Thursday, August 23, 2012

My fellow blogger Andrew has been organizing something special with 1990s performances: he has them fighting eachother for the ultimate title of best of the decade. Click HERE for the blog.

I was invited to write a couple of words about some performances that have reached the second round.


Daniel Day-Lewis for In the Name of the Father (competing with Samuel L. Jackson for Pulp Fiction)




To ignorant eyes like mine, that assumed he's Irish, the role seemed a natural for Daniel Day-Lewis to play. OK, yes, he is Irish, but only half. The idea is that DDL can play almost anything, and I still have to see a poor performance of his. What makes this great is the passion he puts into playing this character, how focused & completely dedicated his performance is. While his acting is thrilling and engaging throughout the entire film, it's those scenes in jail shared with Pete Postlethwaite that are most touching, giving the opportunity to show a more vulnerable side of the character and simply making it all emotional & relatable, in a film meant mostly to induce anger. The performance stands very well among his less showy work.



3 comments:

Andrew K. said...

Few films portray that father/son bond as well as IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER does. Day Lewis and Postlewaite are giving so much and it turns the film into so much more than the standard "wrongfully accused biopic".

Alex Constantin said...

that was a great year for Best Actor...

Andrew K. said...

It was. The Best Actor and Supporting Actor both had stellar performances nominated (and even a few not nominated. Like, no guys from THE PIANO getting a mention, for example.)