Conundrum...

I did some writing on Leonides...just 7 pages...then read some for APoS. Now I'm trying to talk myself into streaming a program, but I'm having trouble. Mainly because this quote by Terrence Davies pretty much encapsulates me and movies, these days:

"I don’t see that many films now because you can’t watch it with innocent eyes. You’re aware of the music, the camera, the acting, the art direction. You can’t watch anything with clear eyes."

And yeah...when I'm watching just about anything, now, I can see the acting and the directing and the editing, and they keep me from being caught up in the story. I've watched 2 seasons of Game of Thrones and it's difficult, at best. Not just the costumes being stupidly designed as modern versions of ancient reality (and made to look cool instead of real or honest), and not just the barely adequate writing. It's the mediocre TV style acting. The dead voices and huffing to express something and nothing going on behind the eyes kind of thing.

So far, the only two actors in that show that have blinded me to the techniques being used are Peter Dinklage and Charles Dance. When they're on the screen, they inhabit their roles and I believe them. Everyone else, I can see the acting. Hear it. Which happens with actors who don't know what they're doing yet.

I caught onto this, years ago, when I went to see Norman's Room, which has Diane Keaton, Meryl Streep, Leonardo De Caprio and Robert De Niro in it. Heavy-hitters, all of them, and for the first fifteen minutes, I'm nodding at who they are...playing these roles and doing well, as expected. But by the half-hour mark, I was lost in the characters and story.

Seriously, that wasn't Diane Keaton on the screen, but a woman with cancer fighting for another chance at life. That wasn't Meryl Streep but her estranged sister who's still pissed-off at her perfect sister. Thanks to them, my conscious awareness of the directing, the cinematography, the editing, the costuming...it all vanished.

A counter-example: I love Daniel Craig as 007. He fits that role as if it was meant for him, and even in that never-ending thing called No Time To Die, he really helped hide the technicals. BUT...he didn't in The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. At all. As I watched it, I was wondering things like, "Why isn't he wearing gloves in winter? It's Sweden; he'll get frostbite." And "Why is that car driving so fast on an icy road?" His portrayal of the character wasn't strong enough, nor was he really supported by the directing, screenplay, or other actors.

Now, a film that goes both ways is William Wyler's The Heiress, with Olivia De Havilland, Ralph Richardson (before he was a sir), Miriam Hopkins and Montgomery Clift. True, Wyler knows how to submerge his directing into the story, and he had an excellent script as well as production design, costumer and cinematographer to work with.

But what carried the film are the pitch-perfect performances of the first three actors mentioned. Sir Ralph can convey more emotion with a raised eyebrow than Dustin Hoffman can for all his method style. Olivia was beautiful, but she made you believe she wasn't, in her own mind, thanks to the emotional damage caused by her father.

What hurt it was Monte...part of which was really not his fault. He was seriously miscast. It's set in 1850s New York and he's a very modern type of actor, but he was also not yet in control enough of his acting to overcome that...and even though I love the film, I noticed that every time I watch it. It took me years to figure out why it bugged me.

It was the same in Red River. John Wayne fit the western timeframe perfectly, of course; Monte's like this twerp from the upper east side on a lark. But in A Place in the Sun and From Here to Eternity, he was exactly right, mainly because both had modern settings.

I guess I'm saying if the actors are good (and right for the part), I can put my critical eye aside on everything else, and let the story flow. But there ain't that much good in acting out there, these days. Which is why I have to talk myself into watching a movie, now.