Melania: A Review

MELANIA

In these highly charged times perhaps it would be impossible to judge the documentary Melania without bringing in one's own feelings on the subject. Melania is a slickly produced film that gives one little insight into the enigmatic First Lady. It is also not without some positives that make for an interesting albeit curious viewing.

Melania Trump tells her story of the twenty days the New Year's Day 2025 and Inauguration Day when her husband would be sworn in as the 47th President of the United States. There is a lot to do as she goes from the Trump estate of Mar-a-Lago to their penthouse at Trump Tower in Manhattan.

Her staff presents her with the official invitations to the pre-Inaugural candlelight dinner. Her longtime designer Hervé Pierre works on her Inaugural coat and gown. He is excited that his creation will be at the Smithsonian. I suppose that he was too excited to notice that Mrs. Trump's Inaugural coat made her look like the love child of Carmen Sandiego and the Hamburglar. 

In between all that though comes events that will force a personal reflection. Former President Jimmy Carter had died shortly before the Inauguration. His funeral was set for January 9, 2025. This would require that the Trumps attend the funeral as a former President and First Lady at the time. January 9, 2025, was also by coincidence the first anniversary of the death of Mrs. Trump's mother. All those conflicting feelings, coupled with the preparations for the ceremonial aspects of the Inaugural, swirled around Mrs. Trump.

Grief comes, but it also goes. With the official state funeral done, Melania can return to her many focuses. There is the Inauguration. There is her Be Best and Fostering the Future Initiatives. There is her son, Barron, who wants to stay out of the limelight. At last, the former First Lady becomes First Lady again, and she can dance until her feet are tired.

One should not even bother pretending that Melania would give anyone genuine insight into this most mysterious of First Ladies. Melania Trump enters and exits wearing high stiletto heels. The viewer learns very little about her. While Mrs. Trump narrates the documentary, she never has a formal sit-down interview. In many ways, Melania does not reveal the First Lady as it shields her. She begins and ends Melania as a mystery.

We do learn a few things about Mrs. Trump. We learn that she not only loves Michael Jackson music but met him once, describing him as nice. She reveals that her favorite song out of many in his catalog is Billie Jean. She even sings a bit for us, though she quickly dismisses the idea that she is doing a version of Carpool Karaoke. 

I think some of the musical choices in Brett Ratner's documentary are more revelatory. Melania starts with sweeping images of Mar-a-Lago set to the Rolling Stones' Gimme Shelter. Frankly, I found that a very odd choice. It does not help that we hear The Crystals' Then He Kissed Me playing when the-now President and First Lady are returning from one of the three inaugural balls that they attended. I do not know if either or both Ratner and Trump were deliberately echoing Goodfellas or not. There is a strange blending of the elegant pre-Inaugural candlelight dinner with Chase from Midnight Express. 

What exactly were Trump and Ratner attempting to do here? My own sense is that both of them are signaling a certain defiance against all who oppose them. 

Melania features sometimes amusing moments. There is Hervé Pierre, forever fluttering about with his couturier frocks. The film sometimes attempts to show a more home movie feel with presumably footage shot by Mrs. Trump's father Viktor Knavs. A more unintentionally amusing moment is when the once and future First Lady examines some of the dishes for the candlelight dinner. We see a golden egg almost floating on a dish. One wonders if Mrs. Trump had raided Willy Wonka's factory. 

More unintentionally amusing moments come from President Trump. We see and hear him sporadically. He's still rather boastful and slightly conspiratorial. He brags about how his electoral college vote was the biggest (it isn't). He also believes that the College Football National Championship was deliberately scheduled to overshadow his inauguration. To be fair, other unintentionally amusing moments came from other political figures. We were not shown former President George W. Bush's eccentric reaction to things; we did see then-President Joe Biden look a mix amused and confused by the goings-on. We also saw then-Vice President Kamala Harris clearly unamused by the same goings-on. 

The few times Barron Trump popped up were also interesting. We saw him shake hands with former President Biden and even egg on the crowd at the Capital One Arena where the Inaugural Parade was shifted due to the weather. Barron Trump never spoke. Those moments: the dinners, the celebrations, the elaborate choreography of ceremony, were interesting. 

A little-noted moment in Melania should be in my view. Before the inauguration, Mrs. Trump had a private meeting with Aviva Siegel. She was one of the hundreds of Israelis that Hamas abducted during the horrors of October 7. At the time, her husband Keith was still being held prisoner. As Mrs. Siegel described her experiences and hopes for the safe return of her husband it is hard not to be moved by her story. We see Mrs. Trump hug her and tell her that her husband will bring Keith Siegel back*. As she leaves in the elevator, it looks as if Mrs. Trump's brittle veneer cracks slightly. Melania Trump seems close to tears as the elevator door closes. 

My sense is that Mrs. Trump never wants to be seen as vulnerable. She would rather be seen discussing her initiatives with French First Lady Brigitte Macron or Jordan's Queen Rania. The only time that Mrs. Trump acknowledges the camera is right before she is escorted into the Capitol Rotunda for the formal Inauguration. Turning slightly mischievously to face us, she says, "Here we go again". She wants to present herself as a confident woman. "I will move forward with purpose, and of course, with style," she closes as Sunny plays while her official White House picture is taken. However, I think that even her harshest critics will find the Siegel section impactful.

"Nobody like here. She's difficult but nobody like her," now-President Trump tells Ratner as Melania closes. He adds that he is joking. One thing is certain: Melania Trump is set on controlling her image and narrative. She is in the history books, for good or ill. Melania does not reveal much if anything that Mrs. Trump does or does not want revealed. She begins and ends Melania as a Slovenian Sphinx. 

*We are told in an on-screen postscript that Keith Siegel was released alive.

DECISION: C+