1985 

AND THE OSCAR GOES TO ...

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Anne Bancroft in AGNES OF GOD

"[Bancroft] could have looked deeper on the psychology of the character to express the conflicts and the torments."

★★★★★

Jessica Lange in SWEET DREAMS

"Her acting seems so easy that it’s a privilege to see her on screen, the issue is the lack of opportunities left by the screenplay."

★★★★★

Meryl Streep in OUT OF AFRICA

"It's a quiet and subtle performance that needs more epic, romantic, showy scenes."

★★★★★

Geraldine Page in THE TRIP TO BOUNTIFUL

"Geraldine Page gives in The Trip to bountiful a wonderful performance, full of joy, sadness and nostalgic."

★★★★★

Whoopi Goldberg in THE COLOR PURPLE

"For her film debut, Whoopi Goldberg gives one of the most wonderful performance ever given by an actor."

★★★★★

                                             THE CONCLUSION                                                

I proudly announce that Whoopi Goldberg is my first winner. Contrary to the Academy Awards I didn't wait 74 years to give an Oscar for a leading role to a black actress . 1985 was a great year, the movies are all interesting, and the performances are all different in terms of quality, so the ranking was easy to make. Despite that Whoopi is hands down my pick, Geraldine Page is a deserving winner. Geraldine's performance is a delight, and even if I dislike the way the Academy sometimes gives an Oscar to honor a career, it was the best moment to honor Geraldine Page.

                                   THE ACADEMY AWARDS and ME                                      

    NEXT YEAR: 1988

GERALDINE PAGE 

as Mrs. Carrie Watts in THE TRIP TO BOUNTIFUL (1985)
____________________________________________________________________

Carrie Watts is living the twilight of her life trapped in an apartment in 1940's Houston, Texas with a controlling daughter-in-law and a hen-pecked son. Her fondest wish -- just once before she dies -- is to revisit Bountiful, the small Texas town of her youth which she still refers to as "home." The trouble is her son, Ludie, is too concerned for her health to allow her to travel alone and her petty daughter-in-law, Jessie Mae, insists they don't have money to squander on bus tickets.

"I guess when you've lived longer than your house and your family, then you've lived long enough."

                                         - Mrs Carrie Watts

Geraldine Page received her eighth Oscar nomination and her first win, for her unforgettable and poignant portrait of an elderly widow who wants nothing more out of life than to return to her home town of Bountiful. The first time, Geraldine Page appears on screen in The trip to bountiful, we desperately fall in love with her. Seeing this elderly woman, with a great determination and a great heart, full of melancholia on screen is mesmerizing. Geraldine Page carries the film on her shoulders and gives to Mrs Carrie Watts the necessary incandescence to portray the role admirably. She gives to the film her greatness. She brings to her character the innocence it needed. Her scenes with her beloved son are heartbreaking, and those with her daughter-in-law, brilliantly played by Carlin Glynn, are funny, amusing and cynical, it’s a great balance between the two. 

Escaping from her family's clutches, Page boards a bus to Bountiful, where she makes the acquaintance of young Rebecca DeMornay. The two women immediately hit it off, and their trip is a most pleasant one. In the bus, she tells her story about love, her husband, and the true love of her life, and this scene is probably one of the two scenes who gave her the edge in the Oscar competition. The other, is the one at the bus station, when she expresses her feelings to the sherrif. She’s at 12 miles from her destination, but she is stopped by the sherrif, because her family will arrive to bring her back. The scene is very emotional, from despair to anger: It's a moving moment. Feeling sorry for Page, Bradford permits her to complete her sentimental journey, even though he knows full well that Bountiful is now a ghost town.It doesn't matter, though: Page sees Bountiful, and for the first time in years she is truly happy and at peace with herself. Those last scenes give the greatness she deserved to finish the movie.  

"In this small, sharply observed tale from Horton Foote, the great Geraldine Page plays an elderly widow, who longs to go back to her idyllic small-town roots; shapeless, the film is mostly a showcase for its actors."

                                                                                               - Emanuel Levy

Geraldine Page gives in The Trip to bountiful a wonderful performance, full of joy, sadness and nostalgic. She’s convincing and gives us one of the most beloved character than audience has ever seen on screen. 

★★★★★

JESSICA LANGE 

as Patsy Cline in SWEET DREAMS (1985)
____________________________________________________________________

Patsy Cline is unhappily married and playing small-time gigs in the Tri-State when she meets Charlie Dick, whose charm and aggressive self-confidence catch her attention. In time, Patsy leaves her husband to marry Charlie, and she gives up music to focus on raising their children. But after Charlie goes into the United States Army, Patsy begins singing again, and after joining forces with manager Randy Hughes, Patsy becomes a rising star on the country music scene. She died in a plane crash on March 5, 1963 at the age of 30.

"See, I figure when you say you want to get to know me better - what you really mean is you want a ten minute screw in the back seat of your car."

                                         - Patsy Cline

Sweet Dreams is a lively biopic, in which Jessica Lange remarkably gives life to Patsy Cline, one of the first great female stars of the country music, who had not only broadened the audience for country but also brought a new sophistication to the Nashville sound.
The director chose to focus on the troubled relationship between Patsy Cline, and her second husband, Charlie Dick played by Ed Harris, and not only on her career, well, even If I think he made the right decision, maybe a balance between the two could have been better and more interesting. With this character, Jessica Lange embarks on a long journey and has to portray a lot of emotions, at the beginning, she’s a bit naïve, she has big dreams, then when the success comes, she becomes more confident of her talent, but also of her feminity. Through the film, she has to use her sexiness, her tender side, her anger. Her acting seems so easy that it’s a great privilege to see her on screen, everything seems so real, the only but important issue here, is the lack of opportunities left by the screenplay, few scenes are really powerful and strong. The film doesn't let Jessica Lange really shine. All the scenes where Ed Harris’ character is abusive or in love with Jessica Lange's character are impressive, the duo has a great alchemy, this love/hate relationship is beautifully created by the two actors, the scenes are intense and extreme, but there are not enough in the film. Another relationship is important in her life: the one with her mother who always was a great support for her daughter, those scenes are really great, sometimes funny and always sentimental. It’s a great balance to the hard scenes Jessica Lange had with Ed Harris. 

[I think Ed Harris is fantastic in the movie and should have been nominated for an academy award, it's a rare and intense performance and works perfectly with the performance of jessica Lange. It's a great duo.]

"Lange and Harris, dangerously well-matched, give us lovers whom only success could sunder."

                                                                                               - Sheila Benson, Los Angeles Times

No surprisingly, Lange plays perfectly the legendary Patsy Cline, She’s convincing and everything seem so real but as Meryl Streep in Out of Africa, the screenplay doesn’t give her a lot of things to really dazzle even if it’s a showy, vivid  and sometimes quiet performance. 

★★★★★

ANNE BANCROFT 

as Mother Miriam Ruth in AGNES OF GOD (1985)
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When a dead newborn is found, wrapped in bloody sheets, in the bedroom wastebasket of a young novitiate, psychiatrist Martha Livingston is called in to determine if the seemingly innocent novice, who knows nothing of sex or birth, is competent enough to stand trial for the murder of the baby. While searching for the answer that her supervisors want, Dr. Livingston finds herself inevitably drawn into searching for the truth about the baby's conception and death. Despite the lack of cooperation that she receives from her own organization and the church, itself, she eventually discovers more than she may have bargained for.

"So, you have questions. Fire away!"

                                         - Mother Miram Ruth

For her last Oscar nomination (which should not be remembered), Anne Bancroft plays a controlling and protective nun who tries to protect a novice nun who gives birth and insists that the dead
child was the result of a virgin conception. Before saying anything, I would like to say that I’m a big fan of Anne Bancroft. At first, I think her role is very demanding, but Anne Bancroft chose the easy way to let the role one-dimensional, with no thickness. Then, the role could have been great if she had chosen to be ambivalent, the character should have been torn between the beliefs and the truth of the modern world, between faith and reason but Anne Bancroft does not show any of these sides. Anne could have expressed in her acting the possibilities of miracles while recognizing the realities of today's world, of which the mother superior is painfully aware. There is no subtlety in her performance, and she avoids all challenges. The great things in the film are the conflict between mother superior and the psychiatrist, it’s an intense relation, well played by both actresses with rivalry, understanding but also the fears of each worlds and also the extreme devotion of Mother Superior to protect Agnes.   


[I think the performance of Fonda should have deserved more credits, and Meg Tilly gives the standout performance, she shows the naivety of her character beautifully. I have never seen that, I think it’s hard to seem naïve, innocent and a bit silly. The movie is easy to watch but it’s a bit silly, and I don’t see the necessity of this kind of film.  ]

"Deadly - despite good work from Anne Bancroft and Meg Tilly, the film is grotesquely directed and the spiritual debate is sensationalized beyond all reason."

                                                                                               - Nick Davis

Anne Bancroft doesn't give a substantial performance, she could have looked deeper on the psychology of the character to express the conflicts and the torments, but no, she avoids all challenges. It’s a one-dimensional character who should have deserved more intense dialogues, the only thing which remains great in the movie is the intense conflict between mother Superior and the psychiatrist played beautifully by Jane Fonda, who I think gave a better performance with the little she had. I respect her performance but it could have been better.

★★★★★

MERYL STREEP 

as Karen Blixen in OUT OF AFRICA (1985)
____________________________________________________________________

A study of the life of Danish noblewoman and storyteller Karen  Dinesen Blixen, from her marriage and departure for Kenya in 1913 until her return to Denmark in 1931. As she struggles to maintain a coffee farm through various struggles and disasters, and strives to improve relations with the local natives, her marriage of convenience to a titled aristocrat gradually gives way to an enduring romance with the noted hunter and adventurer Denys Finch Hatton.

"It's an odd feeling, farewell. There is such envy in it. Men go off to be tested, for courage. And if we're tested at all, it's for patience, for doing without, for how well we can endure loneliness."

                                         - Karen Blixen

Meryl Streep interprets brilliantly a strong minded Danish lady, who marries a friend for the title of baroness, they move to AFRICA and start a coffee plantation. At the beginning, Meryl Streep appears as a very distinguished woman, with a lot of mannerisms, who
is eager to tell stories and learns from the world. From the beginning, Meryl is great, she nails the Danish accent, she nails the posture, we truly think she’s from a faraway aristocracy family. She’s very convincing. Things changed when her husband begins cheating on her and is away on business often, so she's at home alone, working on the farm and bonding with two men she met in her first day in Africa.  She eventually falls in love with the one, Denys Finch-Hatton and goes on safari and whatnot with him. It’s the beginning of a great love story, Redford and Streep have a great alchemy, and their scenes are beautifully shot. It’s a first for Meryl, she rarely appeared in romantic movies, but she’s magnificent in the role of a woman who feared loneliness, who feared to be abandoned, who desperatly needed someone. Later, she begins to want more from him than the simple relationship they have and pushes marriage, but Denys still wants his freedom. In those scenes, Meryl shows a rare dignity, she can’t compromise about what she wants, even if she loves him deeply. At the end, we learn that her lover has died in a plane crash, that she has decided to return to Denmark, the scene at the train station when she asks farah (her servent) to call her K.A.R.E.N. is heartbreaking, and is the perfect ending to a beautiful movie.


I don’t find a lot of things against Mery’s performance but I think landscapes, the beauty of Africa overshadow the performance. On paper, the role is very baity, but on screen, I don't find she has a lot of things to do. 

"She's a great actress because of her intuitiveness, her powers of observation and her sense of being in touch with herself quickly.

                                                                                               - Sidney Pollack, The Hollywood Reporter

Meryl Streep portrays a very independent woman who is inexplicably scared by loneliness. This paradox is incredibly portrayed by Meryl Streep. Meryl Streep is great, but the movie and the screenplay don’t give her a lot of things to really shine, it’s a quiet and subtle performance that needs more epic, romantic, showy scenes.  

★★★★★

WHOOPI GOLDBERG 

as Celie Johnson in THE COLOR PURPLE (1985)
____________________________________________________________________

The Color Purple follows the life of Celie, a young black girl growing up in the early 1900's. The first time we see Celie, she is 14 - and pregnant - by her father. We stay with her for the next 30 years of her tough life... It shows the problems African American women faced during the early 1900s, including poverty, racism, and sexism. Celie is transformed as she finds her self-worth through the help of two strong female companions.  

"I curse you. Until you do right by me everything you think about is gonna crumble!"

                                         - Celie Johnson

We were first introduced to Celie whe she's about 17 years old, giving birth to her second child, sired by her father. Her father takes the second child away from her and tells her never to tell anyone about it. The actress who incarnes celie young is magnificient, but we have to focus on Whoopi. When she arrives on screen, she’s married, abused and neglected by a husband she called ‘Mister’,  her sister was send away leaving Celie more distraught than ever. Nettie promises to write unless death keeps her from it, but Celie never receives a letter. Every day, she waits to receive a letter, but Mister forbids her to seek the mails. The scene when she asks him ‘Is there anything for me?’ is heartbreaking, this one scene deserves to be rewarded. The look Whoopi gives with mercy and despair makes me feel so miserable.  
All the scenes with Glover are frightening, but I don't find him truly convincing. Meanwhile, Mister's lover, Shug Avery, comes to visit and befriends Celie, helping her to understand that she is more than Mister's servant. All her scenes with the magnificient Margaret Avery as Shug avery , are a turning point for Whoopi, She became more aware of her sexuality, her feminity, She’s a light in a life, Shug puts some colors in Celie’s life. She is less naïve, et begins being a woman and not a child anymore. Whoopi shows this journey wonderfully in her mannerism, in her way to speak, in her way to stand up, it’s an all package. [Spielberg admits that his greatest mistake in directing this film was his lack of courage portraying the lesbian relationship between Celie and Shug. At the time of filming, Spielberg feared that overt sexuality between the two characters would alienate audiences, a decision he now regrets. Personnaly, I don’t regret it, I think I would be confused if this storyline were told. By the way, Margaret Avery and Oprah Winfrey are Wonferful, I’m torn between them, but I think the latter deserved the Oscar.] The movie culminates in Celie leaving Mister with the threat that everything he touches will fall apart until he does right by her. In this Scene, Whoopi Goldberg became an actress, she shows such a range of talent, such humanity, so much fierce and Anger. The end when Celie is reunited with Nettie and her two children is a heartfelt ending to a moving film. 

"One of the most amazing debut performance in movie history."

                                                                                               - Roger Ebert

For her film debut, Whoopi Goldberg gives one of the most wonderful performance ever given by an actor, she is quiet, vulnerable, scared, damaged then stronger, confident, and eventually FREE. Whoopi's face gives us all the informations to show us how she feels, we know when she's sad, when she's happy, when she's angry. In this Movie, Whoopi is FANTASTIC. 

★★★★★

1985

AND THE NOMINEES FOR THE BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE ARE ...

• Anne Bancroft in Agnes of God
• Whoopi Goldberg in The Color Purple
• Jessica Lange in Sweet Dreams
• Geraldine Page in The Trip to Bountiful
• Meryl Streep in Out of Africa

I have decided to do this year, because I'm dying to watch Out of Africa, her win at the Oscars makes me want to see a lot of meryl movies, plus, I never saw the other nominees either, so it's a great year to begin.

What do you think  ?  Your Prediction  ?  Your Ranking  ?