Actor

Natalie Portman

4: briefs
13:00: average
52 min: in total

On film.briefs4

Jackie

Pablo Larraín · 2016

Jackie (2016) follows Jacqueline Kennedy in the week after John F. Kennedy’s assassination, framed by a Life magazine interview at Hyannis Port. Directed by Pablo Larraín and starring Natalie Portman, it focuses on her psychological navigation of grief, legacy, and public performance — not as a biographical survey, but as a study in containment. Stéphane Fontaine’s cinematography, Mica Levi’s score, and Sebastián Sepúlveda’s editing sustain a tense, intimate atmosphere. The film received three Academy Award nominations, including Best Actress for Portman.

13:00

Léon: The Professional

Luc Besson · 1994

Léon: The Professional is a 1994 French English-language crime thriller written and directed by Luc Besson. Jean Reno plays Léon, a solitary hitman in New York who shelters twelve-year-old Mathilda (Natalie Portman) after her family is murdered by a corrupt DEA agent (Gary Oldman). Their uneasy bond forms the core of a tightly constructed, visually controlled film that balances domestic intimacy with sudden violence. Shot largely in France and New York, it was produced by Patrice Ledoux for Gaumont, with cinematography by Thierry Arbogast and music by Éric Serra. Though commercially successful and critically divisive, its enduring interest lies in its formal discipline and the unresolved tension between its moral premise and its stylistic execution.

13:00

My Blueberry Nights

Wong Kar-wai · 2007

My Blueberry Nights is Wong Kar-wai’s 2007 English-language debut, following Norah Jones as Elizabeth, a woman drifting across New York, Memphis, and Nevada after a breakup. Shot by Darius Khondji and edited by William Chang, it prioritises atmosphere over plot, using diners, motels, and bars as emotional landscapes. Though praised for its visual texture and restraint, its episodic structure and underdeveloped arcs drew mixed reviews. It remains a distinctive, if slender, entry in Wong’s filmography.

13:00

Black Swan

Darren Aronofsky · 2010

Nina Sayers, a disciplined but fragile dancer at a New York ballet company, wins the lead in Swan Lake and starts losing her grip on reality as she competes with a looser, more sensual rival for the role's darker half. Aronofsky built the film from a decade-old idea about doppelgängers and understudies, shot it on a $13 million budget with Matthew Libatique's camera pressed close to Portman's face, and had his lead actors train in ballet for months before a single scene was filmed.