Trends in culture and social responses to them don't really tend to follow calendars and dates as much as eras and periods. Yet it's always a good thing to stop at the end of every calendar year, and purely for bookkeeping purposes, take notes on the emergent trends from the previous year however nascent or transient they might be. This thought brings me to the one particular trend I found myself surrounded by. In 2014, by chance or choice, I found myself championing strongly with the acting efforts of a few actresses, both in the honesty they bring to the table as an actor and the way they manage to embed their charm to the character's aura. As such, of the several things in Cinema that were part of new-found-land for me in 2014, the most prominent one was me becoming an ardent follower of a few actresses. Here are some reflections on these dames.
Scarlett Johannson - Film buffs and fan boys alike recognize the respectable career of Scar-Jo given her now admirable portfolio with its fine balance of mainstream cinema and indie/arthouse fore. She's garnered good attention with her work in The Other Boleyn Girl, Lost in Translation and other similar works and at the same time, has been an outright bedroom poster girl with outings like The Black Widow in Marvel's eponymous Avengers series. I must admit I'd overlooked all of this till this year, when she voiced the most enigmatic yet sexy computer in 'Her', portrayed an Angelina-esque action figure in 'Lucy', fiddled with indie stuff in 'Chef' and yet took time out to stun film buffs with her portrayal of the terrifying yet sexy alien character in 'Under The Skin'.
Amy Adams - I'm deeply haunted by the beauty in Amy's eyes. Her eyes seem to belong to a person that is naive and innocent yet has the wisdom of a lifetime. They have a moist teariness to them which might probably be due to a sparkle of enthusiasm as much as it could be due to pain. She brought all of these emotions to her celebrated role in 'American Hustle' but she outshines that character with her portrayal of a nerdy tom-boyish lady in 'Her' who is as casual as she is elegant. I'm not sure how much of a pun Tim Burton based his casting choices on when he chose her for his latest venture 'Big Eyes'
Rosamund Pike - Glenn Close, over time, has specialized in a certain niche of characters. Characters of powerful, slightly vulnerable, professional women who make love and life choices out of their own whims and might almost make the right template fits for the ideal independent woman. I have a feeling Rosamund Pike is soon becoming the Glenn Close of her generation. She oozes an undercurrent of sexuality and vulnerability, yet is in deft control of professionalism as a lawyer in 'Jack Reacher' while she absolutely strikes it out of the ball park in 'Gone Girl' vying quite well to be the best sexy villains of all time.
Marlee Matlin - The first of my chance finds this year, I thought Marlee Matlin stood her firm ground amidst intimidating cast in the TV drama 'The West Wing'. She brings a radiance to her character as a humble yet surefooted political consultant. An expiry date on Netflix's streaming line-up then forced me to watch 'Children of a Lesser God' which only refurbished my initial impressions of Marlee as an actress. She plays a deaf person (the actress is actually deaf, a factor which in no way diminishes her acting traits) in the film who is conflicted between finding herself, trusting love and blending socially with society. The portrayal is so emphatic, strong and confident that I'd ended up wanting to watch more of her.
Patricia Arquette - A friend of mine invited me to watch David Lynch's enigmatic 'Lost Highway' at his place, leading to my discovery of Patricia Arquette. She's stunning in the flick with a gloomy beauty and gravity to her two characters, essentially the same woman portrayed by two radiant skins. We followed this viewing up with 'True Romance' a couple of weeks later, which, for me, established that she was no one trick wonder. She portrays a naive and bubbly girl to the core in this flick only to surprise the viewer by deftly pulling off a gallant and bloody fist fight with a goon shot resplendent Tony Scott style. This culminated in me strongly vouching out for her when I later went to watch 'Boyhood' and the plethora of supporting actress nominations she's received world over speak for that outing.
Meryl Streep - I must confess I was never quite acknowledging of what a tremendous actress Meryl Streep is. Being cognizant of awards proceedings, her name pops up all the time but it hasn't really occurred that I'd actually seen her in a flick. Well, that changed with a viewing of 'Sophie's Choice'. She turns out such a delicate performance in the flick, as a Jew immigrant in New York city, still troubled by her past under the Nazis while she tries to move on in her life through a series of lovers. Seldom have I seen an actress play a part embedded by a fine thread that weaves together sensuality, vulnerability, grit and pain.
This exposition of female performances in cinema that have struck me with awe this past year explains the one trend that I guess underlined movies for me in 2014 - the year dedicated to celebrating some fine heroines in Cinema. It was only a poetic coincidence that Hindi cinema also churned out some delectable shows by actresses in movies like Queen, Highway, Haider and Hasee Toh Phasee. As 2015 progresses in movie-going for me, I'm keeping an eye out for girl-power.
