Analysis: Best Actress 2015

Hope you win Saoirse!

Oscar Nominees:

1. Saoirse Ronan, Brooklyn: Ronan's brilliant lead performance in this absolutely amazing period drama has drawn so many unanimously rave reviews from literally, everywhere, that I can't really think of how more I can praise it. It's definitely a great performance when I can see within it, an unconscious emulation of how my all-time favourite actress, Deborah Kerr, would've handled the role; like Kerr, Ronan is just so good at first displaying the more overt emotions, this time round of loneliness and homesickness for her small town in Ireland, and her feelings of being a 'fish out of water' in Brooklyn, and the subtleties of her burgeoning romance with Tony (Emory Cohen). There's another performance this year which does the whole shy, retiring aspect of a character blossoming incredibly well too, but Ronan's work here is equally up to that level of luminosity in depicting the arc of her character. Simply put, a great, naturalistic performance that lights up the screen in the most classic sort of way.

2. Cate Blanchett, Carol: This performance seems to have begun to receive a bit of vitriol for Blanchett's mannered approach in some circles, to which I have to most respectfully but firmly disagree. In my view it's just an absolutely spellbinding performance to watch as Blanchett employs that great screen presence to its fullest, in making Carol a character worthy of binding the film and Therese's (Rooney Mara) perceptions around. She plays the New York socialite perfectly as is to be expected, has great chemistry with Mara, and she completely nails her individual showboating scenes in the lawyers' office where such a palatable rage and sorrow is exuded from each word. A fascinating performance which, while for me not quite on the level of Mara, is nevertheless brilliant work in its own right.
3. Brie Larson, Room: Probably fairly blasphemous to not call this my favourite of the nominees but anyway, Larson gives a great performance in this tight-knit, intimate and effective tale. She spends a lot of time supporting Jacob Tremblay's impressive debut lead performance but I will say she does a remarkable job with this, enhancing his characterisation while also making her own character's plight incredibly affecting in a most subtle way. When the going gets tough, Larson doesn't shy from the near-unwatchable quality of her discomfort with the real world. I won't give too much away with this performance but suffice to say, I thought it a great piece of mostly reactive acting that will be fully deserving of a win come Oscar time.

4. Jennifer Lawrence, Joy: Suffice to say I was pleasantly surprised by both this film, and Lawrence's performance. I've never been a big fan of David O'Russell outside of The Silver Linings Playbook but I thought he did some great work here in the scenes involving the titular character's navigation of the business world, and even sent chills down my spine at certain moments, making up for I guess the deficiency of the domestic scenes. Lawrence's performance here is far from flawless but she's pretty great at playing the gradual increase of defiance and self-sovereignity in her character, and even though her co-stars in the domestic scenes are somewhat lacking she never makes her performance feel lacking in itse.

5. Charlotte Rampling, 45 Years: I hate to put Rampling last as I do think she gives a very good, understated performance as a confused wife to a husband who seems trapped in the past (Tom Courtenay). Rampling is very effective in playing each moment of her character's growing discomfort and discontent realistically, I just think she's a bit overshadowed by Tom Courtenay, and also that she simply doesn't really have a role that makes as big an impact/impression as the previous 4.

My Nominations:

1. Rooney Mara in Carol: so do I need to say anything more about the sublime Celia Johnson-esque work Mara delivers here, as she so beautifully sets up the shy and retiring nature of Therese, and by slowly transitioning her out of a shell, gives a magnificently subtle, and also just plain magnificent, piece of work. I hate to beat a dead horse again and again but she really should've been nominated in Lead, but I digress, just glad she was nominated. For some people this seems to be a performance that has waned a bit in power after initial watching, but for me? It's only grown in power. I think it's the greatest performance of the past half-decade or so, and one of the greatest of all-time.

2. Saoirse Ronan in Brooklyn

3. Cate Blanchett in Carol

4. Emily Blunt in Sicario: I'm going to be blunt here, I've been positively aghast at how darn little attention has been given to this English rose's magnificent lead turn as an increasingly disillusioned FBI agent finding her way through the darkest depths of a Mexican drug cartel. I've seen reservations by some people about how she doesn't really look the part of a top-notch agent but I disagree, I think she acquits herself admirably with the physical aspects of the character and also, just by the way she carries herself in terms of subtle mannerisms. In addition to that she makes each and every moments of her character transition resonate by just being so viscerally realistic. This is the sort of role that many an actress has tried and failed at, but Blunt fulfils the requirements of the role so well and does so much more, that it's just great.

 

5. Carey Mulligan in Far From the Madding Crowd: Equally underrated work as Blunt as she not only embodies perfectly the Bathsheba of Thomas Hardy's novel, but also does so much to help hold up some of the less satisfactory aspects of the film, namely Tom Sturridge's trainwreck. The fact that she manages to salvage something out of that relationship is a great achievement in itself. Anyway, with Schoenaerts and Sheen she delivers a great dynamic that's so distinct between the two, and bridges them with the similarity of her character's consistently headstrong but somewhat foolish determination to prove herself. This is a great performance that has to handle so many things at once, but achieves them so darn well.

 

6. Brie Larson, Room

7. Alicia Vikander, Testament of Youth

8. Mia Wasikowska, Crimson Peak

9. Charlize Theron, Mad Max: Fury Road

10. Carey Mulligan, Suffragette

11. Jennifer Lawrence, Joy

12. Alicia Vikander, The Danish Girl

13. Maggie Smith, The Lady in the Van

14. Daisy Ridley, Star Wars: The Force Awakens

15. Rachel Cooke, Me & Earl & The Dying Girl

16. Charlotte Rampling, 45 Years

17. Rebecca Ferguson, Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation

18. Greta Gerwig, Mistress America

19. Jennifer Lawrence, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay

20. Lola Kirke, Mistress America