they did, Williams (and Gosling) was faced with dif-
ficult challenges in maintaining expressive coher-
ence. Ultimately, she creates a characterization
that has the wholeness of its contradictory parts.
Finally, there’s a truthfulness that comes with
her seemingly effortless performance, a natural-
ness that only a born actor can create. Williams not
only looks and acts like such a character in physical
appearance, facial expression, speech, movement,
and gesture but also understands—and can make
us understand—all kinds of feelings, ranging from
vulnerability to strength.Stella Dallas andBlue Valentine: two different
movies—both concerned with strong, natural
women confronted by social barriers—and two dif-
ferent actors—both playing with strong emotion.
Which is the better performance? Look at them,
apply the criteria you’ve learned here, and decide
for yourself.336 CHAPTER 7ACTING
Analyzing Acting
Because our responses to actors’ performances
on-screen are perhaps our most automatic and intu-
itive responses to any formal aspect of film, it is
easy to forget that acting is as much a formal com-
ponent of movies—something made—as mise-en-
scène, cinematography, and editing are. And yet,
acting is clearly something that must be planned
and shaped in some manner; the very fact that films
are shot out of continuity demands that actors
approach their performances with a rigor and con-sciousness that mirrors the director’s work on the
film as a whole. This chapter has presented several
different things to think about as you watch film
acting from this point forward. Using the criteria
described in the previous section, remaining sensi-
tive to the context of the performances, and keep-
ing the following checklist in mind as you watch, you
should be able to incorporate an intelligent analysis
of acting into your discussion and writing about the
movies you screen for class.✔What special talents of imagination or intelli-
gence has the actor brought to the role?
✔How important is the filmmaking process in cre-
ating the character? Is the actor’s performance
overshadowed by the filmmaking process?
✔Does the actor work well with fellow actors in
this film? Do any of the other actors detract
from the lead actor’s performance?
✔How, if at all, is the actor’s conception of the
character based on logic? How does the per-
formance demonstrate expressive coherence?
✔Does the actor’s performance have the expres-
sive power to make us forget that he or she is
acting? If it does, how do you think the actor
achieved this effect?✔Why was this actor, and not another, cast for the
role?
✔Does the actor’s performance create a coherent,
unified character? If so, how?
✔Does the actor look the part? Is it necessary for
the actor to look the part?
✔Does the actor’s performance convey the
actions, thoughts, and internal complexities that
we associate with natural or recognizable char-
acters? Or does it exhibit the excessive
approach we associate with nonnaturalistic
characters?
✔What elements are most distinctive in how the
actor conveys the character’s actions, thoughts,
and internal complexities: body language, ges-
tures, facial expressions, language?