The Final Conclusion - Best Actress 1961

1961

So the much anticipated ranking is:

5. Geraldine Page in Summer and Smoke

I don't think that this performance of Geraldine Page is all that special. I mean, she's plays the part properly and she has lots of great moments but altogether, she's far from brilliant. Apart from the beginning, she played Alma just like she had to and she put on very decent work that could be expected from an actress of her calibre. However, she's not as amazing as some say.

4. Piper Laurie in The Hustler

This is not a performance for the ages but Piper Laurie is very good as Sarah in The Hustler. Although sometimes she's too overshadowed by Paul Newman, her work never loses its strength and occasionally, we see truly brilliant, unforgettable scenes. Her achievement is very evenly great and therefore she deserves some praise.

3. Natalie Wood in Splendor in the Grass

Natalie Wood took on a very difficult role and despite some early mistake, she put on a wonderful performance as Deanie Loomis. She portrayed all the fears and the tension so realistically and exceptionally that she became a truly luminous presence on the screen. She develops the character excellently, avoiding all the traps and obviousness that could have ruined her work.

2. Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany's

It really must be my sentimental side that came to surface while I was watching this movie but I couldn't care less. I understand why some could criticise it but for me, Audrey Hepburn's work as Holly Golightly in Breakfast at Tiffany's is deservedly one of the most iconic performances of all time. Not only has Audrey Hepburn created an unforgettable character, but also some marvellous acting.

1. Sophia Loren in Two Women

I know I should sum up his performance somehow but I feel that my whole review was the shortened version of how I feel about her. Nothing can come close to this wonderful emotionality, the radiant, brilliant personality of Sophia Loren (none of the Hollywood stars of her time can come close to her). This watch of the movie and my review was the ultimate test of my love for this performance and it passed. With distinction. :)

So I can proudly announce

the winner is...

Sophia Loren

in

Two Women

Easy win.

Congratulations to Fritz and Louis on the correct predictions! :) You got a prize but since you got it right only after 4 reviews you can both pick only from these 10 possibilities: 1943, 1953, 1962, 1967, 1968, 1976, 1982, 1985, 1988, 1999.

Final thoughts: BRILLIANT year! I so loved this year. All of them interesting, strong performances. Two very good ones, one really great and two legendary ones. I'm happy that I had to opportunity to do this wonderful year. I feel bad about not picking Audrey (so far, she's my best one not to win, I refuse to say loser) as that performance was worthy of an Oscar. However, no tie was possible. This award belonged to Sophia alone and the Academy somehow (what a miracle) realised that. So I've agreed with the Academy 3 years in a row. :)

Omissions: Jeanne Moreau in La Notte

About the next year: It's no secret that it will be 1992. :)

What do you think?

Sophia Loren in Two Women

Sophia Loren received her first Academy Award nomination and only competitive Oscar to date for playing Cesira, a young Italian widow, who's trying to survive the horrors of WWII along with her daughter in Two Women. Sophia Loren basically won every award for this performance of hers, except for the Golden Globe for which she wasn't even nominated (that's about the Hollywood Foreign Press Association). The 60s were such beautiful times when the Golden Globe winner for Best Actress in a Drama never won (I miss those days when there were surprise winners). I guess if this role had been in English it would have been a shoo-in for the win but thankfully, it won. If we think about it it could not have been any other way. I mean can anyone imagine Sophia Loren without an Oscar? Well, at least I can't.

Two Women is a fantastic movie, in my opinion. I guess this kind of Italian realism is not for everyone but I so love the purity it. There are small leftovers in Two Women from the neorealism (after all it was directed by the brilliant Vittorio de Sica) and it's such a wonderful, touching tale about real women. It's also really interesting to see Jean-Paul Belmondo at such an early age (he almost cannot be recognised).

However, Two Women as a title is a little bit misleading. To tell the truth, it's such a stupid translation (very much like the Hungarian title that says A Woman and her Daughter) as the original title means "the woman from Ciociara". And that says something very significant. It says that this story is mainly about one woman and that is Cesira, played by the wonderful, unforgettable, beautiful and talented Sophia Loren. There's a reason why this performance is considered legendary. It gives the essence of Sophia Loren's whole character and it sums up her career so brilliantly. Katharine Hepburn once said that always the right actors win Oscars, for the wrong roles. That's simply not the case with Sophia Loren. She's really the one who got the award for the performance of her lifetime. Before this, in Hollywood, Sophia Loren was considered the sexy, sensual Latin woman who's singing to Cary Grant's children. If you're looking for this Sophia Loren, you'll surely be surprised but not disappointed. I guess that's another reason that contributed to her win: this was such a stunning, shocking achievement that you would never expect from a sex symbol.

It's amazing to see how many faces of Cesira Sophia shows. She's playing with the emotions so confidently and yet she never gets self-satisfied. Obviously, she knows what she's doing but I never felt that she was as self-aware as her fellow nominee, Geraldine Page. While the technical part of the performance, the timing and such are all brilliant, it's the stunning emotions that are really memorable in this work. They range from pride to desperation, through fear, passion, anger, fury, happiness, grief, sorrow, worry and above all, love. Above all, this performance is a beautiful tribute to women's (especially mother's) love. How strong it can be and that it can survive anything and such. It sounds very cheesy but it's all there in Sophia's performance and it seems so natural. In my review of Penélope Cruz in Volver, I was raving about Cruz's ability to recreate the greatness and earthy strength of the women of the European cinema in the twentieth century. However, in Two Women, it's all present in its true, original form, without any irony. Sophia Loren walks on the street, you see her and you're just blown away by her presence. You instantly say "What a woman!".

This performance is much more than that, though. Loren's chemistry with Eleonora Brown (the girl who plays her daughter, Rosetta) is just excellent. You see them as mother and daughter and I alway believe that Cesira would really sacrifice her life for her. Sophia made this relationship so real and so close to the audience that it's really astonishing. The constant worry that we see on Sophia's face in each and every second is so heart-breaking. I knew that horrible things would happen to them and yet I was hoping just like she was hoping. The scene where she tries to collect as much food as possible is just unforgettable. And her small interactions with Jean-Paul Belmondo are utterly fantastic. There's so much tension between them and they make some of the best scenes in this film.

However, the parts that are really unforgettable (and in the worst way possible) are in the last 20 minutes of the movie. Cesira and her daughter are gang raped by soldiers in a church and it's an almost unbearable scene. Those screams, the fear in the eyes. Sophia is so brutally realistic there that I really had trouble trying to go on. After that, Cesira gets deeper and deeper into devastation. Her big monologue (which would be her Oscar clip if she was nominated now) where she attacks some soldiers is almost as terrifying as the rape scene. Sophia mercilessly shows all the effects of this horrible thing. That hysterical cry and the way she puts her hand on her face. Brilliant, heart-breaking, unforgettable. And so are the last seconds of film where we see a broken, devastated and yet somehow hoping Cesira. I identified with Cesira's emotions so much that I totally forgot everything. It was just her, not me. It's chilling to see her tears rolling. So perfect, so natural and so tragic. And the best thing is that Sophia always remains beautiful. It's not a deglam role. Her radiant beauty (which comes from her personality, above all) shines through the screen and matched with her wonderful acting, they make up a cathartic experience. Unbelievable.

I know I should sum up his performance somehow but I feel that this whole review was the shortened version of how I feel about her. Nothing can come close to this wonderful emotionality, the radiant, brilliant personality of Sophia Loren (none of the Hollywood stars of her time can come close to her). This watch of the movie and my review was the ultimate test of my love for this performance and it passed. With distinction. :)

Again, the rating is so useless but the system should work.

What do you think?

The Next Year

1961

So the nominees were:

• Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany's
• Piper Laurie in The Hustler
• Sophia Loren in Two Women
• Geraldine Page in Summer and Smoke
• Natalie Wood in Splendor in the Grass

Sophia Loren made history in 1961 by becoming the first actress to win for an entirely foreign language-speaking performance. Will she be my winner, too or will I pick one of the other incredible ladies?

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

The Final Conclusion - Best Actress 1964

1964

So the much anticipated ranking is:

5. Debbie Reynolds in The Unsinkable Molly Brown

I can say that I got what I expected, a standard 60s musical performance from Debbie Reynolds. Although this work is really mixed and uneven, there are some scenes to admire or at least like about it. It's nothing mindblowing or ground-breaking but it did not bother me that much, so I don't feel bad about it.

4. Sophia Loren in Marriage Italian Style

This is a great performance by the magnificent Sophia Loren, which may not be her career best but it's still very good work. Although there are amazing scenes in this work, the really common comedy scenes drag Sophia's performance down. She's still wonderful but she could have been once again mindblowingly brilliant.

3. Kim Stanley in Seance on a Wet Afternoon

This performance is also extremely hard to judge. It's full of fantastic scenes and it's overall effect is just brilliant and just like with Bancroft, I am not really sure what I am going to think about her. However, I just cannot overlook that Kim Stanley was able to put on a chilling and unforgettable performance as Myra Savage.

2. Anne Bancroft in The Pumpkin Eater

This is an incredibly hard performance to judge. Anne chose all the difficult and risky ways with her character but she succeeded and she was able to put on a shocking, perplexing and terrying character study of a woman who has serious problems in her life.

1. Julie Andrews in Mary Poppins

It's a great achievement and it's no wonder that it became an iconic performance among children. Because if you really want to see the wonders of this role, you must loose yourself and (and just like Banks) become a child again for two hours. I may be alone with this but I think that this is fantastic work.

So I can proudly announce

that my winner is...

Julie Andrews

in

Mary Poppins

Julie is preparing to accept this award... :)

Final thoughts: A superb year but the performances were all so difficult to rate. My reaction to Julie Andrews was just as shocking to me as it was to you. Loren was great as expected, Bancroft was the most difficult to rate ever but now there are small problems that occured. I knew that Reynolds would suck and I loved Stanley when I first saw her, she was in a Bryan Forbes movie, so there was no surprise about her. However, after all Julie Andrews was a clear cut winner despite some tough competition from Kim Stanley. I think many of you think I'm crazy but I was truly captivated by Julie's performance and its mysteriousness.

Omissions: 

• Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady (she was way better than Debbie Reynolds)

About the next year: I couldn't decide between two (consecutive) years. Both are said to be quite weak and yet I'm so interested in both of them. Plus they are from the decade I've been ignoring for a while. However, I've chosen the second year as I've seen only one of the nominees and I love when I have new performances to discover. The clues (quite easy ones):

• (L) Nuns (L)
• (L) Soaps (L)
• Viva Italia!

What do you think?

Off-topic: I saw 127 Hours yesterday. It was BRILLIANT and would have deserved Best Picture (tied with Black Swan), Actor, Editing and Song. You lose a lot if you don't watch it in a movie theater (fantastic cinematogrpahy BTW and a directing that should have WON and it wasn't even nominated).

Sophia Loren in Marriage Italian Style

Sophia Loren received her second Best Actress nomination (and last to date) for playing Donna Filumena, a kept woman in Marriage Italian Style. Sophia really did not have much chance of winning the Oscar, I think. She had already won (and made history as the first actor winning for a foreign language performance), plus this was another role in an Italian movie. Sophia has always been a great star but I don't really think that it helped her chances considerably that time.

Marriage Italian Style is quite a mediocre movie, in my humble opinion. The last time I saw an Italian movie whose title ended with Italian Style (Divorce Italian Style), I was really entertained and I had a wonderful experience. In addition, I saw a fabulous, unforgettable performance by the fantastic Marcello Mastroianni. Here it is really not the case. Mastroianni is almost sleepwalking through this movie and one would expect much more (in general) from a Vittorio de Sica movie. I mean he directed Bicyle Thieves and Two Women. Marriage Italian Style was a real disappointment for me. Probably I expected too much.

Sophia Loren is, however, wonderful as usual. Of course, this is not her best performance (Two Women is unbeatable, I think and A Special Day is also brilliant) but I did not expect that. I wanted to get something really entertaining and moving from her, which I got. Therefore, she became the only thing about this movie that did not disappoint. It's no wonder, though. Sophia's talent is so great and it shines through even the weakest material. Of course, she's neither a very technical, I dare say calculating actress like Meryl Streep nor a highly emotional (and a bit over-the-top) one like Anna Magnani. Sophia falls somewhere between them, more leaning towards Magnani. However, identifying Sophia's talent is so hard. She's someone who's a natural talent and who would give the exact same, fantastic performances without any acting lessons.

The role of Donna Filumena wasn't really much of a strech for her, I think. Sophia has always been the best at playing earthy and a bit repressed Italian women who have occasional outbursts. Somehow, she makes them so attractive and loveable to us. The essence of this character is given in this movie. When Filumena is walking on the streets, the men and boys are looking at her and she moves her bottom in a very "Sophia" way and starts dancing (this is something that Penélope Cruz cannot copy despite trying desperately, she shouldn't). It's such an instantly likeable sequence, it's just impossible to resist her afterwards. I must say, though, that Sophia totally won me over in the beginning where the seventeen-year-old, scared Filumena looks at Don Domenico during the bombing. The look on Sophia's face is totally ingrained in my memory. It's such a small nuance but it was the real highlight of her performance, I think.

Sophia fantastically showed the toughness of Filumena but she let us know a much warmer and loving side of her, which really made her a sympathetic character. Her reminiscing about her children is so moving, I might even say heartwrenching. Her embarassed face is unforgettable in the scene when she looks at her sick son and she cannot do much about him. Her quiet desperation and final relief is just astonishing to look at. Afterwards (as Filumena has three illegitimate children), she visits the other two children and that's another adorable, luminous scene of Sophia. The role of the mother fits Sophia so thrillingly that if the movie had only been about Filumena's relationship with her sons, it would have been a cathartic masterpiece, much like Mamma Roma (with Magnani).

It's not a coincidence that I haven't talked about her scenes with Marcello. To tell the truth, it's him and his storyline that brings Sophia's performance down. Whenever I see the usual "Italian" fight between these two people, I think "I've seen this before, come on, I want something new, I know you could do better". Those scenes were intended to be hilarious but they did not convince me at all. The screenplay did not give many opportunities to them and I felt that it relied too much on the fact that this duo had been very successfuly together previously. The chemistry works here, too but there's no real sparkling there. When Sophia is there alone, she's just astonishing but when she's together with Mastroianni, the whole thing becomes a bit standard. Good, but standard. However, I must instantly add that Sophia looks once again incredibly great and her beauty is radiant.

So, to sum up, this is a great performance by the magnificent Sophia Loren, which may not be her career best but it's still very good work. Although there are amazing scenes in this work, the really common comedy scenes drag Sophia's performance down. She's still wonderful but she could have been once again mindblowingly brilliant. There was potential but the movie couldn't serve her performance well. Still, I'm very positive about her.

What do you think?

Note: First, I accidentally uploaded 4 Meryls but my original intention was 4,5 (this is a very strong 4,5, almost a 5 actually), so this is not a real change.

The Next Year

1964

So the nominees were:

• Julie Andrews in Mary Poppins
• Anne Bancroft in The Pumpkin Eater
• Sophia Loren in Marriage Italian Style
• Debbie Reynolds in The Unsinkable Molly Brown
• Kim Stanley in Seance on a Wet Afternoon

Wow, I know it's surprising that I'm going to do this year now but I just got The Pumpkin Eater and I haven't started reviewing 1991 (I can't resist), so I'm doing this year now and the first review comes next Friday (March 11th). I'm so excited about this year as I don't have a clue on who will get my vote. So interesting and it's rarely talked about besides Andrews.

What do you think? What are your predictions? What's your ranking?