This post is going to take the form of a list, which I feel is the true ultimate form of blogging and pure journalism (I don’t actually). Anyway, the list is based off a podcast that I listen to called Filmspotting, which provides weekly episodes where a film is reviewed, accompanied by a top 5 list. To be honest, I don’t think I love the show or its hosts, but I’ve come to rely on it to act as a substitute for real conversation after seeing a movie that no one else I know has seen, or when I’m alone but want to discuss it. So I thought to maybe engage with the podcast a bit more I could make my own top 5, using the topic of the most recent episode I listened to. This topic is ‘best direct-actor pairs’. Much like the lists made by the hosts, mine will be largely subjective as opposed to what I think are the most important pairs. And also, in relation to the course, the following actors definitely look their coolest under these directors.
Firstly, honorable mentions:
Paul Thomas Anderson/Joaquin Phoenix, Edgar Wright/Simon Pegg, Wes Anderson/Bill Murray, David Lynch/Laura Dern, Kyle McLachlan, Yorgos Lanthimos/Angeliki Papoulia, Adam McKay/Will Ferrel
Now the Top 5:
5. Ernst Lubitsch/Miriam Hopkins
(The Smiling Lieutenant, Trouble in Paradise, Design for Living)
This is a pairing that stands out when I think of pre-code era films. In all of their projects, Hopkins has not necessarily been a clear protagonist, yet I always think of her as such, and ultimately forget her co-stars. In trying to articulate what is so good about this pairing, the first word that comes to mind is playful. And I think that describes their relationship perfectly.
4. The Coen Brothers/Frances McDormand
(Blood Simple, Raising Arizona, Miller’s Crossing, Fargo, The Man Who Wasn’t There, Burn After Reading)
This pairing (of three) is responsible for whom I consider my favourite film character of all time: Margey Gunderson. Together, they successfully created one of the nicest, yet believable (cos purely nice people do actually exist, despite what a lot of filmmakers seem to think) characters to ever be put on film. Having been with them from the start of their careers, McDormand clearly just gets the Coens (also happens to be married to Joel), as much as they get her.
3. Jeff Nichols/Michael Shannon
(Shotgun Stories, Take Shelter, Mud)
Michael Shannon might be the best actor alive today. Jeff Nichols realises this. Shannon has been in all of Nichols’ three films, leading two of them (Shotgun Stories, Take Shelter) and playing a smaller role in the third (Mud), and I feel that they have both been huge in each other’s careers. Firstly, Shannon, a reasonably well-known actor, gave Nichols, a first time filmmaker, a powerhouse performance to centre his debut Shotgun Stories around. Then, with Take Shelter, Nichols gave Shannon a role that convinced everyone (that saw it) that he was one of the best actors around. I can’t remember the exact quote, but someone said they could watch Shannon sit in a chair for two hours and be compelled. I agree.
2. Alfred Hitchcock/Jimmy Stewart
(Rope, Rear Window, The Man Who Knew Too Much, Vertigo)
This is a pairing that works so well due to it starting when both of them, Stewart in particular, were already well into their careers. This meant that because of films like It’s a Wonderful Life and The Shop Around the Corner, we saw Stewart as a loveable everyman. So naturally, we take this impression into films like Rear Window and Vertigo. What results then is a slow realisation that Stewart’s characters are actually kind of dicks – obsessive, complex dicks. Obviously there is much more to this pairing than the role of prior associations, like Stewart’s ability to so effectively capture the obsession and vulnerability of Hitchcock’s characters. (Clearly I wasn’t alive to have pre-associations with Jimmy Stewart’s acting, but I did just happen to see It’s A Wonderful Life and Shop Around the Corner before any of his Hitchcock films, so it still stands. Alright.)
1. Paul Thomas Anderson/Philip Seymour Hoffman
(Hard Eight, Boogie Nights, Magnolia, Punch Drunk Love, The Master)
“When I saw him for the first time in Scent of a Woman, I just knew what true love was, I knew what love at first sight was. It was the strangest feeling sitting in a movie theatre and thinking, ‘He’s for me and I’m for him.’ And that was it.”
This is a quote from Anderson on Hoffman. It’s really too perfect a quote, and it breaks and warms my heart simultaneously. It kind of says it all.