Best Scene: Strange seduction.
Best Scene: Loco wins.
Best Scene: Flynn confronts O'Rourke.
Best Scene: Gatiss visits Eberline in the hotel.
Best Scene: DeSalvo's breakdown.
Next Year: 2003 Lead
Showing posts with label Tom Courtenay. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tom Courtenay. Show all posts
Wednesday, 14 June 2017
Best Scene: Strange seduction.
Best Scene: Loco wins.
Best Scene: Flynn confronts O'Rourke.
Best Scene: Gatiss visits Eberline in the hotel.
Best Scene: DeSalvo's breakdown.
Next Year: 2003 Lead
Saturday, 10 June 2017
Tom Courtenay did not receive an Oscar nomination for portraying Gatiss in A Dandy in Aspic.
A Dandy in Aspic is a spy thriller about a British agent, Eberlin (Laurence Harvey) being tasked to find a Russian spy among their ranks the problem is he is the Russian spy. The film suffers from what seems to be a central conceit to show a contrast between the inhuman loyal British agent against the supposedly sympathetic fake British agent, this is problematic when you cast the man best known for playing a robotized assassin as the "good" one, and an amazing actor as the "bad" one.
The role of Gatiss is an interesting change of pace for Tom Courtenay who usually played more sympathetic roles, even in Doctor Zhivago we learned how his Pasha became so cruel and bent. Gatiss's role is made clear from his first appearance where he is lurking in the shadows of a firing range. Gatiss is set up to be essentially the villain of the film, even though technically in most Cold war thrillers he's doing the hero's work. Courtenay is such a great actor though that he doesn't appear to have any intentions to simplify Gatiss at any point, even if perhaps the film would like him to at times. Courtenay knows though how to create such fascinating characters though, and use what is given to him and build upon that. There is something already intriguing about his shady operative, but they decide to go further in making him distinctive by giving him a strange looking cane he always has with him. The cane that does not help him walk, but rather is his secret weapon of choice. That idea that not even his walking stick can be trusted is within Courtenay's performance, though what Courtenay is doing is creating this man defined by the duplicitous world he lives in, but to be fair the end result of Gatiss's mission is noble.
Courtenay's performance, as usual particularly for his stellar 60's run, is incredibly gripping. Courtenay's physical manner has this certain tightness about him at all times, there is an exactness in any way he stands or even speaks to someone. Courtenay uses this to show the way Gatiss's lack of trust even in his body language. Courtenay portrays the man carefully never getting too close, and even when he does his cane seems always ready for its true purpose. Courtenay does not waste an ounce of himself though as in his eyes there is such an incisiveness as though is he constantly analyzing whoever or whatever is in front of him. There is no moment of rest that Courtenay portrays and reflects this in the restrictive nature of his manner which he reveals as the conditioned state of the man to always keep his distance. Courtenay actually approaches his work similair to the way Gary Oldman would later play spy master George Smiley in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. Courtenay though gives it a very specific inspiration in that instead of portraying the man as someone who hides his emotions, he instead depicts him as a man who covers it all up by instead always having such a negative view about all around him as a further defense mechanism needed for his line of work.
Courtenay is terrific as he oozes such palatable disdain for everyone and everything around him. Courtenay infuses such venom into every delivery as he shows the man who indeed seems to hate everyone, and everything. Courtenay never overplays this though and does not use this to just make Gatiss an obvious villain, which seems the film's intention. Now Courtenay acting as such a contemptible sort is compelling to watch in itself, but that is not all there is to his performance. Again Courtenay plays a certain game in this in suggesting that there is perhaps more to Gatiss than the hateful man he presents. This is partially in the way Courtenay always presents the hate with this certain control suggesting that Gatiss uses it for a purpose. He always keeps a certain obsession with his task always as part of his disdain for all things. There is an even more pivotal moment where we see Gatiss gather Eberlin from a hotel room with his love interest, a photographer Caroline (Mia Farrow). Courtenay is brilliant in the scene as in a brief reaction he reveals a certain pain in witnessing Caroline's affections for Eberlin, seeming to suggest Gatiss's frustrations in seeing something he does not allow himself to have. Gatiss does leave a final comment to Caroline that is at the expense of both her and Eberline, but the same venom is not in Courtenay's delivery. He eases it to convey just the slightest hint of empathy that the man usually destroys within himself. He steals the film completely and really the film should have just been from his perspective. Courtenay goes beyond the call of his duty to create a complex portrait of this spy, when it seems the film would have settled for a one note fiend.
A Dandy in Aspic is a spy thriller about a British agent, Eberlin (Laurence Harvey) being tasked to find a Russian spy among their ranks the problem is he is the Russian spy. The film suffers from what seems to be a central conceit to show a contrast between the inhuman loyal British agent against the supposedly sympathetic fake British agent, this is problematic when you cast the man best known for playing a robotized assassin as the "good" one, and an amazing actor as the "bad" one. The role of Gatiss is an interesting change of pace for Tom Courtenay who usually played more sympathetic roles, even in Doctor Zhivago we learned how his Pasha became so cruel and bent. Gatiss's role is made clear from his first appearance where he is lurking in the shadows of a firing range. Gatiss is set up to be essentially the villain of the film, even though technically in most Cold war thrillers he's doing the hero's work. Courtenay is such a great actor though that he doesn't appear to have any intentions to simplify Gatiss at any point, even if perhaps the film would like him to at times. Courtenay knows though how to create such fascinating characters though, and use what is given to him and build upon that. There is something already intriguing about his shady operative, but they decide to go further in making him distinctive by giving him a strange looking cane he always has with him. The cane that does not help him walk, but rather is his secret weapon of choice. That idea that not even his walking stick can be trusted is within Courtenay's performance, though what Courtenay is doing is creating this man defined by the duplicitous world he lives in, but to be fair the end result of Gatiss's mission is noble.
Courtenay's performance, as usual particularly for his stellar 60's run, is incredibly gripping. Courtenay's physical manner has this certain tightness about him at all times, there is an exactness in any way he stands or even speaks to someone. Courtenay uses this to show the way Gatiss's lack of trust even in his body language. Courtenay portrays the man carefully never getting too close, and even when he does his cane seems always ready for its true purpose. Courtenay does not waste an ounce of himself though as in his eyes there is such an incisiveness as though is he constantly analyzing whoever or whatever is in front of him. There is no moment of rest that Courtenay portrays and reflects this in the restrictive nature of his manner which he reveals as the conditioned state of the man to always keep his distance. Courtenay actually approaches his work similair to the way Gary Oldman would later play spy master George Smiley in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. Courtenay though gives it a very specific inspiration in that instead of portraying the man as someone who hides his emotions, he instead depicts him as a man who covers it all up by instead always having such a negative view about all around him as a further defense mechanism needed for his line of work.
Courtenay is terrific as he oozes such palatable disdain for everyone and everything around him. Courtenay infuses such venom into every delivery as he shows the man who indeed seems to hate everyone, and everything. Courtenay never overplays this though and does not use this to just make Gatiss an obvious villain, which seems the film's intention. Now Courtenay acting as such a contemptible sort is compelling to watch in itself, but that is not all there is to his performance. Again Courtenay plays a certain game in this in suggesting that there is perhaps more to Gatiss than the hateful man he presents. This is partially in the way Courtenay always presents the hate with this certain control suggesting that Gatiss uses it for a purpose. He always keeps a certain obsession with his task always as part of his disdain for all things. There is an even more pivotal moment where we see Gatiss gather Eberlin from a hotel room with his love interest, a photographer Caroline (Mia Farrow). Courtenay is brilliant in the scene as in a brief reaction he reveals a certain pain in witnessing Caroline's affections for Eberlin, seeming to suggest Gatiss's frustrations in seeing something he does not allow himself to have. Gatiss does leave a final comment to Caroline that is at the expense of both her and Eberline, but the same venom is not in Courtenay's delivery. He eases it to convey just the slightest hint of empathy that the man usually destroys within himself. He steals the film completely and really the film should have just been from his perspective. Courtenay goes beyond the call of his duty to create a complex portrait of this spy, when it seems the film would have settled for a one note fiend.
Monday, 5 June 2017
Friday, 5 May 2017
Best Scene: The church.
Best Scene: Calling the airline.
Best Scene: The Execution.
Best Scene: Saving Sam.
Best Scene: The Church.
Next Year: 2012 Supporting
Tom Courtenay did not receive an Oscar nomination for portraying Reginald "Reg" Paget in Quartet.
Quartet is a tad cornball film about an aging quartet of opera singers coming back together to sing in a concert to save their retirement home for musicians.
Tom Courtenay has fairly recently began reappearing in films after disappearing almost for the entirety of the seventies, purposefully apparently to focus on the stage, after his stellar run in sixties. Courtenay began some sparse appearances though but now is having regular appearances again. Well that is much appreciated to see Courtenay in films again particularly in this film. This film overall just lays on the cheese a little thickly through the unfortunately somewhat cloying performances of some of the cast, and the choices by director Dustin Hoffman to treat perhaps everything a little too lightly. Thankfully there is Courtenay to add a bit of grumpiness to the film, and actually what I mean by that is more realistic grumpiness not sort of that, sweet grumpiness that would be quite intolerable in this film. Courtenay actually bothers to try to infuse any pathos into the proceedings through his depiction of Reg's disposition from hearing that his former wife, Jean (Maggie Smith), is coming to live at the retirement home as well.
Courtenay is actually willing to take the further step as in his initial reactions to see her and in his repeated refusals to even speak to her for a more than a few words. Courtenay in these moments does not sweeten this by any mean offering some real anguish within his harsh turns away, and years of holding a grudge in his cold refusals. Reg's attitude comes from Jean having cheated on him many years ago and Courtenay actually conveys that sense of betrayal in these interactions. He grants them though, even in the initial reaction, more complexity than that. In that Courtenay is able to express the sort of particular sort of damage within Reg's view. As Courtenay expresses the past affection within the current bitterness. Courtenay attempts to actually convey the years of holding this in through these scenes something that is sorely lacking in the other problems depicted by most of the other cast members which are boiled down to basically a cutesy eccentricity.
The film though perhaps wish to get their leads in on the goofiness of the elements outside of them, Courtenay in a scene where Reg is trying to teach opera to hip teenagers. Courtenay though manages to keep his dignity intact with this scene, and even offer a bit of dignity to the film in the process. Courtenay does this by offering just the right quiet passion in his delivery as he speaks of the power of opera, and as well even makes the right mild curiosity not seem ridiculous when the conversation turns to rap. The same goes for a scene where Reg curses out one of the employees of the retirement home which is all set up to be overly cloying but Courtenay actually delivers the insults with enough venom to keep from being so. Courtenay strives to find some reality in the situation and develop a character with Reg not just a set of quirks of an older person. Courtenay succeeds in this even when the film battles him at every turn.
The most severe challenge in this regard is perhaps in Reg's forgiveness of Jean which feels sort of rushed. It isn't quite dealt with as one would imagine it should be either, they just kind of work through it. This is all done rather quickly with little to no major problems. Courtenay to his credit once again though does make it work though by in those cold scenes suggesting again that underlying affection and just slowly showing that comes out again. He makes it a natural progression mainly through his performance and through his chemistry with Smith which is endearing enough. The film though is in a rush to get to his disappointing ending, where obviously they shouldn't have made it about opera singers. Courtenay's performance here made me wish he had given a part with more depth because he does find depth in what is a paper thin role. He does his best to bring the best out of the material. I wish he was in a better film but I will say he made this a better film through his performance.
Tom Courtenay has fairly recently began reappearing in films after disappearing almost for the entirety of the seventies, purposefully apparently to focus on the stage, after his stellar run in sixties. Courtenay began some sparse appearances though but now is having regular appearances again. Well that is much appreciated to see Courtenay in films again particularly in this film. This film overall just lays on the cheese a little thickly through the unfortunately somewhat cloying performances of some of the cast, and the choices by director Dustin Hoffman to treat perhaps everything a little too lightly. Thankfully there is Courtenay to add a bit of grumpiness to the film, and actually what I mean by that is more realistic grumpiness not sort of that, sweet grumpiness that would be quite intolerable in this film. Courtenay actually bothers to try to infuse any pathos into the proceedings through his depiction of Reg's disposition from hearing that his former wife, Jean (Maggie Smith), is coming to live at the retirement home as well.
Courtenay is actually willing to take the further step as in his initial reactions to see her and in his repeated refusals to even speak to her for a more than a few words. Courtenay in these moments does not sweeten this by any mean offering some real anguish within his harsh turns away, and years of holding a grudge in his cold refusals. Reg's attitude comes from Jean having cheated on him many years ago and Courtenay actually conveys that sense of betrayal in these interactions. He grants them though, even in the initial reaction, more complexity than that. In that Courtenay is able to express the sort of particular sort of damage within Reg's view. As Courtenay expresses the past affection within the current bitterness. Courtenay attempts to actually convey the years of holding this in through these scenes something that is sorely lacking in the other problems depicted by most of the other cast members which are boiled down to basically a cutesy eccentricity.
The film though perhaps wish to get their leads in on the goofiness of the elements outside of them, Courtenay in a scene where Reg is trying to teach opera to hip teenagers. Courtenay though manages to keep his dignity intact with this scene, and even offer a bit of dignity to the film in the process. Courtenay does this by offering just the right quiet passion in his delivery as he speaks of the power of opera, and as well even makes the right mild curiosity not seem ridiculous when the conversation turns to rap. The same goes for a scene where Reg curses out one of the employees of the retirement home which is all set up to be overly cloying but Courtenay actually delivers the insults with enough venom to keep from being so. Courtenay strives to find some reality in the situation and develop a character with Reg not just a set of quirks of an older person. Courtenay succeeds in this even when the film battles him at every turn.
The most severe challenge in this regard is perhaps in Reg's forgiveness of Jean which feels sort of rushed. It isn't quite dealt with as one would imagine it should be either, they just kind of work through it. This is all done rather quickly with little to no major problems. Courtenay to his credit once again though does make it work though by in those cold scenes suggesting again that underlying affection and just slowly showing that comes out again. He makes it a natural progression mainly through his performance and through his chemistry with Smith which is endearing enough. The film though is in a rush to get to his disappointing ending, where obviously they shouldn't have made it about opera singers. Courtenay's performance here made me wish he had given a part with more depth because he does find depth in what is a paper thin role. He does his best to bring the best out of the material. I wish he was in a better film but I will say he made this a better film through his performance.
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