Posted by Marcia on January 27, 1998 at 09:25:38:
In Reply to: Daniel Day Lewis, Eric Schweig, Talent posted by Bill R on January 27, 1998 at 08:48:24:
Bill wrote:
Part of the
: reason it took me so long to pick up on it is due to DDL's very extraordinary ability to shift his look and actions to match entirely different personalities without a lot of makeup. In the crucible he was the perfect minister torn by doubt, desire and duty to God. He had an entirely different look from our Beloved Hawkeye with long hair blowing in the wind as he races across that clearing to save Cora. In Mohicans he exudes the look and personality of the self-reliant and confident frontiersman. I have not seen The Boxer, but am sure DDL has once again become the personality required. This ability takes extraordinary talent and that versatility makes him stand out.
Hi, Bill, You Meaningful Poster, You! ;o)
I'm swamped with work today & shouldn't be taking time for this, but I just have to comment on your remarks about Daniel Day-Lewis. You have hit the nail on the head as to what makes him one of, if not THE, greatest actor today. He is a virtual chameleon, changing so completely for each part he undertakes, that it is often difficult to believe it is the same actor. Witness his blonde, gay, street-punk in My Beautiful Laundrette which came out the same year (I believe) as his portrayal of the insufferable Cecil Vyse in Room With a View. Then he turned around and became the ultimate romantic hero as Hawkeye, shortly after winning the Academy Award for his tortured performance as cerebral palsy victim and writer, Christy Brown. We have the elegantly suave, impeccably dressed Newland Archer, in the lavishly Victorian production of Age of Innocence, followed by the gawky, graceless youth-to-adulthood transformation of Gerry Conlan from In the Name of the Father. The tanned, weathered farmer (sorry, Bill...not a minister) in The Crucible, tormented anew with desires he strives to control, is another completely different look and persona. I find the man's ability to lose himself entirely in each of these characters a rare gift, an astounding talent, and a pleasure to watch time and time again.
Marcia
: As to Eric, the man is another great talent in my mind. He of course plays the Native American with style and honesty and sensitivity...but there is a bigger talent under there and I hope those who direct and cast continue to recognize it and develop it. He strikes me as a very intelligent and sensitive man, with many sides to his personality, but is always true to what he is at any given moment. I wanna see MORE of this man!! Period film or not. Though, I think, he has done as much or more for the cause of the Native American as Russell Means has, but in his own way. A quieter way. One that may have a better chance of reaching Americans and changing paradigms than a strident tone would.
: Bill R