I find myself at a blog milestone with my 100th posting. To celebrate, I thought I would carve up some sacred cows and question the sanity of those who unjustly heap mountains of praise on film history's undeserving.
You might ask about my criteria in making my selection and all I can say is that I chose those who came readily to mind and who have tormented me the most. You may notice I only chose five targets because one must be careful not to overindulge oneself in temple desecration. Five seemed liked a reasonable number. I realize readers might be rankled by my selections and although that isn't necessarily my aim, it's an inevitable hazard I risk. Everyone has their own list they keep inside their heads; mine merely escaped the fortress of unexpressed thoughts to go on a gleeful rampage.
As always, feel free to comment and provide a list of your own if you too feel the itch.
The following are listed in no particular order or ranking:
1. Meryl Streep
This feels like a no-brainer. 18 Oscar nominations for either Best Actress or Best Supporting Actress with several wins under under her belt, which doesn't include the numerous Golden Globe or BAFTA nominations showered upon her. If it seems like I've made an egregious error in judgement after that opening comment, trust me, I haven't.
If anyone has bothered to really watch Streep at her so-called best, they will notice an actress who, as Pauline Kael once put it, "hides behind accents." Aside from that criticism, her performances tend to be the movie rather than an integral part of it. Her roles also tend to crowd out the story and other performances one might otherwise notice and appreciate. Case in point: The Iron Lady, one of Streep's Oscar-nominated performances. The movie isn't really about Margaret Thatcher, England's first female Prime-Minister, it's about Streep's accent and her ability to mimic Britishness. I can't honestly recall the rest of the cast or specific scenes, only Streep's circus-stunt acting. It's almost as if she puts on the affectation along with the make-up.
Streep isn't a bad actress and in fact, she can manage a solid performance now and then but come now, does her acting merit all the praise, attention and award nominations? She can be interesting when she isn't doing impersonations, but even at her most intriguing, she doesn't awe me. In 2011 and 2012, Jessica Chastain had a streak of terrific roles, including Take Shelter, Tree of Life, The Help, Zero Dark Thirty and only a month into 2013, she was in the horror film Mama. When one considers the richness of her acting choices and her terrific performances in each, it's easy to appreciate a talent that has yet to find full flower. I couldn't imagine Streep taking on any of these roles in her youth without a gimmicky affectation to buttress her acting.
And I haven't even mentioned how Streep's acting ability suffers in comparison to her peers across the pond. Helen Mirren, Kate Winslet and Emma Thompson are but a few examples.
One can even visit the recent past to sample her hamminess. In the recent August: Osage County her over-the-top performance as the cynical family matriarch is an acting seminar in scene-chewing, as Streep sprays the walls with her broad character-interpretation.
Coincidentally, I was looking over the NY Times T.V. section this morning when I came across a listing for the film Proof, which mentioned Streep's role as the Catholic School nun/Principal. The blurb contained an exerpt of critic Manohla Dargis' review, in which she says of director John Patrick Shanley and Streep:
"His work with the actors is generally fine, though it's a mystery what he thought Ms. Streep, with her wild eyes and an accent as wide as the Grand Concourse, was doing. Her outsize performance has a whiff of the burlesque, but she's really just operating in a different register from the other actors, who are working in the more naturalistic vein of modern movie realism. She's a hoot, but she's also a relief, because, for some of us, worshiping Our Lady of Accents is easier on the soul than doing time in church."
No, it isn't; and I despise church.
2.The Nouvelle Vague
Or as it is commonly known in America; The French New Wave.
I include this with strong reservations because I admire the French New Wave for its revolutionary techniques and its tremendous impact on American movie-making in the 70s'. I even find some of the movement's films to be classics, like Breathless, A Band Apart, The 400 Blows and The Umbrellas of Cherbourg. But Jean-Luc Godard, François Truffaut, Éric Rohmer, Claude Chabrol, Jacques Rivette, Agnès Varda, Jacques Demy have also been worshipped all out of proportion, especially when one considers their respective bodies of work. The German Expressionists and the Italian Neo-realists have a considerable portfolio of great, watchable films but aside from The New Wave's ground-breaking techniques, what would compel one to to watch their films? Even in the 60s', Godard's heyday, he made some films that were nigh unwatchable. After the 60's he has a catalogue of films that aren't watchable at all. The other directors have fared better. The group has managed to make some terrific films the past twenty years, like Rivette's La Belle Noiseuse, Chabrol's La Ceremonie, and a few Rohmer films but as a group, I find them outrageously overrated. Of course my opinion of the Nouvelle Vague is susceptible to revision. I feel really guilty including the movement in this group but maybe tomorrow I won't. It wouldn't take much to convince me I messed up here.
3.Casablanca
Like the Nouvelle Vague, I feel some regret targeting Casablanca, the American public's selection for Best-Film-of-All-Time. Though I really like the film, to me it is preposterous to regard it as the best American film. I don't even consider it my favorite Humphrey Bogart movie. I enjoy The Maltese Falcon and The African Queen more and I still hold dozens of American films in higher esteem, like Citizen Kane, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Chinatown and Nashville. Don't get me wrong, Casablanca belongs in such an august assemblage; just not at as lofty a perch as many might place it. It is beautifully shot, acted and it has an urgency that is WWII-compatible but it doesn't stand head and shoulders above America's best cinematic efforts and it certainly doesn't fare any better when we factor the best foreign films into the mix.
4.Forrest Gump
Zemeckis' film falls into the category of the Oppressively Empty-Headed. Not only is the film about a simpleton, it appears that it was written by one too. I find the line "Life is like a box of chocolates..." so vexatious to my ears it gives me vertigo. The film's message seems to be that good-natured innocence and feeble-mindedness make a virtuous amalgam or if you're dumb but nice enough, success is all but assured.
I can't adequately express the intensity of my contempt for this film. Its brain-dead optimism and sickly-sweet cuteness are only a few of the film's unforgivable shortcomings. That the AFI included the film on its list of greatest films should alert one to the institute's suspect suitability as arbiters of greatness. How it beat out Pulp Fiction for a Best Picture Oscar might be the most mind-boggling conundrum in movie history.
Salvador Dali once said that whenever someone asked him his Zodiacal sign, he never phoned that person again. I feel the same about people who say they like Forrest Gump. I think Dante set aside the nether-most circle of hell for those who like Zemeckis' movie. May they simmer in a scalding cauldron there for all eternity. 'Nuff said.
5.The Sound of Music
I thought about dozens of actors and films that could have made this list but one film that caused a throbbing in my temple was The Sound of Music. Though it isn't as loathsome as Forrest Gump it isn't far behind. Everything about the von Trapp family makes me ill. I realize the story is based on historical fact and that the von Trapps narrowly escaped the Nazis but somehow even that doesn't make me abominate the film any less. The family is annoyingly chirpy and though the family's escape from the Third Reich's clutches is harrowing, I find myself rooting for the Nazis. I truly hope I never have to sit through the movie again.
As I mentioned earlier, I could have included more on the list but maybe we'll leave some for a future posting. Thank you for taking the time to read my Pantheon and for helping me celebrate my 100th post. Looking forward to more.
Are you aware of how Meryl Streep got tagged the greatest actress of her generation in the first place? It's an interesting story.
ReplyDeleteShe hired an expensive publicist as soon as she graduated from Yale Drama. This publicist (paid for with Daddy's money: Streep was born with a silver spoon and her father was a rich pharmaceutical executive) touted Streep (with her approval) as the Greatest Actress of Her Generation. The NY press bought into the hype and the hype paved the way for Streep's entry into the movies.
Ever since then, the mantle of Greatest of Her Generation has never left her - even though the origin of this label was.... Streep herself! The mind boggles! The brass balls on this chick! Why does nobody have the balls to say the Empress Has No Clothes (except for bloggers like yourself)?
The reason, of course, that Kael was one of Streep's few harsh detractors is that Kael was one of the few film critics who wasn't remotely swayed by hype or public relations. It didn't matter if every other critic in America loved a movie or hated a movie, if it didn't hit her the same way she wouldn't pretend it did. But Streep's initial reputation as "the best of the best" has its origins in HER OWN SELF-GENERATED HYPE! Today, it wouldn't fly, because every actor and aspiring actor has a publicist on the payroll. But in the 1970s even established veteran movie stars, let alone neophytes, oftentimes didn't have a personal publicist.
That's how the tail came to wag the dog. Absolutely amazing that the right combination of arrogance, entitlement, a bag of overblown and histrionic acting tricks, and big money to spend on lavish PR campaigns can shove you right to the front of the line, irrespective of talent.
Whew! Excellent, informed comment. Glad someone else shares my sentiments.
ReplyDelete