I've seen the winner a couple times and then not heard of any of the other films before this project. The rock opera should be fun, not sure about the others but we will see. I do like that this category offers up some unknown, different films than the others. I just hope they are worth being in the category.
1975 Best Actress
Louise Fletcher - One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
You know, I feel like most people who have seen the film realize why she won Best Actress and agree with the Academy. Yet it seems like no one ever talks about her when it comes to strong winners, or even just winners period. It's like it's understood by everyone so everyone just moves on from thinking about it. When you mention Nurse Ratched at all, everyone know who you are talking about. The name alone conjures up visions of the icy cold bitch glaring at patients. That name has become a pejorative and that's because of Fletcher's performance. I always forget just how restrained Fletcher is in the role, which seems to make her even more intimidating. She's not yelling and screaming or getting violent or playing a drill sergeant or anything. She's calm and derives her power from controlling the patients in that manner. It's just the way she looks at everyone that really seals her win for me. It's like a smug, I'm the boss don't mess with me kinda look. These steely, ice cold looks that tell you exactly who Nurse Ratched is as a person. There's also a scene where the doctors say Nicholson is dangerous but not crazy and recommend sending him back to the work camp but Nurse Ratched speaks up and says he'd be better served staying there where she could help him. Well, it's clear she says that with evil intent just to fuck with Nicholson and to exert her control over him. The scene is so good because Fletcher plays it straight and you only see a hint of the reasoning behind her eyes. Just how calm she is when dealing with the patients and the therapy sessions is a beautiful thing to watch. She can convey so much with just a look, whether it's annoyance or anger or saying she's got power over you without actually saying anything. I think that's my big takeaway from Fletcher's performance is how great she is with the subtleties of her expressions and how she can quietly act yet have it mean so much. Which does make those moments where she really exerts her power all the more terrifying, like when she eviscerates Billy Bibbit after his night of becoming a man by threatening to tell his mother and telling him he should be ashamed. It makes him go from confident to wailing mess with a tragic ending, all because Fletcher went right for his weakness in a calm manner. By now you understand that Fletcher was amazing and perfect for the role. I can't see anyone else delivering something so quiet, yet powerfully effecting.
Isabelle Adjani - The Story of Adele H.
I enjoyed the first Adjani performance I saw back in 1989 for Camille Claudel, another film about a French woman. This time Adjani is playing Adele H., the H standing for Hugo - as in Victor Hugo, who wrote Les Miserables. This story is about Adele as she travels to Halifax under another name to follow a British officer that she is in love with. As the story goes on, she goes further and further down the rabbit hole of obsessions, deluding herself that the officer loves her and that all their problems will go away once they are married. She even writes to her father that they are married and then doubles down when confronted that they aren't. Adele is driven to despair and is going crazy walking around in rags. She follows the officer to Barbados and is confronted again and eventually sent back to Paris where her father puts her in a mental asylum. Adjani was the youngest Best Actress nominee ever at the time at the age of 20. Adjani is also insanely beautiful, even more so than when I first reviewed her. Once you get past the beauty, though, you realize this tale of obsession can be a tricky part to play. She has to be convincing in her spiraling breakdown and she is, though she does give it that French flair with loud gesticulating and fast talking/yelling and over dramatic air to every word. I'm not a huge fan of that kind of acting but I do think it works well within this story because this woman is obsessed with the British officer to the point of being psychotic. Adjani also has to flip back and forth between English and French in the film and I'm sure that was a bit hard to do. Adjani fits the part well and does a very good job and I think the Academy wanted to reward an up and coming beautiful French actress in a Francois Truffaut film which probably got a lot of eyes on for the director alone. It's a young performance where you clearly see her ability but isn't quite the best of the year. Still, I enjoyed watching this because of Adjani and it's the only reason to seek it out (unless you are a super Truffaut fan).
Ann-Margret - Tommy
This was a film that when I was doing my excel spreadsheet many years ago made me stop in my tracks. I had no idea they made a movie out of The Who's Tommy album and was intrigued about how crazy that might have been. And oh, is it ever as absurd as you could possibly think it is. It's all about Tommy, whose father is murdered and a new man becomes his step father. Ann-Margret is the mother and did I mention that Tommy becomes deaf, dumb, and blind because he sees his father murdered? He goes through life for a bit before becoming a pinball wizard and then becoming a Christ-like figure. It's insanity on film and I feel like I should have been high to fully appreciate it. But it's also pretty compelling. This is The Who's rock opera and it's very experimental and avant garde. It's also a through and through musical (or rock opera). So everything is sung and I assume it all comes from The Who's album, though I did read there was some new songs written for the film. Ann-Margret is fine. I'm not exactly sure why she was ever nominated for this because it doesn't quite lend itself to an actual performance. She sings as Tommy's mother and does have a breakdown moment where she rolls around in some suds, baked beans, and chocolate. Which is actually very sexual if you didn't think it could be. Ann-Margret is fine, like I said, but I don't get how the Academy can reward this but not her turn in Bye Bye Birdie? It's definitely a brave choice for Ann-Margret, as this is easily a risky, controversial picture for some. I enjoyed it, though! It's got Tina Turner and Elton John and Eric Clapton and Jack Nicholson in fun parts and it's just a huge celebration of music. Also, Oliver Reed looks a lot like Javier Bardem at times, that it's scary. I guess that the Academy just loved their sex symbol they created so much they had to reward her with her second Oscar nomination. It's a fun role and an interesting nomination but it was never going to win a thing.
Glenda Jackson - Hedda
I have been very excited to finally watch a Glenda Jackson performance because she has won two Best Actress Oscars previously and I have no idea who she is. I have heard her name often, but if you had me try and pick her out of a lineup, I would have failed. So there was a bit of mystery surrounding her and the fact that she has two wins on four total nominations, all within a couple years of each other. And then I found out she became a member of Parliament in Britain for almost 20 years after her acting career was over. Intrigued was definitely the word for how I felt going in to this one. Here, Jackson plays the titular Hedda Gabler, based off a Henrik Ibsen play. It's probably easiest just to look up the synopsis of the play but it's mainly about Hedda, who has just married and is a malicious figure throughout her short story of meeting a few friends/people in her new place. It's kinda hard to sum up without going on for 500 words. But I will say that Jackson seems perfectly suited for the role. Jackson has a deep voice and it's obvious that she takes her craft incredibly serious, which works out well in this very theatrical film. It is based off a play after all, so those qualities work in her favor. As I said, she's a malicious, devious woman who enjoys manipulating those around her like it's a sport. In part because she is unfulfilled emotionally and intellectually, and possibly because she is an amoral monster who doesn't care about how she affects other people. She is certainly an unsentimental person, though feelings do slip through the cracks every so often, mostly at the end of the performance. But Jackson is well tuned to how her character goes through life and actually gets you on her side though she seems like an irredeemable mess. I think it's because she's a delight to watch verbally shred her friends in the classical, conservative way of saying things without actually saying them. I like her arc, too, because she seems happy to mess with everyone else's lives in the beginning as if it's the only pleasure she gets in her married life. She likes the control she has until it ultimately ends up coming back around on her when she goes too far. She then can't handle not having the control and seeing those around her bounce back from her manipulation. Jackson handles this change effortlessly and she is definitely fun to watch as she is sort of proper and committed to the performance. It's stronger than the film could handle and I can see why she was so loved in a short time. I am looking forward to her other winning work because I hope it's as strong as this little performance is.
Carol Kane - Hester Street
This is a really interesting film because of a few reasons. It's a black and white film, it's only 89 minutes long, and is primarily for a Jewish audience. That last point is key because it's very true. If you are Jewish, this will have much more meaning to you than the average viewer. Even 20 minutes into the film I wasn't sure who Carol Kane was supposed to be but then her character arrived from wherever to America. Her husband had arrived to America prior and assimilated into the culture, even shaving his beard and getting new clothes. She comes to the country with their son and continues to be the dutiful wife. You may know Kane as a comedian, which is what I knew her from The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. Kane was even in Dog Day Afternoon this same year in a small role, so she was getting around in these dramatic films. I was ready to say this was a shitty performance and blah blah blah but Kane is actually very good. She looks like she's in a film from like the 1930s and her face with her wig is the epitome of Jewish, but also super serious female performance. Kane just wants to love her husband who is too into being an American and is off banging other women while she is raising their kid in this strange new land. She strikes up a friendship with their roommate of sorts who is a very studious, determined Jewish man with his beard intact. Kane is so good because she does get rid of her wig at one point and her husband hates it and goes crazy and she gets even more confused as to what he wants from her. But Kane plays the scene perfectly. From there she realizes something is wrong and tries to salvage the marriage. It doesn't work out and he goes with his mistress yet you are soundly on the side of Kane. She reports to the Jewish divorce proceeding with her natural blonde hair and I think her husband realizes just how much he fucked up. The divorce happens and then we see Kane with the roommate who is a studious Jew and they seem to really take to each other and it's a nice ending. But really the props should go to Kane for portraying a 30s character, a Jewish character, a belittled wife and still making her standout as something worth paying attention to. This little nothing of a forgettable film turned into a Best Actress nomination that actually is something worth watching because of Kane's performance. A rarity these days.
Hey, look at that! A Best Actress category where I liked every performance. It doesn't seem to happen often but here it is. Doesn't mean it's a very strong group, though, as four of the films are short things we wouldn't otherwise pay attention to if not for these ladies. Well, you'd pay attention to Tommy because it's a rock opera from The Who and it's just a crazy fun experience but whatever. I'm not exactly sure why she was nominated as she doesn't really stand out but she's enjoyable in this far out film. Adjani is good in her little story about obsession and as the youngest nominee in this category ever up to that point, is someone you recognize has the chops to be a great actress. Then it's a little tough but I think Jackson is right in the middle. You definitely realize why she was so loved in a short amount of time if the rest of her stuff is anything like this. She has a magnetism that draws you in and is quite obviously dedicated to her acting and it's nice to see someone take it so seriously in this category. Kane really surprised me for such a small film that I'm sure not many people have ever really seen, especially if you aren't Jewish. Though let me state that you don't have to be Jewish to like it, it just speaks more to someone with that connection, I think. But I like how Kane feels more like an old time movie star in a serious role. I like when performances catch me off guard because I wasn't expecting something so deep, I guess. I would have liked more of Kane, though, to be honest. The film is really short. Fletcher is just a classic winner. She embodies Nurse Ratched and her characterization of the evil woman has become lodged in our pop culture collective. It's like the opposite of Jackson's performance, in a good way for both, but just a quiet, steady, composed sort of evil. Really great stuff from Fletcher. So a good category overall and that's all I can ever hope for.
Oscar Winner: Louise Fletcher - One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
My Winner: Louise Fletcher - One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Carol Kane
Glenda Jackson
Isabelle Adjani
Ann-Margret
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