shining moment there was a Camelot.” Jack loved history. It’s what made him what he was. Just imagine he was a little boy with scarlet fever（猩红热，肯尼迪小时候曾经患过此病）in bed， reading history. King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table（《亚瑟王与圆桌骑士》，英国中世纪的传奇故事）. That’s what Camelot is about. Ordinary men banding together（联合起来）to fight for a better world. Don’t misunderstand me. Jack wasn’t naive. But he had ideals. Ideals he could rally（召集）others to believe in.
　　A： Will these ideals live on？
　　Jackie： Sure they will. Of course， there will be great progress. There will be other great presidents. The Johnsons have been so generous to me. But there won’t be another Camelot. Not another Camelot.

The Meaning of Life

　　Priest： Why are you really here？
　　Jackie： Because I needed to talk.
　　Priest： You say that you pray every night to die. That your children have no use for you. You wish only to be with your husband. And yet， I’m not burying you today. There comes a time in man’s search for meaning， when one realizes that there are no answers. And when you come to that horrible， unavoidable realization， you accept it or you kill yourself. Or you simply stop searching. I have lived a blessed life. And yet， every night when I climb into bed， turn off the lights， and stare into the dark， I wonder... Is this all there is？
　　Jackie： You wonder？
　　Priest： Every soul（靈魂，代指人）on this planet does. But then， when morning comes， we all wake up and make a pot of coffee.
　　Jackie： Why do we bother？
　　Priest： Because we do. You did this morning. You will again tomorrow.