Hello, Gorgeous: Best Actress of 2014
Thursday, August 29, 2024 at 4:00PM A returning series by Juan Carlos Ojano
Nice to be back doing this series after last year's Oscars.
One fascinating thing about this group of nominees is how, in medias res, they provide a lot of context as to what their respective arcs will be: a depressed worker being awakened, a mother on the verge of isolation, a mysterious wife to be cracked open, and an injured traveler hitting a roadblock. Only one of the nominees gets a traditional introductione, and even that is already in establishing her dynamic with her male co-star. It’s a fun lineup of first moments with key details sprinkled in from the get-go.
Are you ready? The year is 2014...
Marion Cotillard as Sandra Bya in TWO DAYS, ONE NIGHT
Written and Directed by Jean-Pierre Dardenne and Luc Dardenne
First shot of the film. An unbroken take, starting with a closeup: Sandra is taking a nap in the middle of the day. Her phone rings several times. Finally, she wakes up. Medium shot: she answers the call. She says she was resting and she’s making a tart for her children. She receives bad news.
As matter-of-fact as character introductions could get. A single shot absorbs the crux of our protagonist’s journey. This reflects the relationship between Cotillard and the Dardennes’ way of filmmaking. With an unobtrusive style that gets up close and raw, she is dropped at the center of Sandra’s tumultuous ordeal. There is no hiding with this introduction (and the film). the Dardennes want us the audience to be visually engaged with how Sandra moves in this world given her circumstances. Her mental health, socioeconomic status, and family dynamics all having their own stakes. A single phone call disrupts all of that, and the Dardennes’ prioritization of intersectionality in telling this story is on full display. As for Cotillard, this scene shows the lack of vanity demanded from her as a performer.
Felicity Jones as Jane Hawking in THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING
Directed by James Marsh / Written by Anthony McCarten
Before her actual character introduction, Jones is already seen in the opening credits. She is standing behind Stephen Hawking (Eddie Redmayne) on his wheelchair. In a later scene, she is seen with her friend as they arrive at a college party. She surveys the crowd while the other young woman talks about the kinds of men in the party. She and Stephen lock eyes. He gives a polite nod.
Jones gets the most traditional introduction out of this roster - a literal entrance in a scene - but even this already explains a lot about her character. Making her way into the room with her friend, her emergence from the dark and into the room doesn’t read like an announcement of one’s self. Perhaps, she stumbles into this room (and in turn, Stephen) by accident. But notice her demeanor when she arrives. Her pal dismisses the people in the room immediately (“oh dear, scientists”), but Jones surveys the room. She studies it in an instant, a glance. And with her keen read of the crowd, Jane notices Stephen. The future Mrs. Hawking takes interest in him and asks his name. It is this steely assertiveness that would be crucial in understanding her once her relationship with Stephen blossoms, especially when they confront his struggles with ALS. Her meek appearance belies the towering strength that she has.
Julianne Moore as Alice Howland in STILL ALICE
Written and Directed by Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland
First shot of the film. A single medium shot: it’s Alice’s birthday. She is handed a gift by her children (off-screen). The woman opens the gift; it’s a sweater. She says she loves the gift. They continue with dinner. Her two children have a chat, but she replies, seemingly unaware that they are having a separate conversation.
Visually, Moore is isolated from the rest of her fellow actors despite being in a family dinner where they are all positioned to be together. A future that would cut her off from the rest of her brood is already foreshadowed, even further enhanced by the soft photography and shallow focus of the shot. She is being handed a gift, but later in the film, she describes the experience of struggling with Alzheimer’s disease as mastering the art of losing. There are conversations going on around her and she is unable to connect properly at that moment. For a seemingly simple introduction, it is packed with nuances like these that telegraph the heartbreaking fate of her character.
Rosamund Pike as Amy Elliott Dune in GONE GIRL
Directed by David Fincher / Written by Gillian Flynn
First shot of the film. A medium closeup of Amy’s head and her icy blonde hair while her husband gently runs his fingers through it. His voiceover: “I picture cracking her lovely skull, unspooling her brain, trying to get answers.” She turns her head, facing the camera while looking off-camera. He concludes: “What have we done to each other?”.
Amy’s cryptic nature as a character is set up by putting the perspective of her introduction through her husband. With seemingly threatening words heard while Pike’s icy face is plastered in a closeup, director David Fincher and writer Gillian Flynn devise an intentional ploy that would lay the groundwork for the thorniness of their relationship. This isn’t just narrative deceit, but even the register on Pike’s face goes beyond easy categorization. Who is the threat in this situation: the husband or the wife? It’s an ominous introduction that forces you to question both of them.
Reese Witherspoon as Cheryl Strayed in WILD
Directed by Jean-Marc Vallée / Written by Nick Hornby
A mountainous scenery. A woman panting. And then: she puts her shoe down on the ground. Cheryl sits down and removes her right sock. She removes the nail of one of her toes. She screams in pain. The shoe falls off the cliff. After a moment of disbelief, she throws the other shoe and then screams in frustration and rage.
The film not only introduces us to Cheryl’s state as a person, but its audiovisual form itself lends to a more sensorial understanding of her disposition. The woman's entrance disrupts the mountains' peace, with her wounds and blisters serving as the physical manifestation of the deep-seated pains that she is carrying in this journey. Through Jean-Marc Vallée’s intentionally jarring editing, we are introduced to the pieces of the woman that Cheryl is. Images clash, colors too, but the overarching emotion is clear. Weighed down largely by emotional trauma, the blunt force of montage that succeeds her scream is almost feral, a visceral release of pent-up emotion that necessitated such a moment. As for Witherspoon, the fact that her performance starts in this note declares that for the rest of Wild, there is a volatility to Cheryl that is soon about to reach a breaking point.
Any other observations from these introductions? Whose introduction was your favorite? Let us know in the comments.
Reader Comments (11)
I think that GONE GIRL opening is pretty unbeatable, even if I strongly prefer Cotillard and even Moore's performance.
I mean it doesn't get better for beginnings than how Gone Girl introduces Rosamund Pike's Amazing Amy.
I used to not think much of this lineup but now a decade removed I am much more a fan of the majority of these performances (besides one in Jones that I just don't care for both performance and actor).
I have watched Gone Girl countless times as I find it a thrill to watch every time and with each viewing I grow more fond of Pike's performance.
The other three are unquestionably great and all would've made brilliant winner choices. I was so happy and continue to be that Moore won this Oscar cause clearly what is evident before and after is that this was her moment and that basic awards voters just don't care for the brilliance of Julianne Moore as I and other fans do.
I'll never complain about this win and believe the film is much stronger than the credit it sort've gets
Moore is the easy winner for me in this group closely followed by Reese and I just wish Cotillard had been nominated for The Immigrant.
I found TTOE to be a total slog and Redmayne laughably unconvincing.
Pike's performance falls apart the moment the film starts,this english rose is miscast as an all American girl,the film for my taste never recovers from this fatal flaw,I found Coon and Dickens much more interesting,i could've watched a film about those 2 rather than spend 2 hrs with the unlikeable leads..
Gone Girl gets better with each viewing and so does Pike's performance. If Moore hadn't been so overdue, I think Rosamund could've easily sneaked in a win. It's a ferocious performance that reveals more and more layers with each watch. Every time this film comes on TV, I will watch it. For people who haven't seen it, it's a great first time watch.
For me,
1. Rosamund Pike-Gone Girl
2. Marion Cotillard-Two Days, One Night
3. Reese Witherspoon-Wild
4. Felicity Jones-The Theory of Everything
5. Julianne Moore-Still Allice.
I remember that year, and the 5 nominees being compared to the Spice Girls ^^
Ginger : Julianne
Baby : Felicity
Sporty : Reese
Posh : Marion
Scary : Rosamund
1. Pike
2. Cotillard
3. Moore
All 3 amazing performances, all worthy winners.
4. Jones
5. Witherspoon
Ugh.
I see all these comments praising Pike who i've loved in other stuff like An Education,Saltburn,A Private War etc but I don't get this performance at all,never have despite 3 rewatches.
Juan Carlos, I love this series that you do, always so fun.
And I also love this group of five, a very very very strong year overall. I think Marion Cotillard's performance in TWO DAYS is one of the best of this century so far, so lived-in and deep, textured but immediate, yet of course was thrilled to see Moore finally win, and win for a fantastic performance. But overall I think this quintet looks even better now than it did then.
My preference:
1. Cotillard
2. Jones
3. Moore
4. Witherspoon
5. Pike
Overall, a good filed, but Cotillard is clearly the best. Moore's career award for an unchallenging part she could play in her sleep is disappointing, but she was clearly overdue.
WILD is Witherspoon’s best ever performance. Her work in the final moments of that film is so transcendent, I’m crying now just thinking about it. WILD may actually be one of the most underrated movies of the 2010s for me.
I remember loving this entire field at the time, but I’ve since soured on Jones’s and Moore’s performances, though I’m happy Moore got her Oscar. Love Cotillard here, especially because it’s such a polar opposite performance from the one she won her Oscar for. Such a versatile actress.
But I really think I would have gone with Pike as the winner. An iconic performance and an iconic role in a film that (I think) has aged well. Someone said she was miscast as an English rose playing the all-American girl, but wasn’t that the whole plot of the movie? She was a wealthy, well-educated coastal elite having to play the midwestern wife? I thought the casting was brilliant.
My ranking:
God tier
1. Pike
2. Witherspoon
3. Cotillard
Great
4. Moore
Meh
5. Jones