No notes
for this week. Please note that /brackets/ represent films I’ve already seen.
-A Perfect World,
1993. Directed by Clint Eastwood. 35mm projection at Museum of Modern Art.
-The Truth About
Charlie, 2002. Directed by Jonathan Demme. DVD.
-Million Dollar Legs,
1932. Directed by Edward F. Cline. 35mm projection at Brooklyn Academy of
Music.
-The Bank Dick,
1940. Directed by Edward F. Cline. 35mm projection at Brooklyn Academy of
Music.
-Casque D’Or,
1952. Directed by Jacques Becker. 35mm projection at Film Forum.
-Charade,
1963. Directed by Stanley Donen. DVD.
-/North By Northwest/,
1959. Directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Screened on Turner Classic Movies.
What is it
about Aubrey Hepburn? Yes she was a superstar probably better known for her
fashion and persona than her movies, but she strikes me as a delightful actress
with pure conviction, and reminded me of another actor who was unfairly
maligned until recently: Channing Tatum. Both Hepburn and Tatum have quality
few actors can replicate: doe-eyed honestly. It’s a rare quality that often
actors refuse to use because instead of showing layers, it putting it all onto
the surface. There’s nothing underneath and thus there’s nothing being
processed, so the actor isn’t working to his or her full potential. But as
Tatum and Hepburn have shown, it’s a quality that is even rarer because it
requires one to embrace one’s true self on camera.
Hepburn
dazzles throughout Charade, the
Stanley Donen spy comedy in which she falls in love with Cary Grant. With her
gorgeous eyes and lightness of her tone, you totally understand why a character
like this would fall into the spy games of others. She’s too naïve to know any
better, and when she gets a look at Grant’s dashing face, how can she not fall
in love?
Her anger
might be more of a pout, but its reflective of her character, Regina Lambert,
to not know how to be truly angry. She’s a silly little girl who fell into a marriage
she didn’t quite like, one that makes Grant buy her ice cream like she’s still
daddy’s little girl. Hepburn totally embraces every aspect of her character. A
more “refined” actress would try and give her more bite, and a more ferocious
sexuality. Hepburn doesn’t and the film works for it. Consider the sequence in
which Regina wants Grant to shower in her room. Why? Cause she’s a sex-kitten,
and she doesn’t hide it in her face. She almost doesn’t understand what sex is
she’s that innocent (“Why are you taking your shoes off?” “You want me to
shower with them on?”).
There’s a sexuality to Hepburn, but
not the kind that had my mind running wild in naughty ways. Instead, I imagined
myself taking Hepburn around the park or through a walk along the Seine. Early
in the film, Grant asks her why she’s not at the spot where they were supposed
to meet, and Regina says the laughter of the children caught her curiosity.
Hepburn’s not a Manic Pixie Dream Girl, because it’s clear she’s not going to
save anyone from their own problems any time soon. But she’s the type of girl
you’d just love to take care of and get lost on a Parisian adventure. Those big
flashing eyes say it all; she’s always looking for a storybook romance.
No comments:
Post a Comment