Supporting Actress 2007, Mine

Before the season truly began, I wrote an article questioning why so many Oscar watchers felt the supporting actress category was a weak one in 2007. But, come time to choose my own five I understood. Not in the sense that there was no good work but in the realization that there was a ton of good work that all felt roughly equal in quality. In other words: tons of troupers, too few undeniable standouts. So many women were doing interesting or moving things but their films didn't ask enough of them in some way or another (screen time, character complexity, etc...).

You may be surprised to see Cate Blanchett on my list for I'm Not There. It was something I puzzled over and fought with myself about (I take awards a wee bit too seriously, you know) but I saw the film again recently and she's not there. My hurdle was separating my own feelings about the way people react to her from her actual work. It's tough to do when someone is as revered and ubiquitous as she. So while I still find critical and public reaction to her as an actress annoyingly over reverent and undiscerning and I don't think she should win the Oscar for it and I think she's getting credit for things that don't involve her (the casting, the energy of the film around her --her section of I'm Not There is super charged) I still have to be honest and say that she's pretty damn good in it. It's a stunt. It's a parlor trick. But damn, it's a good one. I'm calling it "authentically fake". The performance behind the performance --you can see Blanchett doing Dylan as opposed to Blanchett being Dylan no matter what people tell you. But I came to see this as a good thing. It's yet another winking layer on the impossibility of fixed identity and the natural "look at me" shape shifting of entertainers. She was having fun rather than trying to "be" and I had a much better time watching her work when I went in for this reevaluation.

epilogue: for my fellow Todd Haynes enthusiasts who were hoping that I'd learn to love the movie more (my previous review) with a repeat viewing --something I hoped for myself --I am sad to report that I felt exactly the same. I maybe liked it even less. I just can't really connect to it. Fine ideas, fun imagery, great music all free float within but for me at least it doesn't cohere and overworks its admittedly great thesis.

Click here for the complete list of FiLM BiTCH Award Supporting Actress nominees. Then share your "if I had a ballot" names in the comments
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