This film is inspired by real events in the life of actress Jean Seberg. She was a college girl from Marshalltown Iowa. Her big break came when she was cast in 1957 to play Joan of Arc in a major motion picture. She rose to fame after her role of an American girl in Paris in the New Wave classic film Breathless directed by Jean-Luc Godard. She came to the United States in the late 1960’s and she met with the Black Panther Movement group. She talked to Hakim Jamal after she met him on the plane from France. She wanted to give money to the Panthers and their movement. This action brought the attention of the US Government and FBI boss J. Edgar Hoover authorized taps on her phones and her residences. The surveillance program CONTELPRO began the surveillance actions. Since this film is not a documentary, it has no obligation to tell the truth? Many of the events shown are fictitious? I was surprised about this??
Some information posted in magazines and newspapers about Seberg were not true. The FBI wanted to further link Seberg to Jamal by falsely stating that the child Seberg was carrying was Jamal’s child. This was a known lie but it was published anyway? Hoover was well known for wanting the investigators to always put a bug in bedrooms so he could hear the springs squeak? Seberg was pushed to the point of a nervous breakdown and she lost her baby daughter Nina Hart Gary who only lived two days!! 3 1/2* ( I liked this movie)
102 min, Bio directed by Benedict Andrews and written by Joe Shrapnel and Anna Waterhouse with Kristen Stewart, Yvan Attal, Gabriel Sky, Jack O’Connell, Margaret Qualley, Colm Meaney, Vince Vaughn, Stephen Root, Anthony Mackie, Victoria Barabas, Sean Bolger, Ben Kliewer, Brian Michael Jones, Celeste Prechous, Laura Campbell.
Note: Imdb 5.6* out of 10* with 4661 reviews, Rotten tomatoes 35% with 130 reviews, Roger Ebert 1 1/2* Moncia Castillo, The Guardian 2* out of 5* Peter Bradshaw, RollingStone 3* out of 5* Peter Travers, sf chronicle Mick LaSalle a clap, Amazon 3.5* out of 5* with 410 reviews.
Special Note: Seberg met Hakim Jamal after production of the film Paint Your Wagon. The meeting was on a plane trip to Los Angeles and he approached her and not the other way around. She did not stand with activists and give the Black Power sign for photographers. Jamal was not a member of the Black Panther Party and there is no mention of Seberg’s involvement or financial contributions to the Panthers. There was no front page headline stating that Jean Seberg attempted suicide? Her second husband Romain Gary and Jean both said her pill overdose was accidental. Online, there are many other instances of fabrications listed for this film?? Jean’s true story is available in the documentary film Movie Star: The Secret Lives of Jean Seberg released March 2015 in the USA.
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