1988 

AND THE OSCAR GOES TO ...

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Melanie Griffith in WORKING GIRL

" She’s pretty, she’s funny, she’s great to look at, but that's all."

★★★★★

Jodie Foster in THE ACCUSED

"Jodie Foster is a very versatile actress, with a lot of range and talent. She deserved a better screenplay."

★★★★★

Sigourney Weaver in GORILLAS IN THE MIST

"[the film] is a real showcase for Sigourney. It’s not really a showy performance, but certainly a TERRIFIC one."

★★★★★

Glenn Close in DANGEROUS LIAISONS

"What a joy seeing such a performance on screen. Glenn Close gives a tour de force, and I imagine it was a thrill for her to play it."

★★★★★

Meryl Streep in A CRY IN THE DARK

"Streep is a chameleon, behind the physical transformation and the perfect Australian accent, she vanishes and gives life to Lindy."

★★★★★

                                             THE CONCLUSION                                                

1988 is really a great year with outstanding performances. The ranking was difficult to make, and I’m still torn between Glenn Close and Meryl Streep, but I pick Meryl Streep, her performance is more challenging and more effective. This is the reason why I give to Glenn Close a Special Award (I think it’s something I will do once in a while when the ranking will be difficult to make), it’s my way to honor her tremendous work in “Dangerous Liaisons”. Sigourney Weaver would have been also a terrific winner, but her film is too weak in its first hour and I can’t give her more than 4 stars, but she is truly superb. I am not really familiar with Sigourney's work, but "Gorillas in the Mist" makes me want to see a lot more of her craft which I did by coincidence thanks to “Working Girl”. The real disappointment for me is Jodie, she is just fine, but really not enough fantastic compared to the other three. Melanie Griffith’s performance is really not award worthy, I mean she is well cast and she is lovely and cute, and her film is very enjoyable but that's all.

                                   THE ACADEMY AWARDS and ME                                      

    NEXT YEAR: 1944

SIGOURNEY WEAVER 

as Dian Fossey in GORILLAS IN THE MIST (1988)
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Appalled by the poaching of the gorillas for their skins, hands, and heads, Dian Fossey, who devoted her life to the study of primates, complains to the Rwandan government, which dismisses her. She rejects this, and dedicates herself to saving the African Mountain gorilla from illegal poaching and likely extinction. To this end she forms and leads numerous anti-poaching patrols, and even burns down the poachers' villages and stages a mock execution of one of the offenders. Fossey is mysteriously murdered on December 26, 1985, in the bedroom of her cabin. 

"You like this ring? You want to keep the hand this ring is on? If I see or hear or smell you anywhere near my gorillas, you'll be writing with your other hand and I'll have a new ashtray."

                                         - Dian Fossey

Sigourney Weaver, received her second and last Oscar nomination in the Best Actress category, playing a woman who gives up everything to study primates, and dedicates her life to protect the gorillas. Many scenes in the movie are really hard to see, but they are necessary to

show the importance of Dian’s work in her life. Sigourney Weaver gives a deep, provocative, emotionally challenging performance, and through her acting, humanizes the woman she plays, and she allows us to have a lot of sympathy to her. We understand easily her work because we all know that what she does is right. The first hour of the movie is pretty weak, and the love story is not necessary or even interesting. The true beginning of the movie is the scene when she has to kill the deer, because he is trapped and hurt. In this particular scene, she’s outstanding. It’s at this moment that Sigourney shows us the determined and heroic side of her character. All the scenes when she tries to approach the gorillas are moving, sometimes funny, and always wonderful, and the scene when some of them are killed allows Sigourney to show all her rage, anger and despair. It’s a hard and liberating scene for an actor. The highlight of the movie is the little gorilla (Pucher), and all the scenes when Dian takes care of her are beautiful, but  the scene when Pucher has to go, because she was sold, is probably the most moving moment of movie. All these events transform Dian. From the lovely woman who gives her life to the protection of gorillas, Sigourney completely transforms herself into the obsessed and hot-tempered Dian, and yet manages to give her an inner soulfulness and vulnerability. She embodies Dian with every fiber of her being. It is really a thrill to see an actor shone that much. 

"Sigourney Weaver gives a towering, Oscar caliber performance in Michael Apted's biopic about courageous anthropologist Dian Fossey who devoted and risked her to save Africa's vanishing breed."

                                                                                               - Emmanuel Levy

Sigourney Weaver gives a tremendous performance. The film is pretty weak during its first hour, and seems more as a documentary, but the second is a real showcase for Sigourney. It’s not really a showy performance, but certainly a TERRIFIC one. Her acting is so subtle. Sigourney gives a knockout performance and would be a very deserving winner. 

★★★★★

1988

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

• Glenn Close in Dangerous Liaisons
• Jodie Foster in The Accused
• Melanie Griffith in Working Girl
• Meryl Streep in A Cry in the Dark
• Sigourney Weaver in Gorillas in the Mist

I choose to do this year, because I want to re-watch Streep's performance in A cry in the Dark, plus it's an Iconic Year, it was the last real shot for Glenn to Win, and I want to review Melanie Griffith's Performance which did not seem a baity role on paper. 

What do you think  ?  Your Prediction  ?  Your Ranking  ?