emily watson's role as bess mcneill ranks very high on this list. the highest ranking for an actor in a performance from the 1990's. and it more than deserves it place. bess mcneill is a character unlike any other: strange, simple, childlike -- as if she were an 8 year old barely living in a grown woman's body. lars von trier virtually plucked watson out of obscurity to tackle this role. it is near perfection, painfully beautiful. bess is completely dependent on her husband jan (stellan skarsgard), an oil rigger who is sent away to a platform in the middle of the sea. without jan, bess is incomprehensible and all she can do is pray for his return. when he is finally sent home, paralyzed in an onshore accident, bess blames herself. she is volatile, self destructive, catatonic. her reluctance to have sex with other men, an order given by jan who cannot have sex himself since his accident, results in a dizzying spiral into near-madness as she copes with her disintegrating marriage and the views of her calvinist community. arguably, one of the greatest performances in history, watson won just about every best actress award from critics and film festivals around the world. competing with brenda blethyn (for secrets and lies), who gave an equally powerful performance that year, the two stellar british actresses made 1996 a fantastic year for film.*nominated for 1996 best actress oscar;
lost to frances mcdormand in fargo
greatest moment: see below
No comments:
Post a Comment