Ellen Burstyn, in Same Time, Next Year

approximately 93 minutes and 28 seconds
79.1% of the film

The film

A man and woman meet by chance at a romantic inn. Although both are married to others, they find themselves in the same bed the next morning and agree to meet on the same weekend each year.

You can read my short review of the film just by clicking HERE.

I enjoyed the witty dialogue and the chemistry that the two actors have. It’s an easy film to watch, with some scenes much better (and believable) than others and I was not bothered by its obvious theatricality. Interesting trivia I’ve recently discovered: the film also had a much more dramatic alternative ending. I’m curious how it would’ve played.

Ellen Burstyn as Doris

A record has been set: Ellen Burstyn is now the only actress to get 3 Best Actress profiles on my blog (out of her 5 leading nominations). It was nothing planned, it just happened for me to choose/draw years in which she received Oscar’s attention. She was my winner for Requiem for a Dream (2000) and I was way too generous with her performance in Resurrection (1980). This time, she got nominated for a comedy role, infamously occupying the 5th slot, reserved by many for Liv Ullmann (Autumn Sonata).

Ellen plays Doris, a young 1950s housewife who starts an unusual affair with a married man, with the promise of them meeting every year, on the same weekend. They fall in love, but none of them is ready to leave their families and children. We get to see the changes in Doris for 26 years (every 5) and notice how she goes from being a naive wife, to a Marilyn Monroe type, to a hippie, to a mature business woman.

Ellen Burstyn won the Tony Award for her performance of Doris on Broadway, so she had already known the character very well. As the film started, I was kind of bothered by the obvious age difference between Ellen and the 20-something young woman she’s meant to play. Despite this factor which affects the believability of the character, Ellen gives a good performance and she tries to stay focused on the characteristics of each different Doris. However, it sometimes creates the impression of different characters and not so much different life stages of the same woman.

Some of the Dorises work better than others. The least effective one is the 40-year-old hippie, because she’s such a big shift from the other faces of the character that it throws the movie off-balance a bit. It’s also the Doris in which Burstyn looks the least comfortable in. The ups & downs of the performance (due to too many Dorises) are what’s keeping it from being great, but you generally need this kind of character contrast to create a fun comedic story. So the play/script isn’t always helping Ellen because it forces her into going too far from the essence of Doris.

Because: do I know who Doris really is at the end of this film? I would have to put all the puzzle pieces together, but I’m not sure I would be satisfied with the result… Ellen tries her best and does manage to also glue it all together with a heartbreaking final, mature Doris image.

Some might consider the blonde hair Doris to be the most effective segment, acting-wise. And Ellen is truly great there, as a mature woman expressing her frustration of not being able to fully have the man she’s fallen in love with. There’s good stuff there, but to me, the best portrayal of the character is the final one. Burstyn is superb in the last couple of minutes when she feels like she might be losing him forever and it kills her. That I am already married line is perfectly said and terribly heartbreaking.

Ellen is the heart of the film and the element that’s keeping together both the film as a whole and the character itself. Doris is a puzzle and Ellen tries her best in connecting the pieces: sometimes one Doris is too out of line (hippie), but sometimes everything is so emotionally effective. Just like in Resurrection, it’s a performance hard to judge. But because of the last 15 minutes, there’s no way I’d go for less than .

Ellen Burstyn, in Resurrection

approximately 77 minutes and 1 second
79.8% of the film

The film

It tells the story of a woman who survives the car accident which kills her husband, but discovers that she has the power to heal other people.

You can find my short review of the film just by clicking HERE.

The movie starts well, as a mixture of drama and spirituality and after life, but after 1 hour it goes downhill, especially the screenplay. It’s a pity. The best thing about it: Maurice Jarre’s music which would’ve deserved Oscar recognition.

Ellen Burstyn as Edna

It’s not very often that a performance coming from a fantasy/sci-fi/horror movie gets recognition here. I actually didn’t keep track, but it’s easy to tell. Sigourney Weaver got it for Aliens, Ellen Burstyn for The Exorcist… and again for this little movie called Resurrection. It’s not really a fantasy, but it deals with afterlife, so there’s a paranormal thing going on. However, the easiest explanation for the nom is the dramatic requirement of the role, the personal experience of a normal woman dealing with change.

Ellen plays Edna, a 40-something married woman who after a sudden accident becomes a widow and a paraplegic. While almost experiencing death, she wakes up with a strange (energy) power of healing, both herself and others. It’s a good idea of a role, with the potential of a good performance, at it demands a lot: going through the real dramatic part, making the healing look believable and not overdoing the dialogue. And I can say that Burstyn does a very fine job, at least in the first 2/3rds of it.

Her most solid moments come in portraying the suffering Edna; she had lost her husband and she’s now in a wheelchair. The hospital scenes are good and there’s a great one at the cemetery with her saying goodbye to him. Ellen can see the truth in this simple woman, so the daily-life scenes are among the best.

The healing part doesn’t require big, flashy reactions from Ellen. She just closes her eyes and uses, through her hands, a power which is invisible to us. However, she does make it believable and it’s also because of her generally calming presence. She is very reassuring and although she represents the paranormal element of the film, she’s at the same time the person/actress who keeps it grounded. It’s all because we trust Burstyn and the character she’s creating.

That’s a plus for the understanding of the film, because it becomes pretty obvious early on that she’s the one carrying the whole picture on her back. By creating a relatable character, she sells Resurrection to us, the first part of it, that is. Her flashiest scene is the big healing one, a difficult case where we practically see Burstyn taking upon herself the sickness of the patient. It’s a well-planned acting moment, which doesn’t seem fake at all.

However, my favourite acting scene of hers is while saying goodbye to her grandmother towards the ending of the movie. A great scene partner helps and Burstyn is able to take us back to Edna’s daily-life emotions from the first part; her teary eyes seem so genuine and her honest acting creates a loving, natural, relatable scene: saying goodbye to someone you love and acknowledging you’ll probably never see them again.

And then there’s the downfall: the final 10 minutes make for an almost ridiculous ending. The old Edna looks like a witch. Beyond the unconvincing makeup, Burstyn fails in making us believe that decades have passed. It’s an incredibly bad and uninspired take which kills any side of believability. Just because you put on a wig (but no wrinkles) doesn’t mean 20-30 years have passed; it really was an unfortunate soap-opera move.

Burstyn does a fine job in creating a simple woman, dealing with too many new elements in her life. There IS a character arc and her presence throughout the film makes the whole power thing seem believable. It’s a relatable character and she’s nicely selling the film, except for the last part, where she really drops the ball. I give her , being more of a 2.5. I could totally understand why someone would see this more like a 2, but because she puts soul into it and I enjoyed the first part, I thought about being a bit generous.

***EDIT: As stated at the 100th profile celebration (HERE), Ellen's performance has been downgraded to  . :( Mostly for that terrible acting at the ending. 

Ellen Burstyn, Requiem for a Dream

This is a performance that sits on the edge of supporting, yet it’s such a shocking role and delivery, a brilliant piece of acting, that it suddenly becomes the center of the movie and I honestly stopped caring about any other character in the film. It’s a crazy, Oscar-baity role in a movie that is dying to shock you. Don’t you just love a comeback? After 20 years, here she goes again, better than ever…

35 minutes and 36 seconds

36.8% of the film

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Requiem for a Dream

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The hopes and dreams of four ambitious people are shattered when their drug addictions begin spiraling out of control.

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Hell, yeah:

Ellen Burstyn, Jennifer Connelly; the crazy editing that sometimes actually works. Ellen Burstyn’s monologue is fabulous, the music is great, creepy & it stays with you.

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Oh, no:

Requiem is ambitious, but it comes down with a student movie feeling attached to it. Don’t get me wrong, a great student movie, but still: the stories were a bit undeveloped, it felt rushed at times and the ending… well, rather predictable, I would have chosen something more sophisticated and less moral. And too much crazy editing bothers you at times.

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Ellen Burstyn, as Sara Goldfarb

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Here you have one of the greatest actresses of her generation (I mean it; go see The Exorcist again) on the top of her game. Of course the monologue helps but it’s Burstyn who does miracles with the character by giving us just the right amount of Sara, enough to create a small addiction to the character :) We want to see more of Sara, although it’s easy to predict that she’s not gonna end up well.

In a sentence, Sara Goldfarb is a nice old widow trying to lose weight because she’s dreaming of appearing on a TV show; she starts taking the wrong pills and insanity is just one step away. The character suffers a full transformation during the 90 minutes of the film. In the beginning, we see Sara as being either childishly excited about her future TV appearance or upset about the fact she’s not losing any weight. Anyone who’s ever been on a diet (I subscribe) knows how obsessive that feels.

Burstyn portrays Sara as any other mother or grandmother out there, she nails the gestures of a simple woman trying to enjoy what’s left of life. Her forced optimism is heartbreaking and it betrays the deep emotional wounds of this woman. As the monologue scene unravels, we realize the immense tragedy of the lonely woman getting old.

We know from the start that her son is no good and that her husband has died. Yet it’s not until this scene we notice the true loneliness of Sara. I recommend you watch the scene again on youtube. It’s the monologue on loneliness.

So her son comes to visit, and she’s already taking drugs and losing it a bit, but to the people outside she seems normal. It’s the last scene before the character sinks full speed into madness. First Sara is very happy to see her son, but provoked by him, she starts explaining her unhealthy devotion to small think like losing weight or the neighbor’s opinion.

I’ve got no one to take care of, she says while breaking down. Burstyn is great in this highly vulnerable moment. It’s an explanation of the tragedy of getting old. She perfectly balances the tears, her eyes show the deep fear of the character that has been abandoned by her son and husband. She has nothing to live for, except for this cruel promise that she’s gonna be on TV.

The scene is played with such experience that I was instantly moved, I listed and understood every word Sara said. It’s a powerful scene and a moment in the performance that changes ones real life perspective on a matter like this one.

Monstrous thing getting old; that’s what I thought. And Burstyn is there, doing more than justice to the character. She gives a smile, yet keeping the tears, an attempt of the character to cheep on when it’s obvious that everything around her is crumbling. An Oscar moment, if there ever has been one.

Then, from Sara’s perspective, the movie takes a horror turn. You can feel it even starting with the camera shots. She’s losing her mind and the fears and the desires come mixing with the real life.

She’s scared, not able to separate the fantasy from the reality. Sara is like a child scared by the monsters. We like her, we want her to get better. But we know she won’t.

Aronofsky is a sadist son a bitch. He makes us see her reaching the lowest of the low. We don’t want to look, but we can’t help it.

I just wanted to be on the show, she tells the producers. Her monstrous look certainly helps the performance. Burstyn doesn’t hold back in portraying the magnitude of insanity.

It’s very very dramatic as we know how normal she was at the beginning, before the pills stepped in. It’s a tragedy, yet something magic for any movie fan interested in seeing an actress going for it without any self-control.

A bold performance, if there has ever been one. It could have seemed unnatural, comical in some way, but it’s done perfectly by Burstyn who understands the real tragedy of the character. There photos as just as heartbreaking by themselves.

A performance not (just) because it’s showy, but because it’s deeper then what you might remember and it was brave for Burstyn to take the role. And she did magic with it.

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