Leading Actress 1966

Interesting to note that all of these are foreign born actresses and really it's four foreign films if we want to be accurate. It's an interesting group and one that I want to watch because of the foreign factor and the names involved.

1966 Best Actress

Elizabeth Taylor - Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

I am, admittedly, not very well versed in all things Elizabeth Taylor. I know her as the cultural icon and movie star who has a few nominations and had two Oscar wins. I've seen some of her work, but have never fully dived into her output and explored her as an actress. So in saying that, Taylor more than impressed me in this performance. I was expecting something maybe overacted or too actor-y, but she managed to give such a believably real performance. From the start she felt so natural and her acting didn't have any tinge of someone relying on mannerisms or character tics. You know, someone who purposefully stutters and waves their hands all over in a big show of look how affected my performance is kinda way. No, Taylor's drunk woman was real from the start because she wasn't so broad and showy. She pokes and prods her husband with barbs and plays off his attempts to control her. She is this wild spirit who actively bullies her husband who plays on this passive aggressiveness that seems to drive her mad. That chemistry between Richard Burton and Taylor is obvious seeing as they were married at the time. But it's put to good use because their arguments and venomous back and forth is intense and quite unnerving at times. It's like watching a trainwreck and not being able to look away. They even rope the younger couple they invited over for drinks into their fucked up relationship. I like that Taylor is never over the top, in fact I'd say she plays a lot of the performance in a very understated way, choosing to not do the obvious and explode. Instead she knows how to rile her husband up whether it's flirting with the younger man or bringing up forbidden topics. It also has well timed heartbreaking moments. Taylor excels in these scenes and they don't feel forced or too sappy. You feel for her and even though the film is so intense, you're glad to see these moments almost as a payoff. The performance is an effortless one from Taylor which speaks to how much work she put into it for it to seem that way. Many people say this is one of the best female performances ever and I think I would have to agree with them. It is fantastic and soul draining, but absolutely worth it.

Anouk Aimee - A Man and a Woman

I really, really liked this film! It's a simple love story for the most part with some great, subtle acting. The end is a bit of an emotional roller coaster but feels very true to life that love isn't always so easy and straightforward. This is a French film and it should be a given that Aimee is absolutely gorgeous, but it must be said because she one hundred percent is. She is also a pretty great actress in this film. There's no grand moments or scenes where she has to show off her acting chops, it's just subtle acting all the way through. She meets Jean-Louis Trintignant's character who gives her a ride home from the boarding school their kids both go to. The attraction builds naturally and slowly and that's what the film is about. I enjoyed that the film style was one of watching the two interact however mundanely and flashing back to other points in their life where something big happened that they are discussing in real time. Like Trintignant asks about her husband and then we flash back to see that he was killed on set working as a stuntman. The style has this documentary like feel to it where we are peering into these two peoples' lives so we get very natural acting from Aimee. We see the playful flirting and the emotions of talking about their past partners and the pride and happiness in their children getting along. We are more privy to Trintignant's inner feelings and worries, but we see some of that in Aimee although it's done in a very French sort of way. It's a dreamy flashback while she's in bed with the current guy and we see the inner turmoil on her face as she thinks about her dead husband and we sense that she isn't over his death. I have always like subtlety in acting and I like when someone can make what looks like a boring premise into something really great and fascinating. These are two people getting to know each other and falling in love and it's a great film because it feels so authentic due to the acting from Aimee. Wonderful film and performance.

Ida Kaminska - The Shop on Main Street

This is one of those weird Academy trivia answers where the film was nominated in 1965 as Best Foreign Language Film, but Ida was nominated the next year for Best Actress. It happens rarely but it does happen with these foreign films. This is a Czechoslovakian film about the Aryanization of the country in World War II. It's about Tony, whose brother is a top Nazi official and who gives Tony a shop run by an older Jewish woman because they aren't allowed to own anything now. Tony isn't into the Nazi crap and just wants to make money and do his thing. I will admit I went into this film blind and didn't know what it was about and I thought that Kaminska was the wife and wondered why the hell she was nominated because the wife barely did anything in the first hour. Then I realized it was the old Jewish shopkeeper lady that I needed to pay attention to and she shows up a little under an hour into the story. She is old, obviously, and oblivious to the outside world and what's going on with the Nazis. She thinks Tony is her nephew or an assistant and is just going about her days as if nothing has changed even though the Jews are being rounded up. She's essentially just a senile old lady who really doesn't do a whole lot in the film. I'm not sure why she was singled out other than she was known as the Mother of the Jewish Stage and was obviously well respected and probably well liked in the old Academy. Maybe it's a representation of the film? The film is a powerful look at the deportation of the Jews from Slovakia and the choices made by Tony are what make the final 30 minutes so agonizing to watch. It's heartbreaking and one of those all time great foreign films that makes best of all time lists through the years. I'm glad this project allowed me to watch it as I do love good foreign films and important ones at that. I don't know why exactly Kaminska got singled out for this performance as it just isn't much of a performance to me, but I'm happy she did as it exposed me to this important film.

Lynn Redgrave - Georgy Girl

This reminds me a ton of Liza Minnelli in The Sterile Cuckoo. Like a ton. Redgrave is the eponymous Georgy and she is a very awkward young woman. She may not talk a mile a minute like Liza, but they both have their awkward time fillers. Redgrave's character plays piano and will sing and dance a bit and just reminds me of a theater girl who is painfully shy but somehow is able to do a sultry song and dance in front of a large group no problem. Georgy is a virgin and incredibly awkward around men. It doesn't help that her father's employer, James Mason, who is much older than her is creepily trying to get with her. And he has a sick/dying wife and Georgy's father seems to know and be okay with it. Mason's character even draws up a contract for them to have an affair of sorts. It's super weird and she is dealing with that and pining for her roommate's (Charlotte Rampling) boyfriend (Alan Bates). Redgrave plays it in a very believable fashion. She is a woman who is trying to figure herself out and life at the same time. She wants to be like her beautiful roomie who goes out to parties and has lots of sex. Georgy is a frumpy girl who eventually does have sex with the boyfriend and she starts to love him. So it's that story of a girl being pulled in two different ways as she tries to find herself. Redgrave feels very natural in the performance. Her sister (from below) was actually up for the role but bowed out and I can't really see Vanessa playing this character as well Lynn does. There are moments where Georgy is annoyed or embarrassed and she yells in a nervousy way where your voice changes and you are very much not calm and collected. It felt real to life and made her seem younger at times. Other times she seemed mature in handling the creepy Mason character or helping out the roommate when she has her baby. Lynn was working out the character as the film went on just how Georgy was working out her own issues and feelings. So yes, very much like Liza's performance to me and both were very good in displaying awkward youth. Georgy is the only character in the film that felt authentic to me and that's all due to Redgrave's performance.

Vanessa Redgrave - Morgan!

This is for sure one of the worst films I have watched for this project. Not so much because of anything Redgrave does, but because the film is just a ridiculous, unfunny mess that is supposed to be one of those Swinging London comedy films. Redgrave isn't really the focus of the film although she is the focus of the main character, Morgan. It's her soon to be ex-husband and he's a communist, artistic, avant-garde kind of dude. Just overall weird and creepy at times but also intensely unfunny. Some of what I read about the film was that critics thought it was howlingly funny and all that and this film is anything but. It was so hard to get through because of how much I didn't enjoy it. Somehow Redgrave won Best Actress at Cannes for this and I don't know why other than Cannes seemed to really love her through the years. She is the somewhat tortured wife/ex who Morgan tries over and over to win back in the most wildly outrageous and creepy ways. Redgrave doesn't really do much then mostly brush off his escapades and get slightly annoyed and at times cave in to his overtures and have sex with him. If you actually want to watch this for some reason, you'll see she just doesn't do very much in the film except react to Morgan in ways that don't feel real. Why wouldn't you try harder to get him to stop by being arrested or put in an institution or something? Redgrave is their to be the pretty woman that the gorilla rescues/kidnaps which only makes sense if you watch the film. I was bored by the performance and actively disliked the film and resented that I had to watch the whole thing just for a tepid performance from Redgrave. Ugh.



I feel like this group really opened me up to some new cinema and I appreciate it for that reason. We can start with a swinging London type of film for Vanessa. It's cool to see stuff like this even if I didn't really like it at all. Vanessa just didn't do much for my tastes. She kinda plays both sides of the artistic and fantastical versus the buttoned up and proper. But not much to my liking and I don't care what her name is. Give me a good performance, not something to sleepwalk through.  Kaminska gave me the opportunity to watch a film that is highly respected as a foreign film and Holocaust film. It was really good to experience it. I don't think Kaminska did all that much and probably got nominated because of the subject and being a Jewish queen of the stage. Still respect the choice, though. Lynn was way better than her sister. She had one of those different British films of the 60s but she at least brought a ton to her ole and film. I rather enjoyed her and wonder why she didn't take off like her sister did through the years. Aimee was fantastic and the film surprised me. I loved it. Simple story of how a relationship starts that has an unexpected ending. Aimee is more of a natural actress and it was like watching a documentary because it didn't feel like some scripted film. She's gorgeous but also really compelling as an actress. Glad I got to watch her and this film. What can we say about Taylor? Some consider this the best female performance in the Oscars. It's certainly right up there and I agree with the sentiment. She is brilliant and you should watch this ASAP. Overall a pretty awesome year that I would take over most others.

Oscar Winner: Elizabeth Taylor - Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
My Winner:  Elizabeth Taylor - Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Anouk Aimee
Lynn Redgrave
Ida Kaminska
Vanessa Redgrave