Geraldine Page, in The Trip to Bountiful

approximately 72 minutes and 44 seconds
69.3% of the film

The film

Set in the 1940s, it tells the story of an elderly woman, Carrie Watts, who wants to return home to the small town where she grew up.

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

It wouldn’t be much of a film without Geraldine Page in it. The supporting actors deliver boring, uninspired performances, the screenplay loses its track towards the ending, so it’s up to Geraldine to pick up the pieces. Should only be recommended as a study of master class performance.

Geraldine Page as Carrie Watts

When remembering great actress from the old days, not enough people mention Geraldine Page, who seems to have had a great career in theatre and definitely a splendid one on screen. Just by looking at her Oscar nominated roles you can see some incredible diversity in the roles played. She received her 8th Oscar nomination for The Trip to Bountiful, 32 years after the first one, and her final nomination as she died in 1987. It’s a fantastic performance to end an impressive career.

Geraldine plays Carrie Watts, a widow living with her son and a very dislikeable daughter-in-law in a small apartment in Houston. She has a very cheerful, lively personality and all she dreams of is to escape that place and go back to her home town of Bountiful, to her house that she hasn’t seen in 20 years. She manages to get away and sets on a trip that will bring back a lot of memories from the past. It’s a very dramatic role, not so much in the actual writing, but in the opportunity it gives Geraldine to bring her A-game.

When I first saw it a couple of days ago, I was a bit frustrated with the film and especially the story. First, to get it out of the way, I think it’s an EXCELLENT performance. But it annoyed me that the screenplay didn’t give us the ending that we, and Geraldine, deserved. The performance and the story build a lot towards her getting to Bountiful, but those last 30 minutes are probably the most ignorable scenes Geraldine has to do. Maybe she knew that, that’s why she prepared the big punches from the first half of the film.

Words cannot describe the acting experience that can be found in this performance. I’ve noticed it even more the second time I saw it. Geraldine takes an old lady character and completely brings it to life, creating such a relatable likeable person that I rooted for the whole film. Difficult dialogue never stops her, and the overreacting, worrying, maternal feeling, resignation – all these are beautifully shown in the performance. When the camera is on her face with her delivering some short monologue, that’s very close to acting perfection.

Every gesture is perfectly calculated but so well delivered it comes off as the most natural thing, so recognizable, so fit for this character. Geraldine makes it become not just a film about a trip, but a film in which you can easily tell the backstory of the character, the rich emotional life this woman has lived, the drama of getting old and losing those around you. I can write so much about it, but if you’ve seen it, you know what I mean.

Her best acting moment is in the bus scenes and a particular one is truly heartbreaking. If you’ve seen it, you might remember her confessing to the young woman that she never loved her husband. The pain of the character while remembering the emotional suffering is so brilliantly played it’s definitely hard to forget.

What disappoints me the most about the film is that it doesn’t give her the possibility to deliver an ever more sensational ending, as I knew she had it in her to blow us away with those scenes in the house. Had the last 30 minutes of the film focused entirely on her character and her emotions, we would’ve witnessed something of Ingrid Bergman in Autumn Sonata calibre. Even so, she manages to give so much with not enough support and it’s one of the best wins this category’s ever had.

for sure. How difficult it will be for me to pick a winner for 1985, as I rarely get this excited (notice I wrote more that usual, and I had to hold back). Loved it.

Geraldine Page, in Interiors

approximately 19 minutes and 20 seconds*
22.7% of the film

The film

Three sisters find their lives spinning out of control in the wake of their parents' sudden, unexpected divorce.

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

I have a weakness for Interiors, because it’s that great combination of the depth of a good Woody Allen drama and a style that has yet to be matched by an American film. Woody takes some great Ingmar Bergman elements and creates a cool, arrogant, sophisticated drama.

Geraldine Page as Eve

What does screentime mean for a performance? I used to write more about it, because I do feel that it’s an important element influencing the performance as a whole. Even if you have the ability to tell everything about a character with a 5 seconds look, you still need minutes and minutes to really create a solid material eligible for a Best Actress title. Some get a lot of screentime and do nothing (good) with it. Others, like Geraldine Page here, get little time on screen but manage to definitely make an impression in just 19 minutes (for MORE on 1978’s screentime, check the Final Conclusions next week, I’ll have some space reserved for an analysis on this subject).

Much-respected actress Geraldine Page plays Eve, a cold, emotionally distant, rich woman with a huge passion and a talent for interior decorating. When her husband leaves her, Eve goes through a series of nervous breakdowns, becomes emotionally unstable and unsuccessfully tries to find a new meaning in life. The character is mostly a mystery, but still relatable. She is presented through the eyes of her daughters and, even though she is not present onscreen, she is the character people revolve around.

To have a character that is justifiably on everyone’s mind throughout the film, you must be able to create a really fascinating person. Eve IS that character and she is constructed to be as stylish as the wonderful interiors she creates. Looking at her, I thought of a lady, of high-class, coldness and arrogance, which perfectly fit those rooms she lives in and the beautiful things she likes. Even if she wasn’t the first choice to play Eve, Geraldine seems very fit for the character. She has that royal quality, she inspires respect, but you can also see her as a cold person, distant, maybe even a bit crazy. I like her matriarchal persona.

Moving away from the image of Eve, I look for the interiors of the character. I’m not sure how Eve was like before her breakdown, but I guess not that different. Geraldine has an interesting, risky take on the character: Eve talks like in a whisper, yet often changes her mood during a dialogue. There’s a delicacy to her way of being which seems exaggerated at times, but I can understand it: it just underlines and feeds the frailty, the vulnerability of Eve.

I think her best acting moments are when she’s constantly arguing with her daughter Joey and, most of all, her 1 minute nervous breakdown next to the window. She suddenly starts crying and I was quite empathetic because I’ve been to that dark place and the way Geraldine constructs the moment seems so fit for the character and yet a bit embarrassing (which is good), uncomfortable for that certain moment when everyone’s around.

I’ve mentioned risky earlier, because Eve ends up being very theatrical as a person. There are moments when I’m wondering if she’s more of a drama queen than a really sick person. Is she a victim, a sick person or is she just incredibly spoiled and arrogant? I don’t know the answer.

However, even if Eve is not a likeable person, I can understand her emotions. Which leaves me quite confused about the performance: it’s cold enough to fit the tone of the film and with one smile Geraldine can show a different side of the character. But I had moments when I was like: who is this woman making strange faces, maybe a bit crazy? Was Geraldine overacting or was she just incredibly INTO the character and properly playing the emotionally-disturbed card? I’m quite confused and find it impossible to judge. I’m going with , as I don’t find it brilliant and more than a 3 would make uncomfortable. I love Interiors, but I’m trying not to get carried away with everything.

P.S.: How haunting is her presence in her last scene? Ghostly, very inspired.




*** I didn’t count some of those seconds in the water scene, where I’m sure they used a stunt double.