The Final Conclusion - Best Actress 1975

1975

So the much anticipated ranking is:

5. Ann-Margret in Tommy

Shame on the Academy. I'm sure this performance has its share of fans but I'm a staunch naysayer to this one. Not only is it ridiculous at some points, but it's also unbearably boring. The best thing that I can say about this performance that it's certainly unforgettable though in this case being forgettable would be way better.

4. Glenda Jackson in Hedda

I'm just as stunned about this as you are. While I expected her to become my pick, I was really disappointed by Glenda Jackson in Hedda. The movie itself had a lot to do with that but still. Althuogh this performance also has its share of fans, I'm not one of them, either. Personally, I would expect more from Glenda.

3. Carol Kane in Hester Street

You might be surprised that she's only third as I seemed reallly fond of her in my review. To tell the truth, I would have praised any great performance to graces after Ann-Margret. Still, Kane is really good as Gitl, her presence is just lovely and I really cared about her and was interested in what comes to her next.

2. Louise Fletcher in One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest

I used to be stunned by the fact that she won but right now I'm not that shocked considering her competition. Although she's supporting, she still pulls off a great performance as the evil Nurse Ratched and she indeed created an iconic character. It's just that I wasn't that blown away by her work in this movie.

1. Isabelle Adjani in The Story of Adèle H.

The saving grace. The shining light. My only hope. If it wasn't for Adjani's performance, I would stop reviewing after this horrid year. Thankfully, Adjani is just astonishing as Adèle Hugo, giving one of the most interesting and unique performances that I've ever seen. She's so full of passion, drama and romance that it's a real emotional joy to see her. Her beauty and talent shines through the movie and makes it even better than it already is.

So I can proudly announce

the winner is...

Isabelle Adjani

in

The Story of Adele H.

Easy win.

Final thoughts: Horrible year, arguably the worst one ever. Only Isabelle Adjani was really, truly worthy of the Oscar, the others... Wow. Fletcher, Kane and Jackson were all good, I just wasn't amazed by them. The ranking could have been any way. I don't even want to talk about Ann-Margret. I guess my thoughts on this year weren't exactly loved, to put it delicately, sorry about that.

The ranking of the reviewed years:

1. 1944
2. 1969
3. 1974
4. 1989
5. 1959
6. 2006
7. 1978
8. 2010
9. 1996
10. 1964
11. 1939
12. 1977
13. 1997
14. 2009
15. 1980
16. 1941
17. 1972
18. 1963
19. 1966
20. 1973
21. 1983
22. 1986
23. 1937
24. 1990
25. 1954
26. 1958
27. 1948
28. 2002
29. 1957
30. 1940
31. 1998
32. 1975

About the next: this year was requested by the winner of the last predicting contest and it's full of romance and grief.

What do you think? Any thoughts on your mind?

Louise Fletcher in One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest

Louise Fletcher received her only Oscar nomination and Oscar win for playing Nurse Mildred Ratched, an evil nurse in a mental instituition in Milos Forman's One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest. It's easy to see why Fletcher won the Oscar: she was in the Best Picture winner and she she was the only one who had a traditional Oscar role. Most of the other movies were really small and/or unusual and Fletcher's only real rival, Isabelle Adjani had a mostly French-speaking role. I guess she still threatened Fletcher but I guess she had an easy win after all. 1975 wasn't the greatest year when it came to Lead Actress performances so a supporting performance could actually even win.

One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest is a movie that varies with my all the time. Sometimes I can go crazy about it and sometimes I can't stand it. Right now, I really loved it and I was blown away. I admire Milos Forman as a director very much even though I feel that his Czeckoslovakian movies were probably his best ones. Still, he's a great director anywhere, I'm just saying. The only thing that I always appreciate about this movie is Jack's leading performance as McMurphy. He's just brilliant though I would have probably voted for Al Pacino (but not as easily as I would have earlier). Brad Dourif is quite good and deserved his nod though I wouldn't give him the win.

Louise Fletcher was a so-called "one hit wonder". It's always very dangerous to win an Oscar when you're not that famous as they begin to typecast you (Fletcher) or they just forget you when it's proven that you're not what they wanted (Luise Rainer). Nurse Ratched was a role that was turned downed by some great actresses like Jane Fonda (I'm just wondering how she would have been here), Faye Dunaway, Anne Bancroft (she would have killed in this part, I think) and Angela Lansbury (wow, I wish that had happened, she would have been so interesting). So the relatively unknown Lousie Fletcher played the part. I guess, with hindsight, it was a great decision as many love this performance.

But I'm not one of them, unfortunately. Honestly, I really tried to like her and I actually did, I just never felt that this performance was as amazing as some say. Although she has her moments, her whole work is nothing really remarkable. First of all, I couldn't really decide if Nurse Ratched was really that evil. I suspected that she just wanted to keep a distance while she was doing her job. Some say that she's the devil itself but I wouldn't say so. She's a cold, and probably even manipulative woman who just wants to keep order. She's always deathly calm and she doesn't seem to be terrified by the patients.

What I do like about this performance is that Fletcher plays nurse Ratched with such calmness and subtlty. There are no over-the-top screams by her, mostly she's just sitting and looking in a very icy way. I could say that she did nothing in this part and I would probably be close to reality, however, I felt Fletcher got very much out of this part that's isn't exactly deep. She's not amazing because she cannot be amazing as Nurse Ratched. She's a very simple, uninteresting woman and there isn't much drama about her. She's just there and we can see some of her actions. Yet Fletcher did her best to make Nurse Ratched interesting. I guess she succeeded in a way, as her performance was never that boring, I just could't see the real brilliance.

However, I did like the nuances that Louise added to the character. I don't know why I felt that but this character seemed a bit delicious, especially when she was being quite mean and cold. For example, in the end, she tortures a boy into suicide and that's a brilliantly acted moment by Fletcher. That scene impressed me very much and I thought it was handled extremely well by her.

Still, I don't know what to say about Louise Fletcher in this movie. She's indeed very good but nothing amazing. Although some go crazy about her subtle evilness, she left me a little bit cold. There are excellent moments and the overall effect on me was really positive, I just feel that she wasn't that great.

Very hard rating. She's between a 3,5 and a 4. It might be surprising that I went with the latter. I just compared her to other performances and she was better than some who got 4s.

What do you think?

The Next Year

1975

So the nominees were:

• Isabelle Adjani in The Story of Adèle H.
• Ann-Margret in Tommy
• Louise Fletcher in One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest
• Glenda Jackson in Hedda
• Carol Kane in Hester Street

Since I still don't have In America, I'll do this year that's said to be really weak but I haven't seen four of them yeat so it will be very interesting for me, at least.

What do you think? What's your ranking? What do you predict for my ranking?