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richfed
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 Posted - December 29 2002 : 11:19:21 AM
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Poll Question:
Of all the roles Daniel Day-Lewis has had in film to date [and there are more than are listed here!], which is your favorite?
We realize you can interpret this in various ways: is the performance your favorite, or is it the character played? At any rate, feel free to comment in this poll's thread - or add a "write-in" vote.
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morgaine
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 Posted - December 29 2002 : 12:04:17 PM
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There is only one choice for me and that is Hawkeye in LOTM. From the look of his character, to the words he spoke and the whole movie, overall, this was his best role. As portrayed by Daniel, I find Hawkeye to be the most romantic and dashing American hero. I simply adore him.
I would mention a little sentimental feeling for Newland Archer in "The Age of Innocence" because some of the movie was filmed in Philadelphia. Everytime I go to the Academy of Music and look up at the boxes, I imagine Daniel sitting there looking across at Michelle Pfeiffer. His aura remains! |
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Wilderness Woman
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Posted - December 29 2002 : 5:52:07 PM
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| I'm not really sure I qualify to vote, since I have only seen 3 of his movies... so far. Besides LOTM, I have seen The Age of Innocence and The Bounty. Of those three... well, I think you can all guess which one I picked! LOL! Did we really have any choice, Morgaine? |
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morgaine
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Posted - December 29 2002 : 7:40:17 PM
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Even if you've seen them all, Wilderness WOman, the only choice is Hawkeye. |
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sidony
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Posted - December 29 2002 : 8:30:03 PM
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| I really can't name one performance. The ones which made the most impact on me were: Johnny in "My Beautiful Laundrette", Cecil in "Room with a View", Christy in "My Left Foot" and Hawkeye. I fell in love with DDL as Hawkeye, and the other 3 perfomances made me a lifelong fan of his acting. I haven't seen GONY yet. Richfed, what's your favourite Daniel performance? |
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richfed
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Posted - December 30 2002 : 06:50:31 AM
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Well ... first, let me say, that other than Ghandi & The Bounty, I haven't seen DDL's pre-My Left Foot performances. That said, I think he was at his best in that film, My Left Foot. I have a cousin who was born with cerebral palsey, and when I saw My Left Foot, I saw Martin, my cousin, in the person of Christy Brown. Daniel had it down, and that is no small feat! So, that would, without a doubt, be my choice.
I'd rank - at this point - Bill "The Butcher" number 2. Outstanding!
Last time I checked, I was male [Lainey?!?], so perhaps the Hawkeye role doesn't have the same effect on me as it does on some of the ladies. In fact, in the beginning, I really wasn't all that impressed with DDL in LOTM - [not that I thought he was bad, just that the scenery, music, and overall story sort of overshadowed his individual performance for me]. It wan't till I heard him speak naturally [LOTM was my first exposure to Day-Lewis] & went back to see My Left Foot, that I became aware of the scope of this man's talent & began to really appreciate his Hawkeye role. Even so, much as I like him in LOTM, I still feel Wes Studi & Madeleine Stowe give the very best performances in that film. Still, it has to be third - a strong third, but third still! - on my list. Christy & Bill are just too good! |
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sidony
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Posted - December 30 2002 : 10:54:36 PM
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In "My Left Foot", it wasn't the fact that he got the cerebral palsy thing down pat that impressed me. I was blown away by the way Daniel conveyed the personality of Christy Brown with such force and intensity.
I really recommend Daniel fans also see "MY Beautiful Laundrette" and "Room with a View". In my opinion, his performances in those 3 films alone (MLF, MBL,& RWAV) guarantee his place as one of the best actors EVER. Strangely enough, none of his post LOTM perfomances engaged me in the same way. I hope that GONY will change that, but it doesn't open in my country until February.
Richfed, I didn't think that the scenery, music, story, etc. overshadowed his performance in LOTM, but maybe it's my female hormones speaking!:) I thought he dominated each scene he was in through sheer physical presence and charisma, though I agree with you that Wes and Madeleine arguably gave the best performances of the film. |
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Brenda
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 Posted - December 31 2002 : 01:33:47 AM
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| Ok, so I haven't seen a lot of his movies either including Gangs of New York .... yet! But the Last of the Mohicans is the movie in which Daniel Day-Lewis stole my heart and will always be my favorite! |
“They say that you're never as wise as when you're a child. We'll never think that clearly again.”
From Arlington Road (1999)
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Ellie
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Posted - December 31 2002 : 06:59:11 AM
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Hawkeye for me, due to being female with raging hormones ha ha ha!!! I just love the film anyway, but I think DD-L makes it that extra special.
I loved him in Room With A View, Age Of Innocense, The Bounty, My Left Foot, My Beautiful Launderette, In The Name of the Father and even Stars and Bars (for being totally hilarious). I have not seen him in The Boxer yet and Gangs... is not out in England yet.
What I am trying to say is he brings such a intense depth to all his characters and the physical change from character to character is astounding. If you see LOTM first you might not even recognise him from Room With A View! |
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Gadget Girl
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Posted - January 02 2003 : 12:01:53 PM
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I've seen all except Eversmile, NJ an Nanou, and I voted for the Hawkeye role, as it is still my favorite character. BUT, I think my favorite "performance" would be a three-way tie between Age of Innocence, LOTM and Gangs of New York - all superb!
GG |
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judeblue
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Posted - January 02 2003 : 7:11:01 PM
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| Until seeing Gangs of New York, I would have elected to say that Hawkeye was my favorite Day-Lewis role and I do consider the Last of the Mohicans one of the best pictures I've ever seen. That said, I was absolutely mesmerized by Bill the Butcher in Gangs of New York. I think Daniel Day-Lewis is a genius at inhabiting a role. William Cutting aka "Bill the Butcher" is the most convincing villain I've ever seen on film; yet he still comes across as human and not a caricature. I don't think any other actor could have pulled it off. |
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Chris
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Posted - January 05 2003 : 1:03:39 PM
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I placed my vote for the character DDL played, and voted for Tomas in The Unbearable Lightness of Being. I did not like the first third of the movie, but the change in the character over the last 2/3 endeared him to me. As far as performances go, I would pick My Beautiful Laundrette and Room With a View. The fact that DDL could play two such opposite characters in the space of a year is amazing to me. All that being said, LOTM is still my favorite movie of all time. I think it is the mix of characters, actors, scenery, music, etc. that grabbed me from the first time I saw it and holds me still.
Chris |
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CT•Ranger
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Posted - January 06 2003 : 1:00:59 PM
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| I haven't seen any of his pre-LOTM roles so out of his post-LOTM roles I'd say his "John Proctor" was my favorite. I thought he did a great job with the 17th century New England accent, something which was missing from LOTM. And the last scene where he's agonizing over if he should sign his name to a lie, and as he recites the Lord's Prayer as he's hanged was more powerful and emotional than anything in GONY. Although "Bill Cutting" would be my second choice. I didn't really like his sarcastic lines to Hayward in LOTM, and he seemed to have a modern American accent. To me there was nothing in his performance which conveyed anything of the 18th century. He seemed like a modern American thrown into the 18th century. |
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daire
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Posted - January 06 2003 : 10:06:36 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by CT•Ranger
...and he seemed to have a modern American accent. To me there was nothing in his performance which conveyed anything of the 18th century. He seemed like a modern American thrown into the 18th century.
Then you'd have to throw in Jack Winthrop into that grouping as well.
And the bearded colonial who said "Should have gotten out of this long ago" when talking about deserting.
And the colonial who said "Got no families Cap'n, figured we'd stay and give a hand."
And the colonial in Webb's office who was saying men could disappear into the forests (DVD version).
And John Cameron (though, Alexandra doesn't have much of one, I don't know where their son James got his! lol)
And even Chingachgook to a point when he is speaking English.
Perhaps colonials didn't exactly speak that way then, as many were immigrants and brought their own accents with them, but for the purpose of the movie, they may have had the some of the colonials NOT have those accents to further convey their distinction from the British. They may have been fighting with them, but in the near future they would be fighting against them.
And just how do you pinpoint a singular American accent? I can think of at least 5 different ones.
:)
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daire
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CT•Ranger
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Posted - January 06 2003 : 10:57:25 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by daire
quote:
Originally posted by CT•Ranger
...and he seemed to have a modern American accent. To me there was nothing in his performance which conveyed anything of the 18th century. He seemed like a modern American thrown into the 18th century.
Then you'd have to throw in Jack Winthrop into that grouping as well.
And the bearded colonial who said "Should have gotten out of this long ago" when talking about deserting.
And the colonial who said "Got no families Cap'n, figured we'd stay and give a hand."
And the colonial in Webb's office who was saying men could disappear into the forests (DVD version).
And John Cameron (though, Alexandra doesn't have much of one, I don't know where their son James got his! lol)
And even Chingachgook to a point when he is speaking English.
Perhaps colonials didn't exactly speak that way then, as many were immigrants and brought their own accents with them, but for the purpose of the movie, they may have had the some of the colonials NOT have those accents to further convey their distinction from the British. They may have been fighting with them, but in the near future they would be fighting against them.
And just how do you pinpoint a singular American accent? I can think of at least 5 different ones.
:)
Yep I'd throw all those characters into the grouping as well.
I think one of the main flaws of the film was that it tried to distinguish too much between provincials and "British." They were all British, immigrants or not. Many historians have noted that at the beginning of English colonization, many of the the colonists (especially in New England) were trying to distinguish themselves from the "old English." But as time progressed they were drawn closer and closer. At the time of the American War of Independence, the colonists were the closest to England socially, culturally, and economically than they had been in their entire history. It was a major civil war with British fighting British.
As for accents, there were many around in the 18th century just as today, but they were quite distinct from anything which exists in America today. The New England "Yankee twang" was a mixture of Southern and Eastern English accents, as that was were the majority of New England colonists were from. You can still hear something like the old "Yankee twang" in parts of East Anglia today in the "Norfolk whine". In the film Hawkeye supposedly learned English from a New England missionary school. Therefore he would have adopted more of a New England accent. I think Jack Winthrop and the other provincials should have had a New England accent as well.
just some thoughts.
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daire
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Posted - January 06 2003 : 11:21:28 PM
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Well, it IS just a movie.  Very few are ever completely historically accurate in all respects.
I know 200+ years ago, the New England accent wouldn't have been what it is today (probably more British?), and good thing, I can't see Nathaniel, et al, speaking with a "pahk the cah" accent. 
I'm glad I don't fall into any particular "accent" group. I grew up in Central NY, now in Central Ohio (where you find a "Southern" accent as well), and don't fancy myself as having an accent, and have been told that I don't by others. (One woman here, upon learning I was from NY, assumed the city and was surprised and said "You don't sound it, do you work on not having an accent?" Some think the whole state is paved over.) |
daire
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Lurking Huron5898
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Posted - January 07 2003 : 06:19:02 AM
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| Joining in on the non18th century talk-DDL made me feel quite at home, I live in the boonies of Kan-tuck-kee (yes, I know it was't set in K., but the people here are direct descendents of the old gang)where everyone around me says 'Ain't' and uses 'Frontier English' like crazy. Personally, I thought he should have spoken more like the Mohicans than the English, even though Hawkeye had gone to school to learn English. He would have spoken with Mohican language inflection in his speech, ye ken? Not frontier inflections and language. It made me wonder how many English people Hawkeye was hanging around with. But that was the fault of the directors, not DDL. |
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Keneta
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Posted - January 07 2003 : 06:21:46 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by Lurking Huron5898
Joining in on the non18th century talk-DDL made me feel quite at home, I live in the boonies of Kan-tuck-kee (yes, I know it was't set in K., but the people here are direct descendents of the old gang)where everyone around me says 'Ain't' and uses 'Frontier English' like crazy. Personally, I thought he should have spoken more like the Mohicans than the English, even though Hawkeye had gone to school to learn English. He would have spoken with Mohican language inflection in his speech, ye ken? Not frontier inflections and language. It made me wonder how many English people Hawkeye was hanging around with. But that was the fault of the directors, not DDL.
I am not a lurking Huron, I am not a lurking Huron. I logged in, but didn't noticed that it didn't take my log, so I posted as that Lurking Huron again. Anyway, the above are my feelings on the accent/language discussion. |
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Theresa
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Posted - January 07 2003 : 07:53:57 AM
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| Accent?! Accent, you say? Y'all come on down here to Alabama and I'll show you accent! True story...when my daughter was a little girl we were at the Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville. We got on an elevator and some visitors from up north got on with us. When they heard my daughter talking they said, "Oh how cute. Listen to her accent." At which point I reminded them that they were in Alabama and they were the ones with the accents! Rude or not...I believe accents are relavent. |
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Wilderness Woman
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 Posted - January 07 2003 : 12:55:51 PM
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Alright, now... I'm going to jump into the fray here and ask a possibly very stupid question:
How can we possibly know how Anybody sounded in the 18th century? After all, there were no audio recordings. We know from writings of the period how words were used and how phrases and paragraphs were put together. But how can we know what kinds of accents there were in the English language? Accents can change and evolve over the years... it's happening right here in America, in certain cultures.
And now for my opinion on DD-L's use of accent in LOTM: I think that given that we really, truly do not know how Hawkeye would realistically have sounded... his interpretation of how Hawkeye might have sounded was good. Not too "veddy, veddy propah" British... not too "me Hawkeye, you Cora" Indian... not too "back-woodsish" uneducated. (No intent to poke fun at any of you re-enactors out there!) I though he did well.
Just me-own little opinion! 
(Cute story, Theresa!)
Ciao! |
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daire
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Posted - January 07 2003 : 3:12:10 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by Wilderness Woman
How can we possibly know how Anybody sounded in the 18th century?
Not a stupid question...I was (trying to, anyway) commenting on speculation of how they might have sounded. There is no way we can now how people talked with such a melange of languages coming here with immigrants, but it's kind of fun speculating!
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daire
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Wilderness Woman
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Posted - January 07 2003 : 10:44:07 PM
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Absolutely! That nice mix is part of what makes America great.
More friendly discussion here... My "stupid question" was mainly directed to CT-Ranger, where he states: As for accents, there were many around in the 18th century just as today, but they were quite distinct from anything which exists in America today. The New England "Yankee twang" was a mixture of Southern and Eastern English accents, as that was were the majority of New England colonists were from. You can still hear something like the old "Yankee twang" in parts of East Anglia today in the "Norfolk whine"
I am certainly not a scholar of languages, so please forgive me, but I don't understand how it can be stated so definitely how any given group of people spoke in the 18th century, or how differently people from the same area may sound today? What physical evidence is there that proves who had a "twang" and when? How can that be conveyed through the written word?
Guess I am still Lost in the Wilderness... of speech! |
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morgaine
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Posted - January 07 2003 : 11:02:29 PM
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Several years ago, there was a series on PBS that dealt with the English language. They demonstrated how American regional accents today evolved from the way English was spoken in the various parts of England where the colonists came from. It was very interesting to hear. What CT Ranger says about that is true. (I, myself, have no problem with the way the characters speak in LOTM.) Even today, on Tangier Island in the Chesapeake, the islanders have their own dialect that is close to Elizabethan English. The Gullah people in South Carolina have an African dialect. I also think that I have read that the French spoken in Canada has similarities to 17th century French. I think it is fascinating and wonderful when such parts of the past remain with us today.
I believe that in Colonial Williamsburg, they are researching the way English was actually spoken in the 18th century with the goal of having character interpreters actually speak in that fashion. I do not know how advanced this project is. |
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Wilderness Woman
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Posted - January 08 2003 : 08:01:06 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by morgaine
Several years ago, there was a series on PBS that dealt with the English language. They demonstrated how American regional accents today evolved from the way English was spoken in the various parts of England where the colonists came from. It was very interesting to hear.
Hmmm... wish I had seen that. It may have helped me to understand how, without actually hearing the accent, one can determine that there was one.
Thanks! Ciao! |
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CT•Ranger
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Posted - January 08 2003 : 4:40:54 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by Wilderness Woman
Absolutely! That nice mix is part of what makes America great.
More friendly discussion here... My "stupid question" was mainly directed to CT-Ranger, where he states: As for accents, there were many around in the 18th century just as today, but they were quite distinct from anything which exists in America today. The New England "Yankee twang" was a mixture of Southern and Eastern English accents, as that was were the majority of New England colonists were from. You can still hear something like the old "Yankee twang" in parts of East Anglia today in the "Norfolk whine"
I am certainly not a scholar of languages, so please forgive me, but I don't understand how it can be stated so definitely how any given group of people spoke in the 18th century, or how differently people from the same area may sound today? What physical evidence is there that proves who had a "twang" and when? How can that be conveyed through the written word?
Guess I am still Lost in the Wilderness... of speech!
Historians and linguists can reconstruct old accents from descriptions of the Yankee accent in primary documents, ryhming patterns in 17th-18th century New England poetry, and the descriptions of 18th-19th century orthnographers. The "Yankee twang" was quite famous by the late 18th century and many people commented on it and tried to describe it in writing. There is a good description of early American accents and speech ways in David Hackett Fisher's Albion's Seed: Four British Folkways in America. For example, in his description of New England speech ways he writes; "The ryhme schemes of New England poets in the 17th and 18th centuries tell us that glare was pronounced glar; hair was har; air was ar; and war rhymed with star." |
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Wilderness Woman
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 Posted - January 09 2003 : 07:58:25 AM
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Ahhh! Ok. Not being a scholar, and not knowing what kinds of writings are out there on this subject... I honestly did not know what sorts of clues were available.
Thanks for explaining, and thanks for your patience, CT-R!
Ciao! |
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Daniel Day-Lewis: His Best Role!
