Performances : in Retrospect
I have been trying to get myself over this naive "bollywood" flak session. and since I feel there can be no end to this aimless debate (naive & aimless due to some distasteful comments/assumptions made by some visitors), and keeing in tune with this month's theme -The Oscars, I thought I should preserve my focus ( and I guess I have somewhat succeeded to shake it off) and talk about hollywood actors/actresses who have given extraordinary performances in the past. and when I say this I am to some extent trying to question the academy's judgement in making these selections, and also trying to highlight my choice of actors/actresses and in the process trying to recall some memorable performances which I thought deserved the recognition.
Consider this, in 1950 of the five people nominated for the best actress in a leading role category -- Anne baxter and Bette davis [ for All about Eve], Judy Holiday [for Born Yesterday], Eleanor Parker [for Caged], and Gloria Swanson [Sunset Blvd], the oscar was given to Judy Holiday. and now, for anybody who has seen all these performances will tell you that Gloria Swanson should have won the academy for her role as the faded, self-delusional silent screen star Norma Desmond who is desperately trying to stage a comeback in a version of Salome that she has written for herself. Infact this movie is a tribute to her silent movie days esp for Queen kelly (1929) incidentally directed by the legendary Eric Von Stroheim. Several years later critics have come to realize that Swansons performance was truly a cinematic triumph.
From the recent past, take the example of nominees (year 1999) in the best actor category in a leading role. The oscar was given to Kevin Spacey for his performance in american beauty, while I strongly feel the oscar should have gone without question to Russel crowe for his realistic portrayal of Jeffery Wigand- as a disgruntled tobacco company whistle blower in The Insider. Like De-niro in Raging Bull, russel crowe transformed himself physically, vocally, and in behaviour making it one of his best performances till date. it's a pity he wasn't awarded the oscar for this role. However In the following year Crowe eventually ( and rather sympathetically) won the Oscar for his role as Maximus in the movie Gladiator. Although, that year the Oscar belonged to Javier Bardem for his role as writer Reynaldo Arenas in Julien Schnabel's Before Night Falls. In order to bring Arenas to life, it was necessary for Bardem to capture all of the myriad complexities of the man and the artist, which he did-- and to perfection. His mannerisms, his walk, the body language says so much about who arenas is by the end of the movie, because of Bardem, you know who Reinaldo Arenas was, and you're not likely to forget him. To say that Bardem's performance was worthy of an Oscar would be a gross understatement.
I have a whole lot to say about a few other of my favorite performances. To mention a few -Ellen Burstyn as Sarah Goldfarb in Requiem for a dream (worth a thousand oscars!), and Morgan Freeman's role as Ellis Boyd in Darabont's The Shawank Redemption. The Oscar was long overdue for this legendary actor, until he received it for his role in Million Dollar Baby (and NO it was a result of "sympathy" as it was in the case of russel crowe, freeman deserved it). But I'll save this rather tedious speech for another time.
I guess the point I am trying to make here is the academy awards recognizes excellence in filmmaking - and given that most actors/actresses perform their best once in their lifetime, I think the academy should be more cautious in their judgement, and avoid presenting oscars by means of sympathy in order to balance out their guilty conscience.
Prasad
Consider this, in 1950 of the five people nominated for the best actress in a leading role category -- Anne baxter and Bette davis [ for All about Eve], Judy Holiday [for Born Yesterday], Eleanor Parker [for Caged], and Gloria Swanson [Sunset Blvd], the oscar was given to Judy Holiday. and now, for anybody who has seen all these performances will tell you that Gloria Swanson should have won the academy for her role as the faded, self-delusional silent screen star Norma Desmond who is desperately trying to stage a comeback in a version of Salome that she has written for herself. Infact this movie is a tribute to her silent movie days esp for Queen kelly (1929) incidentally directed by the legendary Eric Von Stroheim. Several years later critics have come to realize that Swansons performance was truly a cinematic triumph.
From the recent past, take the example of nominees (year 1999) in the best actor category in a leading role. The oscar was given to Kevin Spacey for his performance in american beauty, while I strongly feel the oscar should have gone without question to Russel crowe for his realistic portrayal of Jeffery Wigand- as a disgruntled tobacco company whistle blower in The Insider. Like De-niro in Raging Bull, russel crowe transformed himself physically, vocally, and in behaviour making it one of his best performances till date. it's a pity he wasn't awarded the oscar for this role. However In the following year Crowe eventually ( and rather sympathetically) won the Oscar for his role as Maximus in the movie Gladiator. Although, that year the Oscar belonged to Javier Bardem for his role as writer Reynaldo Arenas in Julien Schnabel's Before Night Falls. In order to bring Arenas to life, it was necessary for Bardem to capture all of the myriad complexities of the man and the artist, which he did-- and to perfection. His mannerisms, his walk, the body language says so much about who arenas is by the end of the movie, because of Bardem, you know who Reinaldo Arenas was, and you're not likely to forget him. To say that Bardem's performance was worthy of an Oscar would be a gross understatement.
I have a whole lot to say about a few other of my favorite performances. To mention a few -Ellen Burstyn as Sarah Goldfarb in Requiem for a dream (worth a thousand oscars!), and Morgan Freeman's role as Ellis Boyd in Darabont's The Shawank Redemption. The Oscar was long overdue for this legendary actor, until he received it for his role in Million Dollar Baby (and NO it was a result of "sympathy" as it was in the case of russel crowe, freeman deserved it). But I'll save this rather tedious speech for another time.
I guess the point I am trying to make here is the academy awards recognizes excellence in filmmaking - and given that most actors/actresses perform their best once in their lifetime, I think the academy should be more cautious in their judgement, and avoid presenting oscars by means of sympathy in order to balance out their guilty conscience.
Prasad
posted by Prasad Bhat at Tuesday, February 07, 2006
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