Best Actress 1975 - The resolution

After having watched and reviewed all five nominated performances, it's time to pick the winner!

5. Ann-Margret in Tommy

Ann-Margret is bad, she’s good, she’s memorable, she’s forgettable, she jumps from one scene to another without any creation of a character but still comes out as the most recommendable aspect of Tommy at the end. Hardly any other performance is so confusing and makes it so hard to rate for the sheer awfulness that surrounds it, the sheer over-the-topness that almost destroys is and the sheer dedication that saves it.

4. Carole Kane in Hester Street

                     

Carole Kane plays Gitl with the right amount of silence and self-confidence but Hester Street is such a small frame for her work that it constantly seems to hold her down. But she still guides Gitl through her process of growing independence from her husband with a beautiful amount of emotional confusion and fills the limitations of her role beautifully.

3. Glenda Jackson in Hedda

Glenda Jackson may be harmed both by the limits of her movie and the limits of her acting which never explored the full character of Hedda but focused mainly on her sinister side but the results are still strangely satisfying, mainly because of Glenda Jackson's own screen presence and impressive talents which allowed her to give an exciting and memorable performance.

2. Isabelle Adjani in L'Histoire d'Adèle H.

Isabelle Adjani gave a brilliant and haunting performance that stands as one of the most memorable and effective displays of human downfall ever presented. She never tried to hide the limitations of her role but instead presented Adèle’s constant lies, her almost rational way of inventing stories, her growing obsession and loss of stability as a thrilling journey which she realized with a subtle and provoking piece of work.

1. Louise Fletcher in One flew over the Cuckoo's Nest

Louise Fletcher turned Nurse Ratched into a force to be reckoned with without making it noticeable, letting all the evil happen behind her stone-faced façade. This way she let her become a thrilling enigma, a woman whose thoughts and intentions always remain in the dark and are therefore impossible to grasp. It may be that Louise Fletcher benefited from the way the character was written and presented but it's still her presence, her face, her voice and her ability to show so much with so little that brought Nurse Ratched to live and made her an everlasting part of movie history.