venerdì 17 giugno 2016

Best Actress in a Supporting Role 2007: Tilda Swinton in Michael Clayton

Tilda Swinton won the Oscar from her only Oscar nomination to date for her performance as Karen Crowder in Michael Clayton. 


Michael Clayton talks about a law firm's fixer who has to take care of a difficult situation after a lawyer has a breakdown while representing a chemical company that he knows is guilty. I don't think the movie ever becomes quite as compelling as it wants to be and there are certain parts in the middle section that feel dull and rushed at the same time, but overall it's a fairly engaging experience and it's rather well-written. Its first and last third are actually pretty great. 

Karen Crowder is a role that is neither particularly great nor underwritten either. It's the kind of role that relies heavily on the actress who's portraying it: it can be portrayed a standard villain or something more. And Tilda Swinton, being the brilliant actress she is, chooses the second option. The entrance of the character is actually a rather brilliant one: we see her in a toilet, sweating and completely panicked. We don't know yet what's going on but it's an extremely fascinating introduction that makes us understand right from the start that Karen's life has taken a dangerous path. In her next scene, that takes place four days earlier, Swinton is excellent in establishing exactly what Karen is even if the movie itself devotes very little time to her (much less than I expected actually): she makes Karen a woman who is completely devoted to her work and that there is not much else in her life. She's a pitiful figure, a lonely, empty person who wants to thrive in her work but is actually falling apart. The montage that intertwine scenes in which Karen is nervously rehearsing her answers for an interview and the interview itself is brilliantly acted by Swinton who clearly shows Karen's extremely unsteady emotional scene.

Her first meeting with Michael Clayton is another excellent scene that Swinton uses masterfully to go further with her characterization of Karen: again, her aggressive attitude perfectly shows the insecurity of a person close to the breaking point and Swinton does an effective job in portraying Karen as a woman desperately trying to be in control of the situation. After the meeting, Karen makes a desperate and dangerous decision that inevitably leads to her downfall: the scenes in which she orchestrates her plan are perfectly acted by Swinton who does a great job in showing how unsure she is what she is doing - her nervousness and uncertainty in those moments is almost palpable. What makes them so effective though is the way Swinton (with minimal screen-time) managed to gave them a great, believable, slow-burning build-up.

But the plan doesn't quite go as expected and Swinton is brilliant in portraying her terrified reaction and once we see again the breakdown in the toilet it's even more effective than it was before. But her final scenes are by far the best: again she is excellent in portraying Karen's nervousness as she gets ready for a board meeting, and then she is downright amazing in her final confrontation with George Clooney. I think the whole scene is supposed to be Clooney's big scene but in my opinion Swinton absolutely owns the scene from beginning to end: she perfectly shows each of Swinton's emotion from satisfaction to nervousness as she tries to negotiate with Clayton, to shock when she finds out he had been playing with her, to finally panic and desperation as she realizes her defeat. Swinton is simply incredible and she does some truly outstanding facial acting: her line-delivery is immaculate ("You... You don't want the money?") and the final moment in which she collapses on her knees is a brilliant touch to the scene. 

Karen Crowder is an interesting role but Tilda Swinton, in less than 20 minutes of screen-time, is what makes it great: she delivers a fantastic performance making her a villain that is amazing and original because of its humanity and vulnerability. She perfectly characterize the role making her despicable and pathetic at the same time and ends up being the best part of the movie by far. 

4.5/5

6 commenti:

  1. Great review, I agree completely about your thoughts on the performance and the movie in general, especially the confrontation scene.
    It's crazy that she has only ever been nominated once.

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    1. Thank you very much!

      And I agree that is it extremely odd she's only been nominated ones. She's an outstanding actress and my only explanation for not being nominated for any other role is that the Academy doesn't care for indipendent movies (which is sad because the Academy should reward great movies not "big" ones).

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  2. Her final scene is as you say, fan-freaking-tastic. I actually just re-watched this last night and have bumped her up to a 5.

    What are your ratings for the rest of the cast? For me:

    Clooney: 4.5
    Wilkinson: 4
    Pollack: 3.5

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    1. I'll probably review Clooney and Wilkinson in the future so I won't reveal my thoughts about them yet. If I ever decide to not review the other acting categories, I will let you know and you can ask me again those ratings and thoughts.

      Pollack - 3.5 (He's very effective in his limited role. I think he is impressive in being a seemingly nice figure and in his big scene he does a great job in revealing a darker side of the character)

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    2. Ah sorry Giuseppe! For some reason I forgot they were nominated.

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