When I think of great actors and great performances, there are several that spring immediately to mind. Meryl Streep in "Sophie's Choice". Maximilian Schell in "Judgment at Nuremberg". Katharine Hepburn in "The Lion in Winter". Dustin Hoffman in "Kramer vs. Kramer". The list goes on and on.
Now I add to my list, proudly, and easily in one of the top ten spots, Marion Cotillard in "La Vie en Rose". Portraying the iconic French chanteuse Edith Piaf (aka The Little Sparrow), Cotillard's performance is nothing short of miraculous. Indeed, even labeling her work here as a mere "performance" is to not do it justice. It is, quite simply, a channeling. Almost supernatural, Cotillard's characterization is a complete and total transformation, as if she has summoned the spirit, integrity, and fire of Piaf to flare magnificently in every cell in her body, every inflection in her voice, every corner of her very soul.
These are big words, I realize that. And high praise coming from me, a self-anointed movie snob with a cold and critical heart when it comes to the arts. But I own my praise of Marion Cotillard wholly. Her work in "La Vie en Rose" is one of those rare performances that makes you believe in the magic of the movies, forces you to acknowledge that there are some true artisans left in the world, and inspires you to jump out of your seat and examine your world in entirely new and fresh ways.
I've always felt that portraying a real person is infinitely more difficult than playing a fictional character. Especially when that person is someone who is as internationally known and beloved as Piaf. Comparisons will inevitably be drawn, critics will scrutinize the tiniest of details, and in the end, the performances either really work or really don't.
Cotillard's Piaf, I don't need to tell you, really works. Watching her burn up the screen for 140 minutes, it is impossible to feel you are watching anyone but the real Edith Piaf. Cotillard ceases to exist. With every raise of a penciled eyebrow, with every painfully-hunched shuffle, with every finger outstretched tautly in song, a Frenchwoman who's been dead for 45 years is suddenly achingly, beautifully alive.
To say Piaf's life in "La Vie en Rose" is "tragic" is to minimize it. She knew her share of pain, without doubt, but we never for a second believe that she will be weighted down by it, so intense is her passion for song and her passion for life. Cotillard has some amazing, gut-wrenching scenes exploding with the most tortured of human emotions, but she also winningly conveys the slightest subtlety and flickering nuance with no more than a sparkle in her eyes or the firm line of her lips. Just by looking at Cotillard's face, we can read the autobiography of a complicated, stubborn, funny, egotistical, and scarred woman named Edith Piaf.
This is obviously a meticulously, lovingly researched performance without rival in modern cinema. It is physically, emotionally, and technically flawless, and Cotillard clearly deserves the Oscar, BAFTA, and every other award she won for her work. Never have I seen an artist emerge herself so selflessly and totally into a role.
In this world of action movies caked with blood, actors choosing roles for the big fat paycheck, and studio executives running it all without the slightest respect or homage for the concept of art, I urge you to see Marion Cotillard and "La Vie en Rose". Hell, just seeing it for the final scene alone is worth it: a camera fixed on Piaf's ghostly face and haunting eyes as she performs one of the most beautiful songs ever written, "Non, je ne regrette rien".
It will renew your faith in film. In art.
In life.
Friday, February 29, 2008
Thursday, February 28, 2008
The Two Loves of Tilda Swinton (Or: Performers, Painters & Polyamory)
Tilda Swinton, the acclaimed British actress and now Oscar winner (for "Michael Clayton"), is a rarity in show business. Her choices in roles are extreme in their variety: from a gender-bending reincarnate in "Orlando", to big budget Hollywood flicks like "Vanilla Sky" and "Constantine", to the White Witch in "The Chronicles of Narnia". She has served as muse and inspiration for both actors and fashion designers; the Dutch fashionistas Viktor and Rolf made an entire collection inspired by her. Despite her ethereal, almost alarmingly-stunning beauty, she is down-to-earth, very funny and jarringly honest in interviews. She showed up to collect her Academy Award without a drop of makeup, adorned in an unusual but striking black dress that resembled a painter's smock.
And the smock analogy is quite appropriate for Swinton, 47. You see, she lives with her longtime companion, the artist John Byrne, 68, with whom she has twin sons. However, it is her boyfriend, New Zealand painter Sandro Kopp, 29, with whom she attended the Oscars. Yes, you read that right. Ms. Swinton lives with one man, raising their children together, and is also openly involved with another man. The arrangement, according to all three, works extremely well, and Swinton is wonderfully unapologetic, and even quite funny, when discussing it.
It may seem that the press Q & A, which follows immediately backstage after an Oscar winner give his/her speech and is whisked to the wings, is an odd place for this subject to come up. But this is Hollywood, folks, and of course Ms. Swinton's personal life was subject to some post-speech questions from the assembled journalists. One reporter backstage asked her about her husband, to which she promptly replied, "I don't have a husband, I've never been married."
But she does have two lovers, and to this I say, "Go Tilda!". The relationship with Byrne, according to interviews, comes across more as two old chums who love and care for each other, united by a mutual respect and the rearing of their two children. The relationship with Kopp, it can be deduced, is of a more physical, but no less emotional, nature. It's complicated, as I'm sure Swinton and her men fully understand. But it also works for them, which speaks volumes about the emotional maturity, security, and honesty all three of them must share.
People, being people, raise issue with how Ms. Swinton lives her life, and I raise issue with those people, not Swinton. We live in a society that has somehow evolved (or devolved - depending on how you look at it) to this mindset that Monogamy is King. Even though our ancient ancestors did not practice it, and very, very few animals do, we seem to have taken it upon ourselves to be paragons of monogamous virtue.
This is laden with problems, of course. The biggest being that many of us can't live up to the idea that we are paragons of anything, and we seek out affairs and fulfillment elsewhere, which is deceitful, hurtful, and wrong. So what then is the problem with having more than one loving, passionate relationship, with all the cards on the table? As long as everyone involved knows what's up, it seems to me that there is no problem here at all.
When I look at Tilda Swinton's life -- her remarkable, varied career and unusual living situation -- I feel a breath of fresh, exuberant air. Here is a woman who has bucked tradition and fearlessly declared what works for her. And that is all she needs to say. It's not any of our business how she and Byrne raise their children. There is obviously a lot of love, and a lot of honesty, in the Swinton-Byrne household, and I can't imagine a better environment in which to raise children.
Honesty is the key to the polyamorous life. You have to be flawlessly in touch with your emotions and be able to express them with great intimacy and articulation. This is precisely the reason that most people can't handle relationships like this. We are too laden with "proper" images and conventional understandings. In addition to the honesty thing, you also, quite literally, need to be able to share. And we as a people don't really excel at that.
What is just as important, though, is tact. I have read a lot of really positive responses regarding Swinton's lifestyle, but those responses are always capped off with something like, "...but these relationships NEVER work." Well, of course the ones you hear about are the ones that didn't work. Do you really think those in polyamorous relationships walk around declaring, "I got laid by TWO different men last night!"? Of course not. A natural offspring of the openness and honesty inherent in these situations is tactful discretion. Balancing an open relationship like Swinton's demands rigorous orchestration, and as long as all players involved know their parts, the results will undoubtedly be successful. These relationships can and do work.
With this said, do you think Adrien Brody will date me even though I'm married?
And the smock analogy is quite appropriate for Swinton, 47. You see, she lives with her longtime companion, the artist John Byrne, 68, with whom she has twin sons. However, it is her boyfriend, New Zealand painter Sandro Kopp, 29, with whom she attended the Oscars. Yes, you read that right. Ms. Swinton lives with one man, raising their children together, and is also openly involved with another man. The arrangement, according to all three, works extremely well, and Swinton is wonderfully unapologetic, and even quite funny, when discussing it.
It may seem that the press Q & A, which follows immediately backstage after an Oscar winner give his/her speech and is whisked to the wings, is an odd place for this subject to come up. But this is Hollywood, folks, and of course Ms. Swinton's personal life was subject to some post-speech questions from the assembled journalists. One reporter backstage asked her about her husband, to which she promptly replied, "I don't have a husband, I've never been married."
But she does have two lovers, and to this I say, "Go Tilda!". The relationship with Byrne, according to interviews, comes across more as two old chums who love and care for each other, united by a mutual respect and the rearing of their two children. The relationship with Kopp, it can be deduced, is of a more physical, but no less emotional, nature. It's complicated, as I'm sure Swinton and her men fully understand. But it also works for them, which speaks volumes about the emotional maturity, security, and honesty all three of them must share.
People, being people, raise issue with how Ms. Swinton lives her life, and I raise issue with those people, not Swinton. We live in a society that has somehow evolved (or devolved - depending on how you look at it) to this mindset that Monogamy is King. Even though our ancient ancestors did not practice it, and very, very few animals do, we seem to have taken it upon ourselves to be paragons of monogamous virtue.
This is laden with problems, of course. The biggest being that many of us can't live up to the idea that we are paragons of anything, and we seek out affairs and fulfillment elsewhere, which is deceitful, hurtful, and wrong. So what then is the problem with having more than one loving, passionate relationship, with all the cards on the table? As long as everyone involved knows what's up, it seems to me that there is no problem here at all.
When I look at Tilda Swinton's life -- her remarkable, varied career and unusual living situation -- I feel a breath of fresh, exuberant air. Here is a woman who has bucked tradition and fearlessly declared what works for her. And that is all she needs to say. It's not any of our business how she and Byrne raise their children. There is obviously a lot of love, and a lot of honesty, in the Swinton-Byrne household, and I can't imagine a better environment in which to raise children.
Honesty is the key to the polyamorous life. You have to be flawlessly in touch with your emotions and be able to express them with great intimacy and articulation. This is precisely the reason that most people can't handle relationships like this. We are too laden with "proper" images and conventional understandings. In addition to the honesty thing, you also, quite literally, need to be able to share. And we as a people don't really excel at that.
What is just as important, though, is tact. I have read a lot of really positive responses regarding Swinton's lifestyle, but those responses are always capped off with something like, "...but these relationships NEVER work." Well, of course the ones you hear about are the ones that didn't work. Do you really think those in polyamorous relationships walk around declaring, "I got laid by TWO different men last night!"? Of course not. A natural offspring of the openness and honesty inherent in these situations is tactful discretion. Balancing an open relationship like Swinton's demands rigorous orchestration, and as long as all players involved know their parts, the results will undoubtedly be successful. These relationships can and do work.
With this said, do you think Adrien Brody will date me even though I'm married?
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Tangled: On Life & Great Art
My definition of "great art" could be deemed selfish. I define a great piece of art by my ability to see, however concise or abstract, my own experience in it. For example, I can detect the scent of my history in the painting "A View from the Window, on the Olcha" by Marc Chagall. I can read the confessions of my disparate selves in the book "The Golden Notebook" by Doris Lessing. I can confront both the desperations and deliciousness of my life in the films of Lars von Trier.
And I can unravel the loneliness and frustration, but also the benefits, of my existence in a song like "My Life" by Iris Dement. I'm feeling a bit defeated tonight, as the rains fall -- tidal -- on Boston, and Ms. Dement can reveal the secrets and commonality of just such a rain.
My life, it don't count for nothing.
When I look at this world, I feel so small.
My life, it's only a season:
A passing September that no one will recall.
But I gave joy to my mother.
And I made my lover smile.
And I can give comfort to my friends when they're hurting.
And I can make it seem better for a while.
My life, it's half the way traveled,
And still I have not found my way out of this night.
An' my life, it's tangled in wishes,
And so many things that just never turned out right.
But I gave joy to my mother.
And I made my lover smile.
And I can give comfort to my friends when they're hurting.
And I can make it seem better,
I can make it seem better,
I can make it seem better for a while.
Thanks, Iris.
And I can unravel the loneliness and frustration, but also the benefits, of my existence in a song like "My Life" by Iris Dement. I'm feeling a bit defeated tonight, as the rains fall -- tidal -- on Boston, and Ms. Dement can reveal the secrets and commonality of just such a rain.
My life, it don't count for nothing.
When I look at this world, I feel so small.
My life, it's only a season:
A passing September that no one will recall.
But I gave joy to my mother.
And I made my lover smile.
And I can give comfort to my friends when they're hurting.
And I can make it seem better for a while.
My life, it's half the way traveled,
And still I have not found my way out of this night.
An' my life, it's tangled in wishes,
And so many things that just never turned out right.
But I gave joy to my mother.
And I made my lover smile.
And I can give comfort to my friends when they're hurting.
And I can make it seem better,
I can make it seem better,
I can make it seem better for a while.
Thanks, Iris.
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