Name: Jean Seberg
Lived: 13 November 1938 – 30 August 1979
Film dates: 1968 to 1970
Film made in 2019
Jean Seberg was born in America in 1938. Despite being cast in the main role
as Joan of Arc in 1957, she didn't gain much popularity. In 1961 she moved to
France, where she became one of the biggest film stars in France. In 1968 she
returned to America, which is where the film begins. She was travelling to
America to audition for a part in "Paint your wagon", but the most significant
thing about the journey was that she met Hakim Jamal on the plane. He was
travelling to Los Angeles with Betty Shabazz, Malcolm X's widow. He wanted to
upgrade their seats to first class, but the stewardess refused to let them sit
in first class, whether they paid or not. Hakim caused a scene, shouting "Is
my money too black for you?" Jean, who was travelling first class with her
manager, offered to swap seats with Hakim and Betty. This was the beginning of
a friendship between Jean Seberg and Hakim Jamal.
The press were gathered at the airport to photograph Hakim on his arrival.
Jean posed with them, making a Black Power salute. That was a brave thing to
do, but also impulsive and foolish. The FBI was already observing Hakim Jamal,
and this appearance at the airport made Jean Seberg a person of interest.
A few words about Hakim: despite being one of the main figures in the Black
Panthers, he wasn't in full agreement with the other leaders. Bobby Seale
advocated violence and the overthrowing of the American government, whereas
Hakim wanted to help the black people by peaceful means. He founded schools to
educate black children.
Jean donated generously to Hakim's schools, beginning with $5000 on her first
visit. Bobby Seale was less enthusiastic about her. He didn't trust white
people. He said that Hakim should take as much money from her as he could and
then get rid of her. Having a white women in the middle of the Black Panthers
was bad for the cause.
Jean and Hakim slept together. Just once. It didn't mean much to Jean. We see
later in the film that she was promiscuous and slept with many men. The FBI
was recording the encounter, and the recording was anonymously sent to Hakim's
wife to drive Jean away from the movement. It almost worked, but Jean
continued to donate money to the Black Panthers. The FBI stepped up its
activities. Everywhere she went in America she was under surveillance. Her
phone and her hotel rooms were bugged. The things she said in private were
leaked to gossip columns, so she was in no doubt that someone was spying on
her. On one occasion the FBI broke into her hotel room and killed her dog.
Jean became paranoid, suspecting everyone around her of being a spy.
The final straw in Jean Seberg's collapse was when she became pregnant in
1970. The father was, in her own words, "a boy I met in Mexico", but the FBI
sent an anonymous letter to a gossip column claiming that Hakim Jamal was the
father. She attempted suicide. She survived, but as a result of the overdose
her baby was born prematurely and died two days later.
Jean returned to France after the death of her child, which is where the film
ends. The what-happened-next text lets us know that she was still under
observation by the American government. The CIA still tailed her in France.
She was a nervous wreck. After years of suicide attempts, she finally died in
1979. The cause of death wasn't conclusive and was declared a
probable suicide. She died as the result of a drug overdose, but there
were reports of unidentified men around her as she lay dying. If they'd been
CIA agents, as her husband claimed, their lack of assistance would have made
them accessories to murder under French law.
The story of Jean Seberg, which was new to me before watching the film,
fascinates me, but the film itself isn't perfect. Too much of the story is
dramatised. What I mean is, what we see happening to Jean is historically
correct, but we also see a lot of activity in the FBI, with agents arguing
among one another about the right course of action. The FBI's surveillance of
Jean Seberg became public knowledge when the FBI files were leaked to the
press after her death, but the internal quarrels of individual FBI agents
can't possibly be known. What's the point of showing them? I can only see one
motive for adding these fictional elements to the film. The FBI was acting
badly. That's obvious. The director and screenwriter wanted to show that not
everyone in the FBI is bad. Okay, I get it. I agree. Even an organisation as
evil as the FBI had good, conscientious agents, but there's no need to invent
good FBI agents just to make it a better story.
You've probably already noticed that this post combines my Amazon Friday and
True Stories features. When I started my True Stories marathon, I only intended
to include films that I own on disc. I only became aware of the film about Jean Seberg
a few days ago, and I felt compelled to watch it. A problem is that it means I'll
have more than 40 films to write about. I've decided to make a few changes. After
my 30th true film (the next one) I'll slow down. Instead of making every film I watch a true story,
I'll reduce it to two or three films a week. There are so many other films that
I'm anxious to watch at the moment. That means I shan't finish my 40 true films
this month. Apart from that, I'm increasing it to 50 films. I probably shan't be
finished until April. I hope my readers are patient. I hope my readers are even
interested in my true stories. Some of them are my most popular posts at the
moment, but I haven't received any feedback on my true films in general. Do you
like them? Please let me know.
Success Rate: - 11.8
 |
Order from Amazon.co.uk |
| Order from Amazon.de |
No comments:
Post a Comment
Tick the box "Notify me" to receive notification of replies.