In the worst possible hour (with the Epstein files and the war in Iran cracking the popularity of the president), the film “Melania” was released to the public. Calling it a documentary is almost insulting to people’s intelligence.
A documentary tries to explain or expose a point of view about a historical event. This film is just pure political propaganda in favor of the actual administration.
Created by director Brett Ratner, the same director behind movies such as Hercules (2014) and Tower Heist (2011), he was the only director considered for the job. And this is the first film he directed since allegations of sexual harassment were made by multiple women in 2017.
The “Melania” documentary seems to be the product of someone who desperately needed the president’s favor. In return Ratner directed this film, which from a technical point of view has no structure or storytelling to guide it.
Sometimes it is more a musical than a documentary, since for long stretches there are only scenes of the president and first lady with different songs in the background.
The film is divided into two parts, one extolling the first lady and another extolling the president. The first part consists of reviewing the “very difficult” days of the first lady… being the first lady, because she had to worry about the move into the White House.
The recording is set in early January 2025, with the end being the day of President Donald Trump’s second inauguration.
The idea is that we believe the first lady has a terribly hard job because of the move and her past, not to mention that no matter how she’s portrayed in the film, she’s still part of the richest 0.1% on the planet.
And at several points, the implausible script makes the assumption that the audience cannot think for themselves. At some point Melania tries to describe Mar-a-Lago (Trump’s personal mansion) as a simple family home or as when verbatim speaking of the White House as if it were his personal home, from which he had to leave for external reasons.
The first 60 minutes of the documentary are simply snippets of what the first lady does, following her around with a camera like a lapdog. Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on the preference of the spectator, in the next 40 minutes the entire production forgot what the film was called.
The last part is entirely devoted to covering Trump’s second inauguration in the most pompous way possible. There is almost no dialogue, not much storytelling and there are mostly images of Melania and Trump at the inauguration ceremony as the 47th president of the United States.
It seems incredible, but it is true, regardless of the occasional complaint about heels, or the incredibly “historic” moment (even though it literally happened eight years earlier). The film repeats a couple of Trump’s presidential campaign slogans, putting this film on the same level as any propaganda video.
Because in the end, that’s what the film is all about, depicting Trump as the most important president of the 21st century, and Melania as one of the most important first ladies. The film’s ending even makes a not-so-subtle comparison of Melania Trump with Jacqueline Kennedy.
There are several mentions of victims of the different armed conflicts in which the United States participated during former President Joe Biden’s term.
After which the subjection of immigrants to the order of American freedom and democracy is highlighted, and as she is a good immigrant honoring the army that was actually at war with her first nationality, Yugoslavia.
The only reason this film exists is exclusively to feed the ego of the presidential family. The only good thing is that, unlike the other actions to feed President Trump’s ego, no one was killed in this film (like in Iran), and no public funds were used (like the planned battleships, or the White House State Ballroom or the Memorial Circle Arch).
