09 February 2010

Skandies: #12



Picture: Two Lovers (89/11)
Director: Lars von Trier, Antichrist (87/10)
Actress: Mati Diop, 35 Shots of Rum (65/9)
Actor: Toni Servillo, Il Divo (100/6)
S. Actor: Hilmi Sözer, Jerichow (72/7)
S. Actress: Zoe Kazan, Me and Orson Welles (90/6)
Screenplay: James Gray & Richard Menello, Two Lovers (80/9)
Scene: Car trunk bombs, The Hurt Locker (62/6)

Untitled from Daniel Gemko on Vimeo.



HISTORY:

Von Trier is a two-time Skandie winner, for Breaking the Waves (1997) and Dogville (2004). He also previously placed 16th in 2000 for Dancer in the Dark. All actors are new, as are Gray and Menello.

12 comments:

C. Mason Wells said...

Fingers crossed this isn't the only excellent JERICHOW performance we'll be seeing.

Nictate said...

Two Lovers is another that deserved top 10 status as one of the best American dramas in years, but great to see it nonetheless.

bentclouds said...

S. Actress: Zoe Kazan, Me and Orson Welles (90/6)

Damn, I was hoping my 30 bomb would help this creep into the top ten. Oh well.

Skander said...

I do not see how this performance is particularly notable. I did give Claire Danes some points.

Bilge said...

I do like Zoe Kazan, but I'm not sure what she did in that film to gain so much love, other than not being Claire Danes.

Vadim said...

Unless I'm getting something wrong, I think me and Jason account for half the points for Ms. Kazan. I guess I saw her in Fracture, though I don't remember anything about her in that, so I came to her fresh.

Basically I think she really gets the fundamental Linklater character type, which is someone whose enthusiasm is infectious and endearing even while they're being incredibly naive, stupid and irritating. I love Linklater probably because that's how I feel about a lot of his characters; he gets you on his wavelength of enthusiasm, even when you can't share it, and I think Kazan was perfect for him. Even when she's declaiming "Ode to a Grecian Urn," I can see it both ways.

I believe Dan Sallitt thought her performance was overstated, which I can see. But I thought she was dead-on.

Zack said...

I barely noticed her, I admit (I'm continually surprised to learn that I've seen her in a handful of films), but I'm not sure I understand: You liked Kazan for nailing a type, although it might not be worth nailing in the first place? I guess I just feel like you're hedging a bit.

Robert Fuller said...

I thought Zoe Kazan was great, probably the best thing about that movie aside from McKay and the guy who played Joseph Cotten. The rest of the movie was completely dead and inert to me. Efron and Danes had a way of sucking the life out of every scene they were in.

Vadim said...

Uh, she's nailing someone I wouldn't want to be around at all in real life, but on-screen I can see what makes her appealing as well.

Also, given that she has the task of giving the movie a prologue, intermission and epilogue, more power to her.

C. Mason Wells said...

"She's nailing someone I wouldn't want to be around at all in real life."

Paul Dano? Amen.

Zack said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Zack said...

@Vadim: Gotcha.

@C. Mason Wells: Niiiiice.