Topic Question
Added 2022-01-26 03:49:20 +0000 UTCWhat is your Favorite performance by an actress and why?
Comments
though late to the party, Setsuko Hara in Tokyo Story is my #1. She really conveyed the suffering and loneliness her character was experiencing - it wasn't over the top or dramatic, it was perfect. You could really feel her dread at the thought of being alone forever and how it pained her greatly.
Ryan
2022-02-11 13:37:12 +0000 UTCToni Collette in Hereditary was freakin amazing! She had so many layers to her role adding so much depth and attention to detail, and she really freaked me out in this film! Absolutely snubbed for the Oscar when she should have not only been nominated but should have won the Academy Award. She was that incredible.
Tony Moro
2022-01-28 08:56:57 +0000 UTC5
Tony Moro
2022-01-27 20:03:17 +0000 UTCIt's practically impossible for me to pick just a single one of the many great performances that come to mind. So I decided to list three. Also because I suspect these movies will likely be less known (or in some cases even dismissed), but I think they truly deserve some more attention. Sophie Marceau in "Firelight". Even after having rewatched the movie several times over the years, Sophie Marceau's performances still catches and brings me to tears every time I see the movie. A woman who accidentaliy enters the service of a londlord as the governess of the child whom she bore anomyously and had to give away years before. A romantic drama (in the tradition of "Jane Eyre") that is imo unmatched in its emotional impact thanks to Sophie Marceau's both subtle and overwhelming acting. If there ever was a movie that exemplifies what happens when a dam of accumulated unexpressed love emotions breaks and floods the land, this is the one. Carey Mulligan in An Education. The way she establishes the balancing act of portraying a young woman who is being tricked by a charmer who makes her fall in love and takes adantage of her, and then outgrows the situation without remorse or bitterness, is remarkable. Also one of the rare movies that doesn't victimize or blame, but manages to broach the issue of how such a (primarily) negative experience may be an essential transformative and (ultimately) positive life lesson. Saoirse Ronan in The Host. I suspect most people will easily dismiss this movie, simply because it's based on a story of "Twilight" Stephenie Meyer. But imo it's one of the interesting underrated sci-fi movies of the last decade. To catch your interest: the screenplay is by no one other than "Truman Show" Andrew Niccol. Except for some few (obligatory, I guess) teenage drama love story cheesy moments, this movie is in its core an intelligent allegory on the conflicts of free will/control, creativity/order, empathy/division and the question of humankind's evolution. Not to mention some great design and photography. Saoirse Ronan carries the whole movie (as she often does). But the character she embodies in this movie is such one-of-a-kind that it stands out for me. [And just in case you're still not being convinced go-go "Hanna" instead :) ]
Laro
2022-01-26 18:16:28 +0000 UTCHolly Hunter, The Piano. It’s been said that writer-director Jane Campion had doubts about casting Hunter as the lead in her 1993 romantic drama. Up until then, she was known for playing pint-sized, hilariously brazen Southern spitfires, women of (usually) impoverished backgrounds asserting themselves to the men around them with a distinctive Georgian twang. So she didn’t exactly seem ideal to play a mute 19th century Scotswoman, one full of prim Old World demeanor and severity. But it turns out she was more than suited for the role. Holly Hunter is nothing less than a revelation as Ada, a woman who finds herself at odds with two men over the ownership of her beloved piano, the only means of which she can truly express herself. Without speaking a single word, Hunter brings forth a woman of strong will and complex interior passions—a wildness of spirit that, given the times, can never be fully uncovered. Her face alone conveys anger, shock, desire, and despair, sometimes all at once. It’s a brilliant, remarkable performance of great purity that is reminiscent of Falconetti in The Passion of Joan of Arc.
Bennett Oliver
2022-01-26 17:03:35 +0000 UTCThere are so many, it's tough to narrow it down. One for me that I absolutely love and I feel often gets overshadowed is Shelley Duvall in The Shining. Everyone talks about Jack Nicholson, and to be fair he does give an iconic performance, or about how tough Kubrick was on her and her eventual breakdown. However her performance in the film is absolutely phenomenal. Her character starts the film so meek and timid, always deferring to Jack, making excuses and downplaying his alcoholism and how it hurt Danny. When she finally has to stand up for herself and for Danny you can see how absolutely terrified Wendy is, she doesn't feel like she's powerful enough to do it, but she does. I always get so invested in that second half of the film in particular because I just want her and Danny to get to safety, I just completely buy into her as a mother desperately trying to do whatever she can to protect her child.
David Goleb
2022-01-26 12:11:40 +0000 UTCNaomi Watts in Mulholland Dr. The range of emotions and character she pulls off in this film is just astounding. She's enchanting and just over-the-top enough as Betty, then she takes Betty around some sharp corners as the movie progresses, then she finishes devastatingly as Diane. Having seen her play the role, I can't imagine anyone else doing it.
Derek H.
2022-01-26 07:31:07 +0000 UTCElisabeth Moss in The Invisible Man. At several points I had to frown and try to wrap my head around how she could express such powerful, authentic emotions, on demand, while surrounded in real life by extras, crew and equipment. Intense, without feeling melodramatic or annoying in some screechy way. She’s attractive but not your typical, glamorous movie star looks. She has a “real person” quality that’s relatable and true talent that’s earned her the respect she has today.
Steven Aguilera
2022-01-26 05:30:18 +0000 UTCI don't think this answers your question but I have always loved Jennifer Jason Leigh's performance in Annihilation specifically because she is such an absolute frigid bitch. It's not the performance of a lifetime or anything but I really cannot imagine anyone else embodying a character the way she does. It's a thankless role and upon rewatches I find it amusing how uncaring and detached her character is — which I guess is something Garland goes for with directing his actors.
Arthur Augustyn
2022-01-26 05:03:15 +0000 UTCAudrey Hepburn in The Nun's Story. Unlike her other roles, she has to wear a cloak for 90% of the movie so all she has is her face with some heavily restrictive body language. She also has to work with a lot of close up shots from director Fred Zinnemann who used inspiration from The Passion of Joan of Arc for this film's camera work. She creates a character who has to juggle at least a dozen conflicting thoughts and emotions throughout the entire film and she does it in such a quiet, subtle way that so much mystery is left for us to find out if her feelings are genuine or forced onto her by the chantry. Even after several viewings, I still can't tell what she actually thinks and I bet her character can't either. One of the greatest character studies I've ever seen.
Wolfman Brandon
2022-01-26 04:50:14 +0000 UTCHailee Steinfeld in True Grit. I think the reason this performance stuck with me so much is because she was a revelation. She came out of nowhere and stole (carried) a movie with Matt Damon, Jeff Bridges, Josh Brolin, etc. She was unfazed in her acting, was eloquent with her speech and, dare I say, showed true grit in her performance. When she spoke it was as if Hailee Steinfeld was delivering the lines not the character she was playing. There was an authenticity to her delivery that made the viewer fond of her as an actress not just of the character she was playing. She was 14 at the time but had the presence of a woman twice her age.
Michael Smith
2022-01-26 04:44:57 +0000 UTCFalconetti, Falconetti, Falconetti!!! The first time I saw The Passion of Joan of Arc, I was at a loss for words. Here was two hours of almost nothing but closeups of this woman’s face and I could not turn away. I literally had goosebumps watching this performance as Falconetti took hold of my soul for 114 minutes. The empathy she was able to muster is unequaled, imo, I could feel every slight shift in her emotions as though I were in the room with her. And she was able to do it all without our hearing the sound of her voice.
Matt G
2022-01-26 04:15:10 +0000 UTC
