Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community - View Single Post - Particularly impressive performances by mature actors

oliver9184 · 06-13-2010, 10:32 AM

Although I can think of some great and plenty of good performances by young actors, it seems that think acting tends to improve with age. The passing of time sees physical agility and good looks are diminished gradually; this is inversely proportionate to the increase in character and wisdom and, I think, is a fair trade. I want to see more performances by actors who were, say, over fifty at the time. There's something uniquely satisfying and sometimes humbling about a really worthwile performance coming from a wizened and familiar face that has nothing to do with what the character's place in the story and everything to do with the simple pleasure of hearing that particular actor saying words.

What are your favourite over-50 performances and why? Here's four for starters, two leading performances and two supporting.

Max Von Sydow (aged 58 in 1987) as Lassefar in Pelle the Conqueror
Over the past few years he's carved out a sort of niche for himself in American films generally playing the more distinguished, learned gentleman but Von Sydow's sole Oscar-nominated (Dustin Hoffman wrongly won it that year for Rain Man) turn was for Danish period film Pelle the Conqueror. It's the story of a widower peasant trying to provide for his young son in windswept coastal Denmark, having emigrated from Sweden around the turn of the 20th century. Von Sydow's quiet and selfless determination to do right by his boy against soul-crushing odds is both humbling and riveting.

Richard Harris (aged 70 in 2000) as Marcus Aurelius in Gladiator
Harris had a very physical and at times a pretty tough life; and so presumably too did his character in Gladiator. This totally comes through in his scene with Maximus, in which he's utterly exhausted, and there's palpable heartache and regret in the following scene with Commodus: he steals both scenes and Gladiator, along with the first two Harry Potters and the brilliant The Count of Monte Cristo marks a high (if not quite the highest) point in the twilight years of a tumultuous career.

Jack Nicholson (aged 65 in 2002) as Warren Schmidt in About Schmidt
About Schmidt is the perfect cap on a near-perfect career for Jack Nicholson. Warren Schmidt is the perfect antithesis of the roles that made his name at the start of his career (One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Carnal Knowledge, The Last Detail), in which he played amoral (or at least morally ambiguous) characters: generally dangerous, out of control human demons and/or irresistable lotharios. Schmidt is responsible, moral and boring. A film about him should be those things too and probably would be if anyone but Nicholson had played Schmidt. The comedy almost all comes from character and is so wonderfully underplayed that repeat viewings may be necessary if one is to savour every last tiny humourous moment; there's also a thick vein of pathos running through the film that pays off in spades at the end.

John Huston (aged 68 in 1975) as Noah Cross in Chinatown
Probably the most effortless performance on the list is John Huston as Noah Cross. David Thomson can say it better than I can: "That's what makes Huston's Noah Cross in Chinatown one of his greatest gifts to the screen: a man of the West, a pioneer and maker of cities, a realist, a killer, and a man of unflawed confidence and selfishness - a terrible, charismatic paradox, a bastard and an arisotcrat." It seems likely that this performance was an inspiration for Daniel Day-Lewis's spectacular Daniel Plainview in There Will Be Blood.

06-13-2010, 10:32 AM	#1 (permalink)
oliver9184 Psycho	Particularly impressive performances by mature actors Although I can think of some great and plenty of good performances by young actors, it seems that think acting tends to improve with age. The passing of time sees physical agility and good looks are diminished gradually; this is inversely proportionate to the increase in character and wisdom and, I think, is a fair trade. I want to see more performances by actors who were, say, over fifty at the time. There's something uniquely satisfying and sometimes humbling about a really worthwile performance coming from a wizened and familiar face that has nothing to do with what the character's place in the story and everything to do with the simple pleasure of hearing that particular actor saying words. What are your favourite over-50 performances and why? Here's four for starters, two leading performances and two supporting. Max Von Sydow (aged 58 in 1987) as Lassefar in Pelle the Conqueror Over the past few years he's carved out a sort of niche for himself in American films generally playing the more distinguished, learned gentleman but Von Sydow's sole Oscar-nominated (Dustin Hoffman wrongly won it that year for Rain Man) turn was for Danish period film Pelle the Conqueror. It's the story of a widower peasant trying to provide for his young son in windswept coastal Denmark, having emigrated from Sweden around the turn of the 20th century. Von Sydow's quiet and selfless determination to do right by his boy against soul-crushing odds is both humbling and riveting. Richard Harris (aged 70 in 2000) as Marcus Aurelius in Gladiator Harris had a very physical and at times a pretty tough life; and so presumably too did his character in Gladiator. This totally comes through in his scene with Maximus, in which he's utterly exhausted, and there's palpable heartache and regret in the following scene with Commodus: he steals both scenes and Gladiator, along with the first two Harry Potters and the brilliant The Count of Monte Cristo marks a high (if not quite the highest) point in the twilight years of a tumultuous career. Jack Nicholson (aged 65 in 2002) as Warren Schmidt in About Schmidt About Schmidt is the perfect cap on a near-perfect career for Jack Nicholson. Warren Schmidt is the perfect antithesis of the roles that made his name at the start of his career (One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Carnal Knowledge, The Last Detail), in which he played amoral (or at least morally ambiguous) characters: generally dangerous, out of control human demons and/or irresistable lotharios. Schmidt is responsible, moral and boring. A film about him should be those things too and probably would be if anyone but Nicholson had played Schmidt. The comedy almost all comes from character and is so wonderfully underplayed that repeat viewings may be necessary if one is to savour every last tiny humourous moment; there's also a thick vein of pathos running through the film that pays off in spades at the end. John Huston (aged 68 in 1975) as Noah Cross in Chinatown Probably the most effortless performance on the list is John Huston as Noah Cross. David Thomson can say it better than I can: "That's what makes Huston's Noah Cross in Chinatown one of his greatest gifts to the screen: a man of the West, a pioneer and maker of cities, a realist, a killer, and a man of unflawed confidence and selfishness - a terrible, charismatic paradox, a bastard and an arisotcrat." It seems likely that this performance was an inspiration for Daniel Day-Lewis's spectacular Daniel Plainview in There Will Be Blood.