Mary Poppins – Mary Poppins (1964)
One of the great musicals, heck, one of the greatest films ever made, provides us with one of the most comforting, thrilling characters ever seen on screen. Mary Poppins (a super, calmly fragile, mystic, exceptional, audacious Julie Andrews) arrives to tend to the children of wealthy parents, too preoccupied to give them their full attention.
Poppins is unorthodox in her methods of child-minding, as well as her means of transport, and provides a prickly reception to those who meet her. First impressions of stern and strict don’t last though (unlike the original book), the awe-inspiring, poignant coat of warmth and care she leaves in her path is enough to melt the human heart.
Mary Poppins, with the poise of a guardian angel, an idol for children and adults alike, oozes so much love and magic through her meaningful methods. That chores work best through song, being transported from Edwardian London to animated rural setting, the literal bond of laughter and levitation etc. Before she is off and gone with the wind.
Éowyn – The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
J. R. R. Tolkien created the character of Éowyn, and countless others, in his epic fantasy compendium, long before Miranda Otto brought her to live on screen in Peter Jackson’s extraordinary trilogy. Not until the third installment does Éowyn really get her teeth into the action. Having to somehow be advised by other characters, including Aragorn to whom she holds a special place in her heart, that her female duties are with the people back home.
Éowyn, with her huge spirit and brave soul, is listening to nobody shackling her good intentions, she armors up and travels with Merry to the Battle of the Pelennor Fields. Her crowning moment comes after seeing her uncle Théoden mortally wounded by the witch-king riding a fell-beast. Éowyn stands herself between her uncle and her enemy, quickly severing the head of the fell-beasts before being out fought by the witch-king – “No man can kill me.” Intervening Merry gives the upper hand back to Éowyn – “I am no man!” before jolting her sword full force through the witch-king’s head.
Théoden witnesses with pride. Although disguising herself as a man, it was far better that Jackson and his team allowed the audience to know of her identity, rather than trying to surprise us with the gender reveal. Éowyn may not be chosen by Aragorn in the end, but that was ultimately his loss.
Marquise de Merteuil – Dangerous Liaisons (1988)
Marquise de Merteuil has transcended Pierre Choderlos de Laclos’ book Les Liaisons dangereuses and the following play by Christopher Hampto. Then Glenn Close took on the role with immaculate disposition in Stephen Frears’ marvelous film version – also adapted for the screen by Hampton. Accompanied by the remarkable John Malkovich and magnetic Michelle Pfeiffer, not to mention Philippe Rousselot’s photography and James Acheson’s costumes, Merteuil shines in Close’s hands – a villainous, relentless woman of stealthy wit and power.
Looking to take vengeance on her former lover, arranging the seduction the virgin Cécile, Merteuil enlists sometimes lover Vicomte de Valmont into her torrid plans. His unexpected love for Madame de Tourvel turns the cogs of human impulse on its head, but Valmont being embroiled heavily already in Merteuil’s wicked games means this does not end well. Merteuil subtly pushing people into the wrong arms and places is soon her downfall. Although a disgraced Merteuil’s schemes are later revealed to the entirety of Paris, she remains a character that echoes a dangerous intelligence and unequivocal influence.
Ree Dolly – Winter’s Bone (2010)
Jennifer Lawrence’s breakthrough role in Debra Granik’s gritty, compelling Winter’s Bone is arguably her finest. As teenage Ree stuck in rural America, taking it upon herself to look after her brother, sister, and mentally unstable mother, here is a character dealt a very rough hand, but will not be backed into a corner without a fight. On the verge of losing their home because of the long time absent father, Ree wants not only to protect her family from this hardship, but is determined to, and kind of pushed towards, finding proof of either their father’s disappearance or his death.
Stepping into the neighborhood of drugs and violence, and amidst all the threats on the family’s livelihood, Ree is assaulted by the hostile folk she seeks out for answers, but gets to her feet again and digs a little deeper. The horrific truth uncovered paradoxically settles the waters. And we can take solace in the resolution with a handful of hope, that Ree can return to teaching her younger brother and sister the basic survival skills they might need to survive.
Lisbeth Salander – The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (2011)
Adapted by Steven Zaillian from the Stieg Larsson novel, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo got the David Fincher treatment, released just two years after the Swedish film. Rooney Mara delivers a smart, introverted computer hacker onto the screen. Under some dodgy legal guardianship, heavily pinned down by emotional and sexual abuse, this is a character with endless depth and strength.
Assisting (and background checking) Blomkvist (Daniel Craig) to investigate the disappearance of a girl decades earlier, Lisbeth appears self-sufficient, her punk / goth demeanor, distinctly-shaped black hair. In the meantime, oozing slick, super-cool, Salander dons a disguise in Switzerland, has a subway punch-up, takes a wicked vengeance on her horrid guardian, and later rescues Blomkvist from torture and imminent death. She may ride off alone and jilted at the film’s close, but Lisbeth has long since earned the audience’s loyalty.
Sandra Bya – Two Days, One Night (2014)
The Dardennes brothers set up the brilliant Two Days, One Night in a matter of moments, your commitment to Sandra (Marion Cotillard) is immediate. A woman faced with losing her job through the votes of her co-workers – they in turn would lose their thousand Euro bonus if she remains. Sandra is vulnerable and in dire mental health, but is she in control of her own destiny? She has a supportive husband, and two kids, Sandra has plenty to live for, but poverty is a destructive barrier.
With little left in the tank she still manages to find the strength to walk the streets of her town to approach her colleagues. She is a generous, straight-up woman, she can understand the sensitivity of the situation and everyone’s own social dilemma. Through all the heartache, near-misses, and sheer fight, Sandra achieves her goal, but in a final moment of redemption can stroll onward and upward, taking her own future by the hand.
Maud Watts – Suffragette (2015)
What great power and significance lies in the women’s rights movement early in the twentieth century, depicted through the story of the women’s suffrage in Britain, a film directed by Sarah Gavron and written by Abi Morgan. The devastatingly good Carey Mulligan heads a terrific cast, playing laundress Maud Watts, who bit-by-bit builds a determined and unbreakable force to defend the oppressed women of the day’s society.
Maud speaks out to parliament, spends time behind bars, jeopardizes her marriage and custody of he son, is outcast by those she knows, loses her job, and partakes in a horrific hunger strike. Her ruthlessly taking a hot iron to the hand of her sexually violating male employer is a metaphor for the triumph of women, as well as a moment to applaud in its own right. Maud refuses to play dead, risking everything for the greater good of the female demographic. Her actions and those of the women fighting the same battle soon changed history forever.
Lucy Burrows – Broken Blossoms (1919)
One of the greatest actresses of the era, Lillian Gish, reminds us of the heavy subject matter as well as the timeless entertainment the silent age of cinema provided. In 1919, D.W. Griffith and United Artists brought the tragic tale of Broken Blossoms to the screen. A tale of the young Lucy Burrows, longing to escape the torrid life her physically abusive father, Battling Burrows, a boxer, drags her through.
Lucy meets a Chinese man, Cheng, also on the journey of self-fulfillment, and such an impact she makes on him, he falls in love with her. His devotion to Lucy is clear to see, he does his best to take care of her. When Lucy takes drastic measures to protect herself, Cheng and her father cross paths, resulting in the kind of tragedy Shakespeare could have penned – two men fighting for Lucy Burrows, even after she has departed. So sad the stuff of legends.
Otilia Mihartescu – 4 luni, 3 saptamâni si 2 zile (2007)
There’s a grand human subtely to Otilia’s predicament in Cristian Mungiu’s extraordinary 4 luni, 3 saptamâni si 2 zile (4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days). A film so entangled in mortal sacrifice and suffering, you might have to take a step back to appreciate what Otilia abides here. Huge credit given to the no-holds- barred turn from Anamaria Marinca. When her university student dorm-mate Găbița (Laura Vasiliu) is pregnant, Otilia springs into action to support her weary friend arrange an illegal abortion. A huge, huge no-no in Romania in the late eighties. But with an understandable chip on her shoulder.
Otilia scrounges from other students, and asks her boyfriend for money, but is uninterested in attending his mother’s birthday meal later. And then has to sweet talk the irrational a-hole Mr. Bebe (Vlad Ivanov) who is to perform the procedure on Găbița. As things snowball, sacrifices are made. As many of the day’s horrid little events are spawned from Găbița’s lies, it is a wonder Otilia continues to be so supportive – but she does.
Shoshanna Dreyfus / Emmanuelle Mimieux – Inglourious Basterds (2009)
Whatever you think about Quentin Tarantino on any given day, there is no question about his imprint of character on his audience. A simply terrific performance by Mélanie Laurent portrays one of Tarantino’s finest, well-rounded characters. But more prominently here she has bigger balls and motivation than most of his male characters.
Inglourious Basterds flips a portion of history on its head, which begins with Shosanna narrowly avoiding being picked off by the Jew Hunter. And closes with her, under the assumed alias Emmanuelle, burning the Nazi Germany big-hitters to their bones. I will never forgive Tarantino for the fate he chose for Shosanna after all we went through with her, but the big screen footage of Shosanna informing the Nazi audience they are being killed by a Jew is priceless.
Page 3
Discover more from Filmotomy
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
