No Oscar for Rowlands?


I rarely post anything on imdb but after watching Opening Night I was blown away by Gena Rowlands performance(I hate using performance when it comes to acting but for a lack of a better word). This is the best acting I have seen period. I knew of her before this movie but did not know her history of work. Her work here made me think of actresses now. Natlie Portman's nomination for best actress in Black Swan though deserved, I thought doesnt even hold a candle to Rowlands acting talents. Why woud I even compare the two? Well I guess I wish there were more films and actors like this but yet I cant think of one actress now who could play this role. I know its not fair to compare diffrent types of films and periods but how Rowlands was not even nominated for a Oscar defies logic. The balancing act that she had to toe between not over acting and still creating a complex charcter is a sign of her gift. She also had to work in a Cassavete's acting environment which, though scripted, allowed plenty of improvisonal work. I love discussing and critiquing film(film-meaning for me is a movie that has a arching story line and does not pander to its audience). However it's sad that it's becoming harder to do that now. I kow film should be for entertainment but it should also make you think. Where is our Gena Rowalnds or John Cassavetes now? I don't know the answer to that but to Gena Rowlands I say Bravo!!!!


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Agreed! One hundred times, I wholeheartedly agree! She was the bomb that year and deserved full acclaim. It was the best performance and the best movie of 1978. Your question reminds me that justice and movie awards are still not the exact same thing. She won the Berlin award and was nominated for a Golden Globe, and that's it! The movies of more recent year are not comparable, but the ones that come to mind that come close are: "Holy Smoke", "Dancer in the Dark", "In the Bedroom", "Vendredi Soir", "A Serious Man", "Margot at the Wedding", "Two Lovers", "Vicky Cristina Barcelona".

"Broken English" by Cassavetes' and Rowlands' daughter Zoe was also pretty good. As for directors, Sofia Coppola is trying to get to that level of greatness. Noah Baumbach is nearing in. There are novel ideas today, look at "fight club" which is kind of the male version of "Opening Night". There are good movies these days, but the ones that are able to balance comedy with tragedy with a search for truth and beauty are still few and far between, just as they were in 1978 and 1928. The Oscars at least are shaping up. They nominated my favorite two of the year, "Exit through the gift shop" and "Madagascar, carnet de voyage". And they completely ignored my third fave "Greenberg."




The closest movies to my heart: http://www.imdb.com/mymovies/list?l=46910443

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If your a big fan of Cassavetes go to youtube theres a television interview he did about Opening Night. I believe the interview is titled "Television sucks!" I never felt more inspired to go out and make my own independant film. Check it out!

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I've seen it, and agree. That's a great interview! I hope you do make your own movie. Already I know you have the right intention, and also an admiration of the highest level of quality.




The closest movies to my heart: http://www.imdb.com/mymovies/list?l=46910443

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This movie always blows me away. More people need to know about this director. He is so powerful. His films with Rowlands show you the very limitless relationship between actor and director. He gets performances from her that are extremely rare. It’s an amazing film. Always was and it always will be!

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Amen to Gina Rowlands! What a moving performance.

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So spot on Chevelless67 !

Gena's performance in "Opening Night" is only surpassed by her performance in " A Woman Under The Influence" in 1974 !
She should have won the Oscar for both performances !
She was head and shoulders above the competition in both those years, but I guess that the independent films in the 70's had less creedence with the Academy ?
She had the obvious advantage of working with her brilliant director husband who managed to illicit the great dramatic and personal performances from her.

Apart from perhaps the Scorsese / De Niro team, I am not sure such a powerful combination of the director and an individual actor/actress on a regular film making basis, will appear again, at least not in Hollywood. Perhaps the European cinema is more likely to throw up some with the likes of Pedro Almodovar and Penelope Cruz, Jean Pierre Jeunet and Audrey Tautao, Francois Ozon and Charlotte Rampling ?

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Just wonderin' ova heah:

¿ Might you be a Creedence Clearwater Revival fan ?

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I totally agree that she deserved at least a nomination, but you must keep in mind that hardly anybody saw Opening Night when it first came out. The film barely got a release, and the few venues it did play were mostly empty. It wasn't until the 90s when it was re-released that it started to get some attention. So it's not too surprising to me that she wasn't nominated. She did, however, win the Silver Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival in 1978 because the film was entered into the competition.

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Man, Gena was awesome in this film!

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the Oscar sometimes do some justice to great actors and directors, but how many were forgotten? so many!

i saw "a woman under the influence" last month, and the acting of Gena Rowlands was so powerful that i felt in my stomach. i cried so much near the end of that movie. and last week i downloaded "opening night" in HD and just saw today. when the movie ended, Gena Rowlands just became my favorite actress!

how can someone give 2 performances like that in a space of 3, 4 years? Cassevetes and her were such a good team, that both movies are masterpieces!

and besides a great actress, she's so beautiful, so lovely!

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There were a few excellent female lead performances in 1977 (both Shelley Duvall and Sissy Spacek in 3 Women, Eva Mattes in Stroszek, Diane Keaton in Annie Hall), but indeed none quite as spellbinding as Rowlands´s work here.



"facts are stupid things" - Ronald Reagan

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Maybe less improvisation (the easy part for an actor) would help her chances.

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