Compared to her performance 9 years earlier, the decline of quality in Cate Blanchett's work is almost shocking. But judged on its own, what remains is a competent performance that is worth seeing but also falls too short in a lot of aspects. Sometimes it is good, sometimes even very good, with some occasional highlights but often incredibly weak.
Fiona is a character that is rather thin and appears more to be a plot-device sometimes but it is thanks to Julie Christie’s simple and shining performance that she becomes so haunting. It’s an unforgettable and heartbreaking portrayal of a personal tragedy that never turned into sentimentality and is played with a sometimes overdone but still incredibly effective mix of grace and dignity.
In a performance that could so easily have been a disaster, Elliot Page is a real success thanks to never leaving the narrow frame of the movie and the script. Instead of trying to add too much depth to a young girl who doesn’t possess it yet or going the straight comedy route, Elliot Page found exactly the right balance in which she could create a Juno who is more than just a never-ending recollection of feisty comments but also fulfills the tasks that he is given in the context of the story.
2. Laura Linney in The Savages
Laura Linney creates Wendy as a women who is self-involved without being narcissistic, funny without being annoying, defensive without being aggressive. She does all this in a very natural performance that is certainly the highlight of the picture and presents a wonderful mixture of heartbreaking drama and unforgettable comedy. The way she creates this character, brings her to life and into the viewer’s heart and mind is a truly wonderful achievement.
This is a performance that is destined to go down in movie history. A grandiose, gigantic, colossal and volcanic piece of work that illuminates the screen and, like few other performances before, reaches to completely new levels of excellence. A miracle in technical perfection and a firework of emotional truth.
16 comments:
As I expected although I thought you would have liked Christie more.
Well, I highly disagree that Fiona was a plot device, when the movie is about her and her disease. The movie just decided to tell the story through her husband.
Mmh, I just felt differently. For me, the movie was about the husband and how his wife's illness affected him...
Let's just say we both disagree about our top choices that year! :-)
I thought you would like Julie more too- But I'm glad Laura is second!
This is a very interesting year to me, since all of the performances are talked about (Except for Linney) and how it was so unpredictable about who would win: At first, it looked like Julie Christie with Ellen close behind, but then Ellen lost the globe to Marion and Marion won the Bafta. Did you predict a win for her?
I was thinking about predicting her but then I did was almost everybody else did and predicted Julie Christie. But I hadn't seen any of the performances yet.
And also every nominee had been predicted to win! Of course Christie had been largely predicted, but some predicted Ellen and Tom O'nel of Envelope. Com predicted Marion. And I read several predictions articles where some even bet on Linney and Blanchett! I think the voting came down like this:
1, Marion
2, Christie
3. Linney
4. Page
5. Blanchett
What do you think? And what year is next?
I'm undecided between two years for next.
I'm not sure if Christie came really in second. As I wrote in my review of her, it's a very quiet performance and after all the praise and awards she received I could imagine some Academy members being disappointed about her. And they usually don't go for these kind of performances. I could imagine that Linney might have been second since the nominations showed that they must have really liked her.
I see your point! That's what I thought too, but I figured if Julie won the SAG, then she must have gotten a lot of votes. And I agree about Linney- When I was reading the article in Entertainment Weekly where voters give their preferences, three of them went with Marion and the weird thing is is that they all said "She won't win, but she deserves it". I guess most of the Academy thoght that and she did win after all! Anyway, two of the voters went with Linney and one of them went with Page, and I had a feeling that Linney might be getting more votes then expected.
I think what helped Julie at the SAG Awards was the fact that she had never won there. But I really think that the BAFTAs this year played the most important role in this category. And, of course, they also paved the way for Tilda Swinton's win.
I just checked my predictions back then: I had them in this order:
1. Julie
2. Marion
3. Ellen
4. Laura
5. Cate
I think the Bafta's was the thing that put a wrench in Julie's momentum and made Marion much more of a threat. And you're right about Tilda, but her win still shocked me! I thought Ryan would win, but that was such an open year for Best Supporting Actress. Both of the female categories were exciting races that year.
Did you find any hard to find movies on Ebay?
I haven't looked yet, at the moment I am watching the easy-to-find ones! :-)
Yes, 2007 was such a fun year, especially in Supporting Actress. My predictions were:
1. Ruby Dee
2. Tilda Swinton
3. Amy Ryan
4. Cate Blanchett
5. Soairse Ronan
Ha Ha
Why would Blanchett be so low? I would have probably predicted them:
1. Amy Ryan
2, Cate Blanchett
3. Ruby Dee
4. Tilda Swinton
5. Soairse Ronan
How about your 08 predictions for Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress?
I just didn't expect Cate to win in either category that year. It just didn't seem like her year.
In 08, my rankings were:
1. Kate Winslet
2. Meryl Streep
3. Melissa Leo
4. Anne Hathaway
5. Angelina Jolie
1. Penelope Cruz
2. Viola Davis
3. Marisa Tomei
4. Amy Adams
5. P. Taraji Henson
Mine would have been:
1. Winslet
2. Streep
3. Hathaway
4. Leo
5.Jolie
1. Davis
2. Cruz
3. Tomei
4. Henson
5. Adams
But I think Streep got less votes then expected- Her momentum peaked too late, I think, and Winslet was much more overdue. Hathaway might have won in a weaker year, but her film was not liked at all by the Academy. Leo's film hadn't been seen enough and Jolie had no chance.
I predicted Amy Ryan in 07, and Viola Davis in 08, since they seemed to be the dark horses of their races.
And agreed Fritz :) It is too bad though the Academy doesn't quite appreciate very quiet performances as much as they used too.
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