OVP: Best Actress
The Nominees Were...
Glenn Close, Albert Nobbs
Viola Davis, The Help
Rooney Mara, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady
Michelle Williams, My Week with Marilyn
My Thoughts: Ask any Oscar watcher their favorite category, I'm guessing an inordinately high number will say Best Actress, and I may be one of them-sure, I toy with Best Picture or Best Cinematography, but when it comes down to it, the leading ladies of the screen probably give me the most cinematic joy. Maybe it's the way they get to play a wider variety of characters and character arcs-looking at this lineup, you get to see a powerful woman challenging the status quo, a meek woman desperately trying to find her place in the world, an elusive woman that the entire planet adores, a forgotten woman who is determined to fight back no matter the cost, and a mysterious woman sorting out her baggage and a murder mystery. These are all five women of vastly different backgrounds, different goals, and different films to showcase them. One could also argue that these are five actresses of vastly different goals, and different careers that have helped or hindered them. Either way, this continues to be a category that I'm drawn to, and though I can't play favorites with Oscar, the category that knows I love it best is fully aware.
Since this is the last acting category, I've been toying-do I start with my least favorite or my most favorite? And then I thought, why not start in the middle, and so I will reveal my bronze right off the bat-the actress playing an actress, Michelle Williams. Williams has come a long way since she first rode into Capeside-this is her third Oscar nomination, and she had not yet turned 32 when she received it. I have to admit that I get a Kate Winslet sort of vibe from her on her Oscar path-continually getting nominated in performances that get her third or fourth or fifth place with the Academy and then suddenly storm in with a film and year that will not be ignored. This was a great way to start out that pattern-Williams' Marilyn is a complicated creature, just like the Norma Jean behind the Marilyn that has become as much a part of the late actress's myth as the actual films and photos that have adorned clocks, placemats, and postcards the world over. I love the way, that she keeps Marilyn in on the secret-it would be so tempting to play her as totally tragic or naive, but that's not the Marilyn that likely would have existed-she was still an actress, and the playful scene where she says "shall I become her?" adds to the whole illusion angle of Marilyn-how much is real and how much is show? The film doesn't have enough meat on its bones for Williams to completely stretch her legs-she only gets a few chances to add a strong amount of depth to Marilyn, and I think that the director's clear ambition to keep Marilyn an unknowable phantom that we, the audience, happens to glance upon, limits Williams ability to play a woman in all of her facets, but I have to say that this performance ages better with me than I expected. And though mimicry is not acting, kudos to the hair-and-makeup team, as well as Williams herself, for the totally believable transformation of this actress, particularly after all the naysayers questioned this casting decision in the first place.
Glenn Close is an actress who probably didn't have too much trouble landing her part, and naysayers weren't crowing about her being cast at all when she took on the title role in Albert Nobbs. Close had been trying to make this film for almost thirty years when Rodrigo Garcia finally took the helm as director, and it's evident everywhere that Close was involved, as a producer, writer, actor, and lyricist. You see the delicacy that she brings to Albert, and with which she handles her character-she doesn't want him to come off as too off-putting or strange, and wants to make sure we see his humanity. It's a worthy cause, and this is Glenn Close, so she doesn't fail in this task, but what we don't see is any sort of fire or drive. This is a man who throughout the film makes some great risks (proposing to a woman, picking a fight with a young man, wearing a dress in public after decades as a man), and it's very obvious the reason (Janet McTeer's Hubert has inspired him), but we see a rather dull performance from Close as the movie flows along. So concerned is she with Albert's humanity and his "he's just like you" aspects that she doesn't give him any spirit. It's a pity, because Close is one of the best actors of her generation, and probably would have been in the running for a win had she been as risky with her performance as Albert is with his newfound daring.
This is my last shot at Dragon Tattoo, a film I've grown less fond of with each passing write-up, and my first solely at its star, Rooney Mara. I will say, like with Close, that this isn't a blanket dislike of Mara. I know this is going to sound a little insulting considering the comparative sizes of the roles, but she was so, so much better in The Social Network, and I mean that as a strong compliment. She was excellent in The Social Network-strong and overly confident, she finds that sort of inner assuredness that lots of young women find when they're in college being chased by a smart, intriguing guy. The performance is so good it doesn't feel out-of-place or wrong when Jesse Eisenberg tries to find her once again late in the movie. So I have to wonder where that screen presence is in Dragon Tattoo. While she certainly knows how to make an entrance, the impact is more the hair and piercings and tattoos than Mara herself. She also creates this two-dimensional aura on the screen-you feel as if a literary character has come to life, which of course they have, but with that they haven't become a person with a backstory and anything additional that exists outside of the screen. I will admit up-front that I haven't read the books, and maybe some of Mara's actions and motives are far more apparent when I have the context of the novel, but a film is supposed to exist separate from a book, and this movie, and this performance, do not.
And now, of course, we get to everyone's favorite part of the 2011 race. Casual observers looking back at 2011 may see this as yet another Streep vs. Close battle, or perhaps a pit stop on Michelle Williams quest to find her Oscar or perhaps the start of a long career for Rooney Mara, but we know, for better or worse, what this year really was: Team Viola vs. Team Meryl. It seems a pity, not just because the two actresses clearly are deep admirers of each other and are friends to boot, but also because we should be able to appreciate these as they are-two outstanding pieces of work from two of the great actresses working today. But Oscar (and the media) love a battle, so that's what we got. Fortunately for us, at least, they had the two best performances of the five go head-to-head.
Viola Davis's work could have been so simple. The script doesn't necessarily call for Davis to be a woman of great depth-it calls for her to be a hero and occasionally a character for the audience to pity, but it doesn't call for the strength that Davis brings to this role. Davis brings that all on her own. Think about the key scene that you know you're thinking of when you recall Davis's rocking performance-her speaking about her son's death. The son's death scene is so powerful-she brings such sheer determination to this story, it's clearly a story that she knows by heart and is a speech she has practiced in her mind a hundred times. Davis doesn't waver in the story-she keeps forcing ahead when other actors would have broken down in easy tears. She stalls, but she waits until the crucial line about "another day of bridge" before she finally cracks, because she's balancing fear and disgust with the lives of people like Skeeter (Emma Stone), whom she is talking to at that point. It's a scene that shows an actress completely aware of the journey her character has taken, and so aware of the person that the character hopes to be.
That awareness of her character's journey is also evident in Streep's work as Margaret Thatcher. I'm not going to focus on the accuracy here (with a recent political figure, there's got to be a little bit of glossing or artistic license, so I'm going to forgive the slight sanctification of this very controversial leader). However, Streep doesn't back down from that in her characterization. Whereas Davis's Abilene is someone who has been stowing her courage, waiting for it to burst, Streep's Thatcher has no qualms about speaking her mind. I love that Streep doesn't play her so much as a trailblazer as an incredibly savvy politician who just happens to be a woman. Streep clearly studied politicians for this performance, as you see the way that she uses any asset at her disposal to maintain power, and the calculated way that she manipulates any situation to ensure the outcome she's hoping for. Streep, a consummate actress who has been giving us home run after home run on the big-screen throughout her career, still manages to find the moments to surprise us as an audience, whether she's playing Thatcher in her glory or in her dementia-addled state. Her conviction, even when she knows that she may be wrong, and her steadfast ability to always be "on" show a character, and a performance, fully aware of its surroundings.
Other Precursor Contenders: Once again, the Globes have the opportunity to honor ten ladies of the screen rather than five, so in addition to all five of our Oscar ladies, the Globes found time for Charlize Theron in Young Adult, Kristen Wiig in Bridesmaids, and the duo in Carnage, Jodie Foster and Kate Winslet. They also had time for the almost certain sixth place in the category, Tilda Swinton, who played the harried mother of a killer in We Need to Talk About Kevin. The SAG Awards skipped Rooney Mara (the Dragon Tattoo momentum was a late-emerging thing), in favor of Swinton. And the BAFTA Awards skipped both Mara and Close in favor of Swinton (once again-not many people can boast getting in at BAFTA, the Globes, and SAG and still missing out on an Oscar nod-dubious club, particularly when you consider that Tilda Swinton has stunning never been nominated for Best Actress), and a category confusing Berenice Bejo.
Performances I Would Have Nominated: It seems a bit ludicrous to complain when Oscar chose to fill up his lineup with such brilliant actresses as Williams, Davis, Streep, and Close, but there were so many riches last year that I have to focus on three-first off, there's Juliette Binoche doing a mind-breaking work as a woman who is also a facsimile of herself in Certified Copy (trust me, if you see it, you'll understand). There's Elizabeth Olsen making a terrific splash in Martha Marcy Mae Marlene as a dazed and possibly delusional former member of a cult. And then there's Kirsten Dunst. While ultimately I think that my Oscar choice below deserves the trophy, I cannot say that in my personal awards I didn't waver very steadily between the winner (to be revealed in two paragraphs) and Dunst in Melancholia. The brilliance that Dunst exhibits takes multiple viewings-she has spectacular sisterly chemistry with Charlotte Gainsbourg, she manages to make a character that is both deeply flawed and annoying completely worthy of your attention for the entire film, and she manages to bring the deep feeling of depression that von Trier is trying to bring to the screen to life. Melancholia was one of my favorite films of the past year, and Dunst is spellbinding from her earlier stages of legitimate wedding jitters to the ultimate feelings of superiority and satisfaction as the movie continues. A former child star, she proves beyond a shadow of a doubt in this movie that she is ready for the most complicated, adult roles that a director can throw at her, and I for one, cannot wait.
Oscar's Choice: Oscar, after making her wait almost thirty years, gave Meryl Streep her third Oscar, thus depriving Viola Davis of her first.
My Choice: Like I said, Michelle Williams takes the bronze, followed by Glenn Close and finally Rooney Mara. For the actual trophy, I must give it to Viola Davis. Meryl Streep is excellent, and a strong silver place and a deserving nominee, but what Davis is dong onscreen is a tour de force performance from an actress at the top of her game, and also, an actress finding more-and-more in the script than you are aware she was given. Due to those factors, Viola Davis wins my Best Actress trophy of 2011.
And now, I'll turn it over to you-which of these five women deserved to win Best Actress? Who was wrongfully snubbed in the category? And of all of the performances of the year, who most deserved Best Actress of 2011?
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