I am a trained actor. I can not, can not, emphasize enough WHAT MAGGIE SMITH DOES IN THIS FILM. She lets out some deep, raw emotion like I have never seen, almost too real. You can tell parts were completely spontaneous - its too raw to have been rehearsed. No disrespect to the lovely Meryl Streeps and Al Pacinos of this world, but this is probably the single greatest performance I have ever seen. WOW.
shareTo mk_k6-326-626621: I can only say "ditto." You are absolutely correct.
shareI agree! I just saw it and (although was already aware of Smith`s talents as an actor),this just took it to a whole new level.Like you said: too real. Holy cow; I can't quite recover from the impact. Now, I'm beyond puzzled: no Oscar nomination?If this is not an Academy Award winning performance, I don't know what is. And not even a nomination? What the hell went wrong here? I can't understand it.
shareI think the combination of a stacked year for the category (even Lilian Gish couldn't get in and she was considered almost a lock for a nod) and the film being so little-known is what did her in. Shame, though, because she really is superb here, even coming close to her Jean Brodie performance, which is saying a lot. At least she got the BAFTA.
shareThe biggest crime of this year, is that Cher won for MOONSTRUCK; who as far as I am concerned, was the least deserving of the 5 nominated ladies in the Best Actress category.
shareI agree. She warranted the nod, but that's only if Smith is taken out of the consideration. All of you guys who know me here probably know that I am a huge fan of Meryl. However, I can't quite see her doing this as well as Smith did. Sir Jeremy, you probably pointed out the most likely factors that contributed to Maggie being left out that year and it's criminal. Meryl, or anyone else, has only hit me with that kind of a performance once in her glorious career: and that's Sophie`s Choice. As for Smith, I think this is about five times stronger a performance than her Oscar winning Pride. It was just so raw and, again, like OP said: too real. That's not acting; it's being!
shareI meant Prime (of Miss Jean Body)
shareYep, she really did become Judith with every part of her body. I love she got the BAFTA.
shareYes, at least Baftas get it right more often than the political Oscars. I just hate that this film (and Smith's performance) are virtually unknown out there. I literally came to it by accident. I was going through Maggie Smith filmography with Quartet, Love and Pain, Hot Millions and other films. The Lonely Passion was the only one not available on Dvd, but I took a chance, even though I couldn't find more than one review of it. Art should be preserved and cherished and this was criminally neglected! Btw, I also was stunned by her performance in Love and Pain. Anyone see it? Sir Jeremy?
shareNo, never seen that as it's impossible to get hold of here, as well as Travels with my Aunt. Maybe I'll blind buy them from America, if they're available on DVD there.
What did you think of her in California Suite? I rewatched it last night and her performance feels so fresh and different at every single viewing.
I agree! Such a deserving win. She and Caine were perfectly cast. You'd be right to take a chance on Love and Pain, but not Travels. Maggie was horribly misscast there and the film almost killed me out of boredom, sorry to say. Love and Pain isn't a masterpiece either, but it's worthy because of Smith`s performance. Travels isn't. It's not as if she was bad (how could she ever?),but she did the best she could with a wrong role for her (she was much too much young for it and the make up used makes it worse!), in the film that's not funny and feels really dated. Btw, I love her obsession with the `hump` in California Suite! `Oh...bitchy my dear `lol
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