Today, in the Dallas Morning News movie critic Chris Vognar reviewed Glenn Close’s Oscar nominated performance where she plays a man secretly living as a woman in order to earn a steady wage in the harsh 19th-century Irish economy.
Since we talk about body language on this blog, I found Vognar’s critique fascinating:
“Playing a stoic butler in a 19th-century Dublin hotel, Close turns in a masterpiece of repressed stillness. Her performance is all in the economical movements and studying eyes of a servant between genders.”
Remember only 7% of what we say communicates our meaning. 93% is communicated by our body language. This performance by Close reminds me of how important it is to move our characters around on pages of our novels.
I can’t wait to see Albert Nobbs, a movie based on a short story by Irish novelist George Moore.
Check out this video of Glenn Close getting into makeup:
http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi2930090265/
So powerful, Lynne. Thank you for sharing. You have such an eye for detail–a true gift, my friend. Miss you!
Miss you, too Julie! Thanks for stopping by.
Great post. For me showing body language and movement for my characters is difficult. It’s easy to end up with so-in-so nodded…frowned…laughed, but to show who they are through their movements takes deliberate work.
Great point, Lisa. I think the think that struck me about this particular character of Albert is the way Close played him with such a rigidity of movement. We’re always so worried about big movements when it is the slice of their eyes back and forth or turning without moving their neck. Something to think about for sure.