Hello, Gorgeous: Best Actress of 2020
Saturday, December 16, 2023 at 3:00PM A new series by Juan Carlos Ojano
Women are at the center of the Oscars conversation*. Two female nominees for Best Director. Chloé Zhao making Oscar history. Highest number of female-directed films nominated at the Oscars as well as highest number of eligible films at the Oscars in total. Maybe it’s too early to say, but this year is looking like the bellwether of a significant change that is about to happen in the cinematic experience and landscape in the years to come. In a time when cinema as we know it was changing right in front of our collective eyes, this year in film has shown that the future is female indeed.
As for Best Actress - save for one co-lead situation - women are also the center of their respective films’ narratives (longtime Oscar fans know that’s not always the case). The roles nominated during this time exemplify the complex emotions of the year. Social unrest and grief are big forces that confronted us that year. And look at what we have: their nominees’ character introductions are reflective of that.
Are you ready? *The year is 2020...
Viola Davis as Ma Rainey in MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM
Directed by George C. Wolfe / Written by Ruben Santiago-Hudson
After we see two Black boys running in the woods, they reach their destination: a long queue of people eagerly waiting to enter the tent where a performance is held. A soulful voice is already heard (not Davis’). And then cut to the interior of the tent: the camera swoops into Davis, center-framed, as she performs onstage. Important to note this shot starts from the side of the audience. Then this changes until we not only see her totality, but gets really close to her face. Three things to mention here: a visual embodiment of Ma Rainey’s intrinsic bond with her Black audience through music (and then contrast this to Levee’s fate as a composer), a performer who is in control of her audience and music (something she will reckon with later), and her ability to own her image and sexuality (as with this closeup).
Andra Day as Billie Holiday in THE UNITED STATES VS. BILLIE HOLIDAY
Directed by Lee Daniels / Written by Suzan-Lori Parks
The film begins with two layers of horror. We see a photo of the Will Brown being burned alive after being lynched by a mob of White racists. Text overlay states that an anti-lynching bill was not passed in 1937 and that Billie Holiday rose to fame because of Strange Fruit, a song about lynching. Dissolve to Day, center-framed, standing in the middle of the stage. Spotlight on her, she is the only person that we see on stage. At first surveying her crown, and then in another shot, defiant as she looks into the camera. The juxtaposition of the first image and her entrance signifies the proximity of her stardom to the sociopolitical context of the time, an idea which will be further explored as the FBI gets involved. As framed by this film, her magnum opus is the unbreakable bond that connects her to the larger fight for racial equality in the US.
Vanessa Kirby as Martha Weiss in PIECES OF A WOMAN
Directed by Kornél Mundruczó / Written by Kata Wéber
Even before we see Kirby, we are already informed of her pregnancy. Her husband (in the previous scene) is talking about her soon-to-be-born daughter. In the next scene, balloons spelling “it’s a girl” are attached to the wall. Meanwhile, a cake with a baby is being sliced and is about to be eaten. Our first glimpse of Kirby is actually her belly, center-framed. A woman feels the baby’s kick while asking questions about the baby. Another woman feels it too and says that she’s lucky. Probably caring more about the baby than the mother herself. Lo and behold, Kirby’s face denotes something less than celebratory. She even says “we’ll see how it goes”. Martha is probably not comfortable with being this much center of the attention, but her pregnancy will be the axis of her character that will shape her journey.
Frances McDormand as Fern in NOMADLAND
Written and Directed by Chloé Zhao
After a title card stating that a company shut down its plant, we see Fern opening her storage unit in the dead of winter. She’s the only person in the shot, center-framed and isolated. There’s already an air of gloom, perhaps even grief, in this shot even before we know anything about her. She takes a box of plates and puts it inside her van, already introducing us to her lifestyle as a nomad. She opens a box of clothes and takes a jacket. She looks at it, gets teary eyed, even hesitates for a moment what to do with it, and then hugs it tightly. We know whoever owned that jacket is already gone. In just two shots, McDormand and director Zhao already establish Fern as a character: emotional state, lifestyle, environment. It’s a mournful milieu that the film immediately establishes in that moment, an embodiment of Fern’s experience.
Carey Mulligan as Cassandra “Cassie” Thomas in PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN
Written and Directed by Emerald Fennell
While three male douchebags are making sexist comments about their female coworker, they notice a drunk woman alone, sitting on a couch. Reveal Mulligan, center-framed, in a Christ-like position - arms are spread out, looking down due to drunkenness. (I do not believe this evocation of religious imagery is incidental given later shots in the film). It’s also thematically coherent that Cassie, recalling Jesus on the cross, is in an act of self-oblation. Of course, the meaning is much more sinister and perverse than the Biblical reference. And also: this drunkenness is an act. (Bonus: I added an earlier shot where, for about a second, we see Mulligan from afar, albeit not focused. Cassie is just lurking around the corner even before we met her.)
Any other observations from these introductions? Whose introduction was your favorite? Let us know in the comments.
Reader Comments (19)
The Billie Holiday opening is quite striking, but for the reasons you describe - the whole set of connections and feelings - I think the opening to Promising Young Woman is brilliant.
Juan Carlos - love these observations... particularly about Promising Young Woman and Pieces of a Woman.
Loving this series! Always fascinating to revisit first scenes and see how much character development is established off the bat. Favorite intro from this bunch is Nomadland or PYW.
Just for fun...with #1-2 pretty firm, while the rest could be reranked any given day
1. Mulligan
2. McDormand
3. Davis
4. Kirby
5. Day
This is a very strong line up certainly stronger than the years preceding and following.
I prefer Davis's intro to the other 4 and she'd rank 5th the rest like this
5th Davis 4th Day 3rd Kirby 2nd Mulligan Winner McDormand,special mention 2 unsung performances Carrie Coon in The Nest and Kate Winslet in Ammonite.
My ballot inc Coon over Davis.
Let's all enjoy the Actress-category while it still exists. If some people get their way, it'll all be going gender-neutral and actressexuality will be over and done with. Especially now that "actress" is considered a foul term that should be replaced by "female actor" or just "actor".
Viola was robbed! Her greatest performance yet.
The Oscar for Three Billboards really wasn't necessary, but I think Frances was the correct winner from this lineup and I was very happy she pulled through. Nomadland broke my heart. Such a beautiful film.
Mulligan
Kirby
Davis
McDormand
Day
Man, what a WEIRDO year, above all in this category.
Mulligan deserved more than anyone, she's the best by far.
I still can't believe McDormans won a THIRD Oscar for that boooooooooring movie and that lackluster performance.
Really, I still can't believe!
What a beautiful Oscar edition. My favorite best picture lineup since No Country's year.
Remember that this category was really unpredictable with a different actress winning a "big" televised award.
Every intro presented above is excellent. Maybe Mulligan one is my favorite.
In terms of performance (even if I consider all of them perfect) my ranking is:
Kirby
McDormand (best performance of her career)
Mulligan
Davis
Still haven't seen The US vs Billie Holiday.
"In just two shots, McDormand and director Zhao already establish Fern as a character"
This is why I love Nomadland. It has the soul of a documentary and at the same time is one of my favorite character study.
Still can't believe the McDormand win. The good Taste. I mean, one year later they went with the Horror of Jessica Chastain.
Miss Got Married,
"Good taste."
One person has won a THIRD Oscar , becoming the second greatest winner in a atypical year, during pandemic days, just after winning her second Oscar three years ago.
The category was a mess, with no frontrunners, with BAFTA no real competition, Mulligan being inexplicably snubbed in several awards, the second greatest performance, delivered by Davis, wining the SAG for what can be easily considered a supporting role, one more case of category fraud.
Again, a total mess!
Certainty the best decision, the good taste was give to McDormand a historic third Best Actress Oscar.
That's the definition of "good taste".
In 1972, Diana Ross was nominated for Best Actress for a different bio pic of Billie Holliday. Lady Sings the Blues opened with a series of black and white stills of the acclaimed singer being booked into jail. The camera angle and Holliday’s unkempt mane prevent us from seeing her face as she she is printed, stripped, and booked throughout the credit sequence. The score here is rich and evocative. Finally in the last image we see the terrorized face of the addict as a prison matron grabs a hank of hair and holds the woman’s head in place for an ID photograph. The sequence establishes a very different perspective than the other bio pic described here.
Obviously Promising Young Woman earned Emerald Fennell an Oscar and a Best Director nomination so it wasn’t a *miss* by any means.
But in 2020 it did feel like a time capsule from 2017…one of those films that couldn’t get produced fast enough to keep up with the culture. By then, the pandemic and the 2020 election were the dominant anxieties, perception of #MeToo issues had gotten more complex. And Nomadland felt weirdly tailored to the moment.
What a fantastic lineup! Four really strong performances and one (Mulligan) that I would dump but can acknowledge she’s at least good. I think I would have put Jodie Foster in that 5th spot for The Mauritanian because I recall thinking she was actually the lead and she was great in that role!
But really, the 2020 Best Actress race is how every race should go: different groups actually voting for who they think was the best, rather than voting for who everyone else voted for. What a concept!!!
I was rooting hard for Viola to win and when she won the SAG, I almost felt like I had willed it into existence. It’s definitely my favorite Viola performance, because she showed me things I had never seen her do before and also because it felt like real character work that I did not find in her Fences role that she won for. And then I watched The US vs Billie Holliday and was wowed almost instantly by Andra Day. I had scoffed at the idea of that film because it looked so boring and paint-by-numbers, and no it’s not a good film but she absolutely transforms. And meanwhile, I have watched Nomadland so many times and I think it *might* be my favorite Frances performance. It’s at least my favorite of her wins by far. It’s an amazing film that is so rewatchable.
This is probably the strongest lineup in a decade. I agree with many that this is the best performance that David has given but McDormand was also giving her best and Day gave such a lived and raw performance. I would rank Mulligan 4th but in other years she would have won or at least be 2nd.
Answer: Almost Famous, Blood Simple, Burn After Reading, Fargo, Laurel Canyon, Lone Star, Miss Pettigrew, North Country, Three Billboards, Wonder Boys
.
.
.
.
.
Question: What are Frances McDormand's ten greatest performances (not counting her TV and stage work) in alphabetical order?
JUSTICE FOR CAREY!!!