The Great Acting Blog: “5 Best Performances In Films I Happened To See In 2011”

The Great Acting Blog: “5 Best Performances In Films I Happened To See In 2011”

Here are my 5 selections for this year. I based them on the fact that they piqued me in an unusual way, asked me to re-examine my own work, or I saw something in them that I loved, and wanted to define. I have excluded performances I have already blogged about earlier in the year, and, where possible, I’ve added the trailer for the film in question. Please feel free to add your favourite performances in the comments section, I’d be fascinated to hear your suggestions. Anyway, I hope everyone enjoyed Christmas, and I wish you all the best for 2012. Cheers! James.

 

WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN (LYNNE RAMSAY)

 I suppose it is something of a cliché to praise Swinton these days, but the truth is, I think she has improved with age. While she has often made bold choices, she’s unusual in that she has seemed more committed to cinema in general, rather than her own individual performances. It is only in recent years that she seems to have relaxed about performing. If you look at her earlier work (e.g. – with Derek Jarman) there is an actressiness about her work, as though she was giving a performance in the style of an actress giving a performance, indicating an unease. Nowadays however, she is more committed to her performances, and it shows. Last year’s I Am Love was comfortably her best work, but I believe that has been topped by We Need To Talk About Kevin. In the latter film we are seeing a master craftsperson at work, as demonstrated by the sheer breadth of Swinton’s expression in the film. She is in an enormous number of scenes, and each require something slightly different from her, and Swinton delivers absolutely. Scene by scene, she gives just what is required, offering subtle variations of action, and she does so with simplicity, discipline and force. Her look of shock when she arrives at her son’s school to discover a tragedy, is utterly heartbreaking. This is an epic performance of the very highest calibre, and I offer it as a masterclass of screen acting.

 

LYDIA LEONARD – ARCHIPELAGO (JOANNA HOGG)

 Archipelago is, in truth, an ensemble piece, about a family who go on holiday to bond, but seething resentments are brought forth instead. Some of the scenes are painfully tense, even when there appears to be nothing happening. But I have chosen Leonard’s performance largely because she is the arch protagonist in the film, it’s her snooty, reserved, agro sister/daughter, who seems to cause most of the problems. Leonard pitches it perfectly, she possesses a touchiness which creates the impression she could kick off any time. Again, her performance is very precise and controlled, and so, so true: we believe every moment of it, we’ve met people just like her, and know how torturously problematic they can be, and it is this truth of course, which makes Leonard so painful to watch. Check out the scene in the restaurant where she complains about her food, but complains just a little bit too much. Brilliantly excruciating.

 

ELENA ANAYA – THE SKIN I LIVE IN (PEDRO ALMODOVAR)

 What a surprise and a joy to discover Elena Anaya! Where have you been, and why aren’t you an enormous superstar? Anaya has a subtle screen beauty coupled with that odd mixture of strength and vulnerability (think Emmanuelle Beart’s younger, more idealistic cousin, less moody). The course qualities are, of course, inherent in the actress herself, but the point is her well ordered technique enables her to give these qualities full expression. Anaya’s performance has a real purity to it, free of the desire to manipulate, and these honest intentions are what make her performance seem so refreshing, and compelling to watch.

 

ROGER LIVESY – A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH (POWELL AND PRESSBURGER)

 Thank God for the films of Powell and Pressburger, otherwise we’d have almost no examples of Livesy’s work, because he rarely did films, preferring to work on stage. For me, Livesy is one of the actors I measure myself against – his work always stuns me, and causes me to re-examine what it is I am trying to do. Generosity and humility are the qualities that spring to mind when I think of him. So generous with his talent, total commitment, and giving his all to express the moment as fully as he can for us. But his humility is revealed by the fact that he appears to be completely oblivious to how good he is, he’s just doing his job. These qualities, combined with supreme skill and the pleasure in his play, make his performances astonishing on screen. Ever performance of his I’ve seen on screen, has been a masterpiece. Roger Livesy. One of the greatest actors there ever was.

 

JOSEF KRONER – THE SHOP ON MAIN STREET (JAN KADAR, ELMAR KLOS)

 Kroner plays Antonin “Tono” Brtko, a lazy and somewhat dim-witted carpenter, living during World War Two in Nazi occupied Slovakia. Kroner is appointed “Aryan Controller” of a rundown button shop, which is managed by and old, deaf Jewish woman (brilliantly played by Ida Kaminska), who doesn’t even realise there’s a war on. Kroner forms a friendship with the old woman. Kroner’s performance in this film is special because of the remarkable way he shows us his character’s

ambivalence. There is a scene where all the Jews in the town are being rounded up in the market square, to be sent way to labour camps, and this happens literally infront of Kroner’s shop window. However, Kroner has decided that the Nazi’s are not going to take the old lady away, so he hides her away in the back room of the shop. The mounts on Kroner as he sits in the shop, while outside, the names of each Jew are read out in preparation for transportation. The scene really does become more and more agonising with every name that is called out. The pressure brings Kroner almost to breaking point, and the genius is how, in this fever pitch moment, Kroner alternates between wanting to protect the old woman, and wanting to give her up to make himself safe. He reveals this inner conflict to us by continually flipping between two conflicting actions, which creates the idea that he is wrest
ling with himself, with his own nature (which of course he is). Kroner’s performance in The Shop On Main Street is a wonderful example of how an actor can express something deeply complex, by performing simple actions.