The Final Conclusion - Best Actress 1976

1976

So the much anticipated ranking is:

5. Talia Shire in Rocky

I didn't exactly hate Talia Shire in Rocky, I was just never impressed by her work. She doesn't do much except for standing and being silent and she doesn't even do that in an expressive way. Apart from the nice, moving ending, there's nothing in her performance that's really memorable.

4. Marie-Chirstine Barrault in Cousin Cousine

I still ask myself the question: was this performance much of a strech? Probably not. Marthe's not a very complicated character but Marie-Christine Barrault did a great job playing her. Although she's far from amazing, there are no flaws in this performance and it serves its purpuse perfectly. It's very enjoyable work that I would love to rewatch any time.

3. Faye Dunaway in Network

Faye Dunaway is just fantastic as Diana Christensen, in my opinion. Although I would be a little bit hesitant to call her amazing, her greatness is undeniable. She nailed all the aspects of Diana, she turned this incredibly difficult character into gold. Truly memorable work by a great actress at her peak.

2. Liv Ullmann in Face to Face

Liv Ullmann, in short, is astonishing as Jenny Isaksson in Face to Face. Liv shows such depths of this character that it becomes a very disturbing, frightening experience for the viewer. Although it might be too much for some, nothing can stop me from saying that Liv is just unbelievable as Jenny. Truly unforgettable work by a brilliant actress.

 

1. Sissy Spacek in Carrie

I can confidently say that Sissy Spacek's performance as Carrie White is worthy of its iconic status. Not only is it creepy horror acting but something much more frightening. We get to experience so much frustration and fear and Sissy displays these emotions perfectly. Chilling, wonderful, beautiful performance.

So I can proudly announce

the winner is...

Sissy Spacek

in

Carrie

What's the problem?
 

Final thoughts: A very enjoyable year. I'm not saying it's the best ever but it offered some really great performances. The Top 3 is masterclass, Barrault is very good, Shire is the weakest link for me. She just didn't belong to this category. Choosing between the fantastic Liv and the wonderful Sissy was just so difficult. I noticed a certain pattern: whenever Sissy is close to being my pick, she fights a fierce battle with another actress (that was with 1980 and 2001) for my vote. I mean does it count that a performance is more iconic and popular than the other? Does screentime matter? In the end it came down to which performance I liked more and who sticks in my memory more (what a surprise).

Congrats to Fritz and Anonymous (who said good things about my design, next time please leave a name :D)! You can pick an available year both (or any other where you can give me access to all of the movies): 1933, 1953, 1956, 1967, 1968, 1971, 1982, 1985, 1988, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1999, 2000, 2004, 2007, 2008

Omission: Mari Törőcsik in Mrs. Dery, Where Are You? *My pick*

About the next year: Since this one is going to be my 40th year, I want to make it special so it's going to be a total surprise. After that it's 1995 as Louis requested.

What do you think? Any thoughts on your mind?

Sissy Spacek in Carrie

Sissy Spacek received her first Best Actress nomination for playing the title role of Carrie, a young abused girl who possesses very strange and terrifying powers. Although this is a classic performance, I don't think that Sissy's nomination was that easy. She wasn't nominated for a Golden Globe, she was too young and not big enough for an Oscar win. However, talent does get recognised every once in a while even at the Oscars and thank God they nominated Sissy. Without this, there would be no Coal Miner's Daughter, Missing, In the Bedroom and so on. It's great that she finally got the recognition that not many others deserve more. I feel the Academy must have been fond of this work and she was probably third that year after Liv Ullmann.

Carrie is a good, quite creepy horror. I've seen scarier movies but it's quite good anyway. Brian de Palma's direction is quite great and the technical part of the movie is also excellent. Some of the performances are quite weak (Carrie's schoolmates for example) but there are two standout achievements here. One of them is Piper Laurie as Carrie's religious fanatic mother. Her performance is really frightening but I'm not sure if I would give her the Oscar win (I still can't decide with this field).

As I have said many times, Sissy Spacek is a damn brilliant actress who (as I've seen more of her) has a steady place in my Top 10. She is a real chameleon and could play anything, in my humble opinion. I'm really hoping that she will get a fantastic leading role in which she can shine as much as she deserves to (Why the hell are they giving Meryl August: Osage Country? Sissy would be way better!!!). Although she showed her undeniable talent alongside Martin Sheen in Badlands, it was Carrie that brought her the recognition. At the age of 27 (very much like in Badlands) she played a younger character and yet she just seems to be the perfect choice for both role.

When Mo'Nique was talking about her big confrontation scene in Precious, she mentioned feeling unloveable and being at dark places which helped her create that intense scene. With Sissy Spacek, Carrie is a very long such sequence. In each and every frame of Carrie, we can feel Carrie's desperation and insecurity. We get to see things that we ourselves lived, too but hopefully to a lesser extent. Everybody feels an outsider sometimes and that's what Sissy showed us in her Carrie performance: how traumatizing it is not to be able to fit in.

Carrie opens with a scene where the girls are playing volleyball and Carrie is just standing there, being clumsy and not being able play well (or play at all). The sheer frustration and shame on her face when she's being shouted at is just unforgettable and brilliantly played by Sissy Spacek.

However, Carrie's life gets even worse and worse. During the opening titles, we see her having a shower. Everything seems to be perfect and pleasant and yet, gradually, things become much more sinister. We get to see Carrie bleeding and being terrified and hyterical about it. Moreover, even her stupid classmates keep bullying her. You just want to help Carrie and make her feel better.

Sissy's scenes with Piper Laurie are simply amazing, especially the one with the famous line "Eve was weak". Carrie only wants to be just like everyone else and her mother is the ultimate obstacle. Even if her schoolmates accepted her, her mother wouldn't let her live such a "sinful" life. The scene where Carrie is invited to the prom after all is brilliantly acted by Sissy: you can see so much happiness and yet she's so scared. And the way she fights her mother is just so great.

Although for me these are the best scenes, Sissy solves the horror part excellently, too. She can be incredibly frightening, especially when we get to see what power she has. First, it's nothing really serious but it becomes something much more shocking that brings us to the famous ending where Sissy is just unbelievable. Somehow I felt incredibly sorry for Carrie while she was killing those people. Her devastation which turns into anger is so incredibly rel that one can almost touch it. Again we get back to bullying: Sissy also underlines the horrible sufferinf and torture of Carrie but she's never too much in your face. She makes you put the pieces together after thinking everything over.

I can confidently say that Sissy Spacek's performance as Carrie White is worthy of its iconic status. Not only is it creepy horror acting but something much more frightening. We get to experience so much frustration and fear and Sissy displays these emotions perfectly. Chilling, wonderful, beautiful performance.

What do you think?

Talia Shire in Rocky

Talia Shire received her second Oscar nomination for playing Adrian, the girlfriend of Rocky, the boxer in the Best Picture winner Rocky. Many say that had she been campaigned in supporting, she would have won the Oscar. Well, I am not so sure. In the leading category she was probably fourth because of the popularity of Rocky and I think in supporting she would have been like second or third. She would have had a better chance there as she would not have had to compete against juggernauts like Faye Dunaway or Liv Ullmann. I mean there was no way she was winning.

In my opinion, Rocky is not as bad as many people say. I feel most of its bad reputation comes from the fact that it won the Oscar over classics like Taxi Driver, All the President's Men and Network (which is indeed ridiculous). It's kind of hard to believe that once Sylvester Stallone was a serious contender for a Best Actor Oscar (truth to be told, he's a much better actor than most of the other action movie stars). The Best Supporting Actor field of 1976 was arguably the worst one ever. I mean what the hell was going on? I'm not saying that Burt Young and Burgess Meredith were bad but a nomination? NO! Although he hardly impressed me, Laurence Olivier remains my pick.

Talia Shire is an actress that I cannot say many good things about as I don't have much knowledge about her movies but I'm quite sure that he had a lot to thank to his brother, Francis Ford Coppola. From what I saw from her, she never really impress me though I never thought that she was bad at all. As a result of this, I was kind of excited to rewatch Rocky to find out if I agree with the haters of this performance. Although I didn't hate her as Adrian, I don't think that this was a really outstanding work.

Most people argue that Shire is really supporting in this movie and I'd have to agree. Some compare her case to Valerie Perrine's in Lenny but personally I don't think that there are many resemblances between them. First of all, Valerie Perrine was excellent in Lenny and she really stood out despite the somewhat limited time. However, Talia Shire doesn't leave that kind of impression on the viewer. Mostly, she's just there, being silent or smiling at Rocky. This role isn't much of a strech, in my opinion.

However, what can you expect from a role written by Slyvester Stallone. He's not a natural born writer to say the least. Adrian's character has not much depth whatsoever in the script. You can leave her character out of the story and you get the totally same movie. Did Talia Shire had any chance of being outstanding in this part? In all fairness, she did. Had she pushed a little harder and tried to make Adrian a little bit more interesting. In fact, I might even have to say that she had much more to work with than I initially thought. She didn't do much with the fact that Adrian was a shy single girl, always taking care of her brother. Apart from one loud scene, this part of Adrian (which is the most interesting to me) is not present even though Shire could have underlined it. And I'm not saying that the scene is bad (though it's much more over-the-top than it should have been, such a loud outburst doesn't seem to fit Adrian's character).

Moreover, she's not that effective as the supportive girlfriend, either. Again, she's too much in the background and she doesn't get (or doesn't even ask for) more space and opportunities. There's some chemistry between Shire and Stallone but none of their scenes are truly great and they become lovely mostly because of the clumsy behavior of Rocky. Stallone (surprisingly) adds much more to their scenes than Shire. He makes their scenes quite human and a bit lame just like it had to be, whil Shire is really just standing there and doesn't do much to pay attention to her. In fact, that applies to her whole performance. Had she not been nominated for an Oscar, this performance would have been totally overlooked and forgotten (at least by me).

Still, I didn't exactly hate Talia Shire in Rocky, I was just never impressed by her work. She doesn't do much except for standing and being silent and she doesn't even do that in an expressive way. Apart from the nice, moving ending, there's nothing in her performance that's really memorable.

What do you think?

Liv Ullmann in Face to Face

Liv Ullmann received her second Best Actress nomination for playing Dr. Jenny Isaksson, a psychiatrist who's having a really ugly nervous breakdown. In my opinion, Liv Ullmann's Oscar win was a really near miss. She was obviously the critics' favorite that year, she had lots of sympathy because of her infamous Scenes from a Marriage snub. Many people expected her to win the Oscar, actually, she was the real front-runner of the race. I guess there were two reasons why she probably lost. First, that awful foreign language factor (which is a shame, if you ask me) plus the Hollywood superstar Faye Dunaway starred in a movie that the Academy was gaga over. If you ask me, it's a real shame that Liv doesn't have an Oscar.

Now I am going to be 100% honest. Ingmar Bergman was/is the best director on this planet, in my humble opinion. However, for me Face to Face (despite its success at the Oscars) is one of his lesser works. There we go, I said it. I love depressing movies but this one is a bit too much. I mean, Bergman went beyond a certain point that he never should have crossed. That being said, it's still a pretty great film, it's just not as brilliant as some of Bergman's other works. It tells the story of Jenny's nervous breakdown in a very disturbing way and I don't think that it's an enjoyable piece for the viewer.

However, the movie depends on the always fantastic Liv Ullmann. What can you expect from the actress who gave the world Persona's Elisabeth Vogler, Autumn Sonata's Eva, Marianne of Scenes from a Marriage and other unforgettable characters? Nobody (and by that I really mean nobody) is/was able to suffer on the screen quite like Liv. She dives so deep inside pain and humility and as a result her performances become incredibly disturbing. Whenever she's on the screen, the charming real-life Liv disappears and her presence becomes incredibly brutal.

In her autobiographical book called Changing, Liv describes the journey of getting to know Jenny and also herself. We get to see there how stressful and difficult this part was for her (much more than we would think watching Liv in this movie). She says that Ingmar Bergman wrote the part of Jenny with her in his mind. Nobody is able to play this character the way Liv did it. It's just impossible to imitate her almost torturing acting style.

Whenever I see a very unpleasant performance, I always feel as if plasters were removed from my skin. However, while watching Liv Ullmann in Face to Face, I felt as if somebody opened up some my wounds and spilled hot acid on them. It's almost unbearable to watch Jenny going through her very painful journey. Liv covers such a wide variety of emotions that it's almost impossible to sense them for the first time.

We get to know Jenny as a very confident and content woman who's also very distant. She's very kind to everybody and yet I could always feel how cold she really is. It's incredible how Liv gradually added more and more disturbing depth to this character. Jenny's dreams are incredibly disturbing and that's mostly because of Liv's ghostlike, haunting presence. We get to see horrifying depth of a human being and it's just astonishing how much Liv understood this character.

In the effect of this performance it's very much like Sissy Spacek in In the Bedroom. They plant a tiny thought in your brain, which starts to grow and grow and eventually, it becomes incredibly haunting and disturbing. You're blown away not while watching them but way after them when you really think. And then it's just all unbelievably great.

Although Jenny's dreams are the most distrubing sequences of the movie, the parts with Erland Josephson are equally brilliant. The highlight of Liv's whole performance is a 10-minute-long breakdown where she remembers some horrible experiences. The way she switches to one memory to the other is just fantastic. Liv shows so many emotions and the horrifying mental state of Jenny. Liv gets so deep into the characters mind and she inhabits her character so brilliantly that I can't help wondering if it was actually Liv breaking down in front of the camera. I was so perplexed and terrified sometimes that I just started to laugh at the character. She disturbed me so much with her acting that I can't really describe my confusion. I can see why some might be distracted by this performance: the character has so many layers and the whole thing makes you feel very uncomfortable. And probably nobody really wants to watch this movie more than once.

Liv Ullmann, in short, is astonishing as Jenny Isaksson in Face to Face. Liv shows such depths of this character that it becomes a very disturbing, frightening experience for the viewer. Although it might be too much for some, nothing can stop me from saying that Liv is just unbelievable as Jenny. Truly unforgettable work by a brilliant actress.

What do you think?

Marie-Christine Barrault in Cousin Cousine

Marie-Christine Barrault received her only Oscar nomination to date for playing Marthe, an unhappily married woman who find happiness on the side of her cousin by marriage. Barrault's nomination is kind of a miracle to say the least. I mean, how the hell did she get nominated? I don't see a reason. She didn't have a showy, stylish foreign-language performance that usually get nominated, she wasn't an international superstar plus she wasn't even nominated for a César. The years ending with a 6 have usually quite unusual Best Actress fields (1966, 1976, 1986, 1996). So in Barrault's case it was more than true that it's an honor just to be nominated.

Cousin Cousine is a very entertaining lightweight French movie. It's really not something for the ages but as I said it's very amusing from the beginning to the end. It doesn't make you laugh very often but it keeps a smile on your face. I'm not sure if it deserved its Best Foreign Language Film nomination but why not. It's really not an Oscar movie to say the least. It follows two people living in bad marriages who meet at a wedding and fall in love gradually. The actors give very entertaining and strong performances. Nobody is amazing but I have to mention Marie-France Pisier who was the standout of the supporting cast. She's really funny.

I'd like to give an opinion about Marie-Christine Barrault but I really can't say anything about her talent and works. Cousin Cousine was the first movie I saw her in so I can only form an opinion about her based on this performance alone. From what I saw, she's a very charming actress but I just can't imagine her in a heavy drama. However, she wasn't required to do anything serious in Cousin Cousine. Her task was bascially to be as charming and loveable as possible and she succeeded.

Again, this nomination is sort of shocking because of the unspectacular character AND performance. Barrault's character Marthe is not a very complicated person, she doesn't have to go through some big changes (though she doesn change a bit) and she's not always at the centre of the movie. Moreover, Barrault is not the real standout here. Is there still something to love about her? Surprisingly, quite much.

We first see marthe at her mother's wedding and she seems to be just a really nice person. Somehow, Barrault radiates so much charm and loveliness and it's always pure joy just to look at her. She was the perfect choice to play Marthe. Acting-wise, she doesn't have to do much and yet there's something utterly irresistable and lovely about her which still continues to impress me. I especially loved her towards the middle of the movie where we saw scenes of Marthe's affair. Actually, these are the scenes where Barrault adds some depth to her character. The scenes with Victor Lanoux and Marie-Christine Barrault are just excellent. They have a very unusual but wonderful chemistry and they are the perfect couple in their imperfection. They seem to be like children playing at the playground. They are throwing each other some balls and they never fail to catch them. Their happiness made me feel so good while watching the feel. I haven't seen adultery shown in such a loveable way. If I think about it, it comes to my mind that they actually cheat on their spouses and yet it's far from scandalous and offensive.

My favorite scene in the whole film was when Marthe and Ludovic (her lover) are talking about their previous experiences with adultery. Both actors excel there. Barrault and Lanoux let me inside the heads of their loveable characters and they seemed so human. I guess that's what got the attention of the Academy members. Barrault made Marthe's character so loveable and ordinary and yet very interesting. There was real depth there and it was actually quite touching to see Marthe talk about he previous affair with a guy from the office in a casual and yet quite bitter way.

I still ask myself the question: was this performance much of a strech? Probably not. Marthe's not a very complicated character but Marie-Christine Barrault did a great job playing her. Although she's far from amazing, there are no flaws in this performance and it serves its purpuse perfectly. It's very enjoyable work that I would love to rewatch any time.

What do you think?

Faye Dunaway in Network

Faye Dunaway received her third Best Actress nomination and only Oscar to date for playing Diana Christensen, a "heartless young woman"in the Best Picture nominated movie Network. Although nowadays it seems like an easy win, Faye Dunaway wasn't the overwhelming front-runner for the Best Actress award. In fact, according to some sources, Liv Ullmann was the favorite to win (also because of the Scenes from a Marriage controversy). Even Faye seemed to be very surprised as she said in her speech that she didn't expect to win. However, if we look at the race, this win seems to be so obvious. She was the only true Hollywood star of the bunch and it was a real Best Actress crowning moment.

Network is a pretty great film. It's kind of shaky sometimes and the storyline with the communist group is a bit useless and pointless. Still, it's excellently written by Paddy Chayefsky (deserved Oscar for him) and directed by Sidney Lumet (a deserved nomination). The story is very interesting and kind of depressing as you are faced with the horrible power of television. The movie is highly critical of this phenomenon. I wonder how this movie would be nowadays. The actors are great in their parts though I must say that everyone was a bit too much. They got difficult part and unfortunately nobody was able to avoid overacting.

The one who succeeded the most, in my opinion, is Faye Dunaway, the big star of the 1970s. Honestly, I can't imagine a better choice for this part. Her nervous persona totally fits the character and she's a damn beautiful, seductive woman and that added a lot to this part. If I picture other actresses in this part. Nobody could match over-the-topness with a certain distance like Faye Dunaway and nobody is able to create a more disturbing and chaotic atmosphere than her. Yes, she can be very unpleasant on the screen and that's probably why Mommie Dearest was such a flop (no, I haven't seen it yet, I'm just speculating. :D)

Diana is a ruthless, "cut the bullshit" type of woman who's not very good at being a good human being but she's damn great at her job. She represents the pushy, overachiever generation in this movie who gradually the honest old folks. Nowadays, if you would take a look at Diana's Facebook page, next to favorite quotations you would see: "All I want out of life is a 30 share and and a 20 rating." If I think about it, Diana is kind of a cliché but I felt that was the whole point about this movie. We saw people like her so many times but I think nobody was better in such a part than Faye.

Paddy Chayefsky wrote some really great parts for actors but they were all so incredibly difficult, especially the lines. One wrong step and it's all gone. As I said, everyone fell into the trap of overacting in this movie, except for Faye who had the most difficult job to do. Everything was working against her and her task was to make us hate Diana and yet we have to feel pity for her. Another tough thing was that she didn't have as much screentime as such hard role would normally require. She really had to concentrate all her talent into the scenes and if I'm totally honest, she didn't always make it. It's not her fault but sometimes she was a bit overshadowed by the other loud scenes with Peter Finch or the marital problems of William Holden.

Still, Faye was able to get a lot out of this character and personally, I was totally blown away by some of the scenes. The first one that really stuck in my mind is the one where she tells her lover to stop kissing her because she had to concentrate on the screen. An excellent moment in it weirdness. Another memorable sequence is where she watches Howard Beale breaking down on live television while eating a sandwich. Faye really nailed the irony of these moments and it was just wonderful to see her whenever she was on the screen.

However, her famous breakup scene blows the others away. That was once again incredibly hard to do but she totally nailed it (and outdid William Holden, in my humble opinion). The way she switched from being loud to being broken-down and silent is just brilliant and unforgettable. She runs through a wide range of emotions and she's a real treat to watch as a result.

Faye Dunaway is just fantastic as Diana Christensen, in my opinion. Although I would be a little bit hesitant to call her amazing, her greatness is undeniable. She nailed all the aspects of Diana, she turned this incredibly difficult character into gold. Truly memorable work by a great actress at her peak.

What do you think?

The Next Year

1976

So the nominees were:

• Marie-Christine Barrault in Cousin Cousine
• Faye Dunaway in Network
• Talia Shire in Rocky
• Sissy Spacek in Carrie
• Liv Ullmann in Face to Face

A three-way race to many, we'll see how these ladies will do with me. :)

What do you think? What's your ranking? What's your prediction for my ranking?