This is a pretty interesting group. There are two foreign film nominees along with three recognizable names at various stages of their careers. It should make for some interesting watching for sure.
1976 Best Actress
Faye Dunaway - Network
Dunaway has a tough job of being the only really strong female presence in a film that is primarily all about men. It helps that Dunaway plays the head of programming like an actual man. She is very strong in this performance and it seems like she's quite at ease at portraying a female boss like she's a man. We first really see her when she calls some minions into her office to discuss ideas for some innovative programming and she is psyched up about her idea of a show ran by actual revolutionaries and showing them commit acts of terrorism on TV. At the end of the meeting she then threatens to fire them all for not reading a memo she sent out and you get she is no nonsense and means business. She seems to be purposefully written like a man and it works well only because Dunaway is able to deliver a performance worth watching. She is obsessed with getting her last place network to the top by any means necessary and that happens to include blood and guts and sex and violence and all these wild ideas. She knows the public wants to see real life depicted in easy to swallow entertainment nuggets. Dunaway's character latches onto making Beale into this prime time must see TV appointment with letting him go on air unfiltered, saying whatever he wants. But Dunaway makes what could easily be a one dimensional character into something compelling because she puts so much passion and zeal into getting these unorthodox shows onto the air. Now, my big issue with her character was the little relationship thing she has with William Holden's character that seemed forced and out of place. Less of that would have been for the better but it did allow for some of Dunaway's true character to shine through. During their lovemaking scene, Dunaway is getting more and more worked up while pitching ideas for shows as the two arrive back to a hotel or cabin or something and Holden says nothing the entire time as she gets more and more feverish and louder with her ideas and pitching. It's obviously meant to mirror actual sex with the show pitching being foreplay and the act itself before it comes to a conclusion with an idea that almost literally makes her finish. I thought Dunaway was superb in a scene that could have been laugh out loud ridiculous but actually made it feel real to who she was as a character. You can easily see this executive getting herself off to her own ideas. The whole thing is darkly satirical in nature as Dunaway is what would become what's wrong with the entertainment industry in the future. All of the reality TV and talking head shows where guests yell and scream at each other - all that crap, Dunaway is the embodiment of how that came to be. It's a good performance in a film where she could have easily been lost in the myriad of yelling and crazy characters. Plus it's a weak year for this category so she really stands out with a performance like this.
Marie-Christine Barrault - Cousin, Cousine
I don't really understand this nomination. Not just because it's from a French film, but because Barrault didn't have any other nominations anywhere. The film didn't play at Cannes, wasn't nominated for a Golden Globe, and she didn't even get nominated in the 1st Cesar Awards (the French Oscars). She had nothing yet here she is nominated for an Oscar for a film that is otherwise pretty basic. It's not dramatic and is more of a very slight kind of romantic comedy. Barrault doesn't even really particularly stand out. She plays a married woman who meets a man at a family wedding who is her cousin by marriage. The two hit it off with a very good friendship and both realize their spouses are awful cheaters who they don't really love. It's a weird little nothing film and while Barrault and her cousin have a very believable and lovely friendship that turns into more, it's not an amazing performance by any means. She's sweet and likable and cute but she certainly doesn't have to do anything considerable in the performance. And while the chemistry between the two leads is great, does that warrant a nomination? Of course not. For some reason this film was well liked by the Academy seeing as it got three total nominations and this smells like some small faction campaigning for the film hardcore to get it three noms. I don't know, it didn't deserve any of them, I don't think. I'm probably one of the few people to have watched this film in America after 1976 and that should tell you all you need to know.
Talia Shire - Rocky
I was really hoping that with the strong Best Picture year, we would have a strong Best Actress year, but it's not shaping up to be that way. I wanted to say this after seeing three of the five because I expected a whole lot more. Talia Shire got nominated for The Godfather Part II. She kinda represented that film on the female front. She does the same for Rocky. I think she is worse in her performance for this film than she is for The Godfather Part II. I say all that not to denigrate Talia, but to underscore that this is a pretty meh nomination. In fact, I feel like this is more of a Supporting nomination and doesn't deserve a Leading Actress designation. In the beginning of the film, she plays a very shy woman who wears a hat and glasses and is indistinguishable. She is nothing in the beginning of the film until Rocky starts to really fall for her. It's contrived, yes, but convenient for the plot. The two are together eventually but still Shire can't offer up anything worthwhile. She's a shy girl who has to break through an alcoholic brother only to be forgotten until Rocky is in the ring. She plays her role well but let's just call this what it is, a nomination from the popularity of the film. She doesn't do much and is much more of a supporting type of performance. She's too shy anyway to even make a difference for most people. She's more of the burgeoning inspiration here until she becomes the inspirational moment at then end of the second film. Anyway, Shire offers up a pretty basic role that isn't all that interesting.
Sissy Spacek - Carrie
Before I took on this project, I for some reason really disliked Sissy Spacek. I enjoyed her in Coal Miner's Daughter because I had seen that so much growing up, but just didn't like her maybe because she looks a little strange? Thankfully this project allowed me to see a bunch of her work, most of which has been great. I thought she should have won another Oscar for In the Bedroom, which she was riveting in. And really, I have been able to see how great of an actress she truly is and that's part of what I was looking for in this journey. Carrie was Spacek's first Oscar nomination and you can see the makings of a great actress here. I'll say straight away that the performance doesn't really do it for me as I'm not really a horror fan at all but there are things to like about Spacek here. We start off with the shower period scene where she has to be terrified and terrifying herself, scared that the blood she sees is because she's dying or something. It demands that mix of emotion and is made harder by the fact that she has to do it fully naked for all to see. She's good but also a little annoying in her shyness and naivete and young schoolgirl-ness. She's fine in those scenes but it doesn't stand out to me. Where Spacek really shines is when she has the blood dumped on her at prom and she instantly changes into this fierce demon woman thing. It's a complete 180 from earlier but feels completely natural and is acted almost perfectly. That shows Spacek's range and is a big part of why I think the Academy paid attention to her in a horror film. Spacek has a lot more to do in this film than I think initially meets the eye. I think the simple story betrays the amount of work she has to put it to make her character believable and not be a hot mess of a horror cliche. Spacek is very good even if the performance outside of her being the telekinetic badass doesn't quite do much for me. A good debut and a harbinger of things to come for Spacek.
Liv Ullmann - Face to Face
I did not like this film at all. It's an Ingmar Bergman film, a director that I've reviewed before. I enjoyed Autumn Sonata, as much as you can enjoy a depressing film, and I thought Liv Ullmann was better than Ingrid Bergman in that film, frankly. But this film is just not at all enjoyable. This is one of those films that critics love because it makes them seem worldly but is in fact not that amazing. So, this film follows Ullmann, who is a psychiatrist, and she goes through some trauma and then breaks down and has a psychotic break. It's dour and slow. It's a film that was first made as a 4-part TV series that was edited down to a theatrical release that was exhibited before the TV version. So a lot was probably lost in the transfer and the TV version has never been made available so all we have to judge Ullmann is this film. To me, this performance was all about the obvious acting. That's why I don't quite like it. Ullmann is straining to emote, especially in her breakdown scene and it just doesn't land with me. I wonder if this was an American film and Ullmann (or another actress) gave the same performance if we wouldn't be ridiculing it as a mess of a performance and just overall garbage. That's harsh, yes, but this performance seems to be more over the top and strained. I don't know what else I can say. Ullmann is fine as a doctor but doesn't show anything there and then gets worse when she actually starts to break down. I don't like it and you probably won't either. Bergman is a tough sell but I know Ullmann is better than that. I know all these meh reviews for the foreign acting nominees makes it seem like I really hate foreign films, but I really don't! It's just the Academy inexplicably chooses foreign performances that don't resonate with me and is never that actor's best work. I say this because there are a lot of foreign films that I love, it's just that they don't get nominated by the Academy except maybe in Best Foreign Film. So I can appreciate good work but haven't had much of that to praise lately for the foreign nominees, sadly.
What was interesting on face value ended up being not that interesting after it was all said and done. Shire comes in last place because it's not a very strong role. She does the sheltered and shy thing just fine but I need more than that from a Best Actress nominee. Stallone really dominates over the supporting characters and Shire doesn't get to be much more than just the girlfriend. Barrault is fine and really likable in her film, but it's not much more than just an affair relationship with her cousin by marriage. The two have great chemistry and make you challenge your thoughts on adultery but I need more than just a good romance for this category. Ullmann has a tougher role than Barrault and does what she can with being a psychiatrist who has a breakdown but it just doesn't land with me. I know she has done better work in a Bergman film before so I can't say this is as good as those other performances. I guess the Academy was just hungry for some international flavor this year and really went for it. Spacek gets her first nomination for a horror film and I liked parts of the role and feel she has great range as we know she does in future roles but there were parts that I wasn't into, also. Dunaway has one of the meatier roles and she dives right into full bore and gets to act like a man and clearly had fun with the role and was rewarded for that. It's good acting and Dunaway is the obvious winner. But this year did feel like a bit of let down. I always seem to say that and I know my hopes are always high and I probably demand too much from these nominees but I like what I like. I am always searching for that one year that completely wins me over and I know it'll come eventually.
Oscar Winner: Faye Dunaway - Network
My Winner: Faye Dunaway - Network
Sissy Spacek
Liv Ullmann
Marie-Christine Barrault
Talia Shire
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