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Probably the most insightful of these annual actor-on-actor blurbs at Variety this year is Holly Hunter’s take on Abbie Cornish in “Bright Star.” The Jane Campion connection is obviously interesting, but of all the blurbs (save maybe for Ben Affleck’s thoughts on Jeremy Renner, though he gets repetitive), it felt, to me, the most notable:
The movie takes place in the mid-19th century. There’s something incredibly of that time about Abbie Cornish. The frankness of the performance though feels very modern. It’s a beautiful combination. It made the movie more complicated because of that conflict in the character, what she wanted versus what her times would allow her. The tenderness that the character had the softness was so completely of her. Abbie Cornish isn’t brazen but she has a certain defiance. From the first time that the camera discovers her Fanny I felt that there was an incredible acceptance on her part of what this love was going to ask. And some of it in some ways was beyond her means. And none of it did Keats seem to require. Fanny’s reading of Milton and Shelley didn’t seem to be a requirement of his. It was something that she took on. I felt it was very naive and charming. This was a desire that she had so much so that she flagrantly lied to Brown about having read everybody in a week. She was a neophyte. She was new at poetry didn’t understand poetry. She couldn’t find a way in. But I loved her.
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16 responses so far
1 11-30-2009 at 8:36 am
Guy Lodge said...
What a perceptive, articulate piece of writing. Could agree more with her, and couldn’t add a necessary word if I tried.
2 11-30-2009 at 9:12 am
Me. said...
She’s my Best Actress winner so far. Penélope Cruz for “Broken Embraces” and Audrey Tautou for “Coco Before Chanel” are my runner-ups.
3 11-30-2009 at 9:29 am
Alex in Movieland said...
:))
“From the first time that the camera discovers her Fanny”
really, Holly, you couldn’t find another way of saying that… :P
4 11-30-2009 at 9:35 am
j said...
Hers is a great performance and my favorite of the year. That said, I don’t find it groundbreakingly amazing, and so I still want Streep to win as a sort of cumulative reward even though I find her Julia Child less than Fanny. Esp since Cornish isn’t even considered T5 in contention by a number of people, her reward would be a nom.
5 11-30-2009 at 9:49 am
Chris said...
Is there no list on the Variety site of all those articles? I can’t find one, but I thought there had always been one in previous years.
6 11-30-2009 at 9:59 am
geha714 said...
“Abbie Cornish isn’t brazen but she has a certain defiance.”
If anyone wonders what defiance she’s talking about, I recommend you to watch “Sommersault”, a little australian film an probably, the best Abbie Cornish role ever.
Sam Worthington is also in it and he’s not bad, even if the role is underwritten. Still, it’s Cornish’s show.
7 11-30-2009 at 10:13 am
Speaking English said...
I really really hope she’s nominated. It’s a wonderful performance and definitely better than Mulligan.
8 11-30-2009 at 11:28 am
Sean said...
I take these comments with a grain of salt! Hunter started in Campion’s other bore fest The Piano and of course she would endorse Cornish.
Queen Latifiah praised Paual Patton in Precious(no comment). Julianne Moore praised Streep – they worked together before.
All the comments have an angle, sorry.
9 11-30-2009 at 8:21 pm
John said...
Regarding Cornish vs. Mulligan …
Yeah, not only do I think the Abbie Cornish/Fanny role is more challenging than Mulligan’s, I also just thought it was acted better.
Don’t get me wrong, I think Mulligan did a very nice job in ‘An Education’. But in an Oscar Season that’s going ape-sh*t for Mulligan and not Cornish, I get perturbed.
10 11-30-2009 at 8:55 pm
rosengje said...
Holly Hunter might be my favorite Best Actress winner. I understand the appeal of her (formerly) steady acting gig on Saving Grace but her absence from the big screen is sorely felt.
11 11-30-2009 at 9:33 pm
lucy said...
I agree that Cornish performance is much better than Mulligan, she won Best Actress at the London Film Festival beating Mulligan remember plus Mulligan lost again to Emily Blunt when the BAFTA chose Blunt for British Actress of the year so I don’t really know the hype about Mulligan her performance is good but so common I will not be surprised if she will get snubbed at the Oscars and Blunt and Cornish got nominated, these two have much better performance than Mulligan
My top 5 Best Actress predictions at the Oscars so far:
STREEP
Mirren
Ronan
Blunt
Cornish
12 11-30-2009 at 10:39 pm
Glenn said...
Well see Sean just criticised “The Piano”. Hence, anything he says is moot.
13 12-01-2009 at 1:21 am
Guy Lodge said...
Lucy: There wasn’t a Best Actress award at the London Film Festival. I’m not sure what fest you’re thinking of, but it’s not that one.
14 12-01-2009 at 5:38 am
John said...
My heart was torn out for Cornish in ‘Bright Star’.
In ‘An Education’, ,I find that Mulligan is this fresh-faced, pixy-ish, good actress who benefits from playing someone younger than she is, & doing it well.
She has a nice feel for nuance in her acting. And her slightly deeper voice than one would expect from someone who looks like her sometimes gets misread for brilliant acting.
I honestly feel like it’s that shaky combo of new face/nice nuance/mature voice that’s getting the accolades while Cornish devastated me. But that’s just my opinion.
Does anyone else get what I’m trying to say regarding Mulligan or have I lost my mind (may be the case). ;-)
15 12-01-2009 at 8:24 am
Speaking English said...
***Well see Sean just criticised “The Piano”. Hence, anything he says is moot.***
Please. “The Piano” is dreary tosh bordering on misogyny. “Bright Star” does everything right that that film did wrong.
16 12-01-2009 at 8:07 pm
John said...
Speaking English, I agree.