The Washington Post headline reads "Christine Chubbuck: 29, Good-Looking, Educated, A Television Personality. Dead. Live in Color." It was July 15, 1974, and Christine Chubbuck, a field reporter for a small news station in Sarasota, Florida, had requested and received a rare on-camera appearance during a live broadcast.
During the first eight minutes of her program, Christine Chubbuck covered three national news stories and then a shooting from the previous day at the local restaurant at the Sarasota-Bradenton Airport. As the film reel of the restaurant shooting, jammed and would not run, Chubbuck shrugged and said on-camera, "In keeping with Channel 40's policy of bringing you the latest in 'blood and guts', and in living color, you are going to see another first--attempted suicide." Christine Chubbuck then drew a revolver and shot herself behind her right ear. She fell forward violently and the technical director faded the broadcast rapidly to black.
In the biopic "Christine" by director Antonio Campos, it is not focused on Christine Chubbuck's death but on who the woman, Christine Chubbuck was. "Christine" stars Michael C. Hall, Tracy Letts and Rebecca Hall who plays the titular character, Christine. Rebecca Hall has captured the Christine Chubbuck who was beautiful and not beautiful, desperate and removed, likable and off-putting, a television personality who struggled to communicate or connect and might very well earn Hall and awards attention.
The film visualizes her isolation persuasively, but without much feeling or depth. With a muted palette that's heavy on brown and saves the red for its showstopping moment, the movie looks as depressed as Christine appears. It is the portrayal of the increasingly blatant infotainment style prevalent in the 70s and a look on the harrowing condition of the television industry for women. Christine is a film that powerfully reconstitutes Christine Chubbucks story and finds a level of genuine comfort and meaning amid a senseless tragedy.
