The Final Conclusion - Best Actress 2006

2006

5. Kate Winslet in Little Children

This is a great performance by the great Kate Winslet but I just embrace her because the movie was between me and her. Kate shows Sarah's emotions extremely well and she has some mindblowingly great scenes and yet the whole thing becomes uneven because she's often gets a bit lost the movie itself. Great work but not as brilliant as I used to think.

 

4. Helen Mirren in The Queen

I must say that this is a great performance by the great Helen Mirren. As Queen Elizabeth II, Mirren was able to become very moving and effective. The technical part is just perfect though the emotions could have been a bit stronger. Although this work doesn't really live up to the hype that surrounded it when it was released, it's still very well done by Mirren.

3. Meryl Streep in The Devil Wears Prada

Meryl is fantastic all in all, the movie sometimes drags her performance down and I feel that she could have been given much more to work with. I still say that she's just excellent as Miranda Priestly, the merciless, vicious magazine editor but the movie prevented me from saying that I was totally blown away

2. Penélope Cruz in Volver

As I finished writing, I've become dead certain that Penélope Cruz gives her absolute best performance in Volver as Raimunda, a very complicated and tough woman. This is not only a beautiful achievement but also a tearjerking tribute to an acting style that has unfortunately died out in the last decades

1. Judi Dench in Notes on a Scandal

Judi Dench gives the best film performance of her career as Sheba Hart, a desperate, lonely woman who feels like she has some hope in her life at last. Dench is almost disturbingly perfect as Barbara Covett. Every line reading, every nuance, every movement is just great.

So I can proudly announce

that my winner is...

Judi Dench

in

Notes on a Scandal

She just read the news... :)

Final thoughts: Wow, a highly interesting year with quite an obvious winner, in my opinion. I feel quite bad for Penélope because out of sentimental reasons, she used to be my pick, but Judi cannot be ignored. Her Barbara commands every scene with her longing and despair. Tempted was I to make Meryl my pick but clearly, her performance is not on the same level as Penélope and Judi. Helen and Kate were the sour grapes, if I may say so but they seem decent choices on the Academy's part. With hindsight, it seems kind of surprising that Helen swept all the awards (actually, it's not that surprising).

About the next year: I want to make up for that last fiasco of mine with 1967, so I again let you decide from two. This time I only picked years where I got the movies in advance, so happy voting!

What do you think?

I wish you a happy Easter! :)