Christine (4/5 Stars)

“In keeping with the WBRZ policy, complete reports of the local blood and guts, TV 30 presents what is believed to be a television first and in living colour: An attempted suicide.”

These were the last words of Christine Chubbuck, a reporter for a local news station in Saratoga, Florida, before she shot herself in the back of the head on live television in 1974. What was perhaps so intriguing about the shocking act was its professionalism. Christine, a consummate reporter, wrote down her words in news copy and used the phrase “attempted suicide” because it was the precise way to describe what was about to happen, after all the suicide attempt might very well fail. She shot herself in the back of the head because that was where the cerebellum, the part of the brain that controls the heart and lungs. Perhaps most importantly, she chose to do it on live TV in the news station. This way, the story could not be used on other stations without first mentioning the local TV station. Christine’s suicide became the station’s biggest story ever.

This movie, aptly titled “Christine” and directed by Antonio Campos is as good as any movie can get telling this particular story. Given that you know the ending, a feeling of dread settles over the entire experience and is given expression by a creepy haunting music score. But having said that, two things make the movie exceptional. The first is the screenplay by Craig Shilowich that provides context to Christine’s choice without being so presumptuous as to settle on one definitive answer for her choice. It also happens to be frequently funny with the station’s weatherman (played by Veep’s Timothy Simons) getting the most laughs. My favorite exchange has to do with the station manager (played by Tracy Letts) trying to persuade his employees to get more violent coverage. “If it bleeds, it leads,” he says and makes an argument as to how it will help ratings. “It’s just math,” he ends. “That’s not math, that’s logic.” retorts Christine.

The second is Rebecca Hall’s performance as the title character. She is present in every scene in this movie and her presence is a clear portrait of a seemingly functional person paralyzed with anti-social nerves, well-placed pride, and the subsequent paranoia. Her Christine comes across as a reporter too competent to be at a local backwater TV station but also too much of a work-a-holic to fully function as a social being. She knows she is better than her station but can’t handle her frustration at not being able to get past it or work through. And she may have too much pride to be able to do either if she wanted to. It is hinted that she once was a reporter at a bigger station, but the same nerves may have contributed to a nervous breakdown that got her fired there. Rebecca Hall’s nuances fill in all that we know and guesses at all we will never know about the person. This may be one of those movies that only gets a single Oscar Nomination, in this case a Best Actress nod for Rebecca Hall.

Christine situation is sad but our pity for her is tempered with the realization that she is as much her problem as is the world she is fighting against. Yes, the owner of the station wants more sensational storytelling and this may be exploitative news reporting, but does Christine really have to fight him tooth and nail and attack him personally over creative differences. Yes, she has a crush on the local anchor (played by Michael C. Hall) and they seemingly could make a good couple, but is it so sad that the romance never blossoms when she ends conversations and exits social gatherings prematurely. And is her reaction to these stumbling blocks, to hate herself and grow bitter at everybody else really the productive way to go about these problems. Her suicide, it seems, was the one thing she could do right when she wasn’t willing or able to do anything else correctly. And she did it right, just the way she meticulously planned it. It was memorable. It was shocking. And it said something about her and what she disliked most about her world. And in living colour.