You, fool! Of course, I am referring to six women (actresses to be exact) who garnered an Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading or Supporting Role. Excuses are welcome, amigo.
SUNRISE (1927 Best Actress, Janet Gaynor) From the DVD cover, it says it’s one and the only film who got a special award namely “Most Unique and Artistic Film”. Janet Gaynor, by the way, is also the first Oscar Best Actress. I will try to remember those things so that when Kris Aquino finally asks me that as a multi-million question in Game KNB’s jackpot round, I know what to answer without even going to the Tarantarium. Well, the silent movie is great. I always thought that early American films have a flat storyline. “Sunrise” breaks that by sharing a symbolic story of a married life in the province. It awkwardly starts with the husband trying to drown his wife for another woman who’s from the city. The murder is interrupted by the church bells (faith?) and what follows is a series of a love metamorphosis (the courting, the “kilig”, simulating a wedding by witnessing somebody else’s and surviving tragedy).
GRAPES OF WRATH (1940 Best Supporting Actress, Jane Darwell) This is one of those old films which tackles social injustices in the US (land-grabbers, police abuse, etc.), a vehicle to showcase yet another legendary talent like Henry Fonda. It’s about a family (mothered by Jane Darwell) who is forced to leave their land because it has been bought by a “company”. It’s some kind of a road film, showing how the family looks for a job and a place to stay. Initially, they plan to go to California to be a fruit picker but ended up with nothing but social abuses. Henry Fonda, in the end, decided to be an NPA.
COAL MINER’S DAUGHTER (1980 Best Actress, Sissy Spacek) A film bio of Loretta Lyn, the first lady of counrty music, as played by Sissy Spacek. From a simple girl, Loretta married Doo (played by Tommy Lee Jones) and eventually became a country music superstar right after Patsy Cline (Loretta’s friend and confidant) died from a plane crash. Lessons I learned from this film: yeah, we have to run our life but we should not be run over by it.
MOONSTRUCK (1987 Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress, Cher and Olympia Dukakis) Hmm, they always say that Julia Roberts is considered the “worst best actress” to win an Oscar. I think, there's a stiff competition between her and Cher. But wait, I adore the film. Very stagey. It’s about how some people can be affected by a full moon, where things become clearer and love comes in the way just in the right time.
BULLETS OVER BROADWAY (1994 Best Supporting Actress, Dianne Wiest) A perfect 10 for me. I don’t know that Woody Allen (the same writer-director who married Mia Farrow, adopted an Asian girl, divorced the wife and married the Asian girl) has made something orgasmic like this one. But yeah, the vulnerability of a relationship is still discussed but there’s more. It’s also about being an artist and the realization that some peole do not really have a gift. Dianne Wiest plays an aging stage diva. She’s good up to the last scene. I prefer her with this film over another Woody Allen film (“Hannah and her Sisters”) from which she won her first Oscar. Equally outstanding is Jennifer Tilly who plays an annoying dumb actress and a Mafia mistress. Now I can see where Renee Zellwegger is getting her acting style from.
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