A new series by Juan Carlos Ojano
Happy New Year, fellow actressexuals! To start 2024, we return to this series with a banger of a year.
One thing noticeable in this lineup is that the majority of these actresses are in films with clear auteurial vision. Two of them (Aparicio, Colman) worked with established directors that, by this point, have signature sensibilities and visual choices that are now being associated with them. Two of them (Lady Gaga, McCarthy) are in films directed by (relatively) new filmmakers that are beginning to hone their technical and directorial inclinations by this point. One of them (Close) worked with a director that is well-known and recognized in his home country.
Another thing to note: Lady Gaga marked her feature film debut as a lead actor while Aparicio was nominated for her first acting role ever.
Are you ready? The year is 2018...
Yalitza Aparicio as Cleodegaria "Cleo" Gutiérrez in ROMA
Written and Directed by Alfonso Cuarón
A few minutes of the opening shot, focusing on water and soap suds as a garage floor is being cleaned by a person still unseen. The camera tilts up to reveal Aparicio: a petite figure walking away from the camera with cleaning materials. As she reaches the end of the garage, she walks towards and past the camera as she leaves the cleaning materials aside, gets a bit playful with the family dog, and enters the outside toilet. It’s a seemingly mundane introduction that nevertheless paints a clear picture of how Cuarón positions Cleo in the story: a quiet vessel that serves as the axis of the story - complete with how the camera moves with her - but also registers her as a small piece of the wider canvas that Cuarón constructs with attention to detail. This filmmaking decision favors Aparicio's performance greatly as it leans into naturalism, a constant stream of reaction and interaction with her environment that makes her rawness more potent and palpable.
Glenn Close as Joan Castleman in THE WIFE
Directed by Björn L. Runge / Written by Jane Anderson
We see her in the first shot of the film. A woman lying in bed, facing away from the camera, presumably asleep. Then her husband (Jonathan Pryce) sits down, a bit grumpy while eating. And cut to the next shot: she’s actually awake. She knows what’s happening. She asks if he’s eating, but she already knows that. This alertness, the ability to be two steps ahead of her husband, is a distinctive quality that will be further magnified. When he is sulking over a possible rejection with an almost childish ever, she calmly puts him at peace as the mature woman that she is, almost like a mother to him. Mother and wife: two feminine roles that she assumes in this marriage knowingly. An awakening is already looming and one that will unravel as the film goes along.
Olivia Colman as Queen Anne in THE FAVOURITE
Directed by Yorgos Lanthimos / Written by Deborah Davis and Tony McNamara
A royal introduction, if there ever was one. The first shot of the film shows Colman facing away from the camera, with her oversized train being taken off of her by her ladies-in-waiting. The wide lens used even heightens the majesty more. Once we see her face, Colman illustrates seasoned authority and weariness in the whole process. A physical relief is even hinted at once her crown is taken off of her head. Seems like a pretty serious affair, eh? Nope. Once we see Sarah (Rachel Weisz), her confidante, looking at her lovingly, Colman’s facial expression changes drastically as her idle countenance becomes animated with excited giddiness. This already informs you of the tonal subversion that this film will invoke in its storytelling: a jarring whiplash of dark humor, queerness, and power play wrapped under the façade of a standard period setting. The film will play out like nothing we expect.
Lady Gaga as Ally Maine in A STAR IS BORN
Directed by Bradley Cooper / Written by Eric Roth, Bradley Cooper, and Will Fetters
Gaga’s first scene in the film comes right after we already know about Jackson’s (Bradley Cooper) alcoholism and fame. Her first scene shows her at the right side of the screen, with only her shoes seen. The camera moves closer to her. She is inside the bathroom cubicle, breaking up with a man over a phone call. When she goes out of the cubicle and screams, she’s perfectly center-framed. Three things to gather in this introduction: a) Ally has always had thorny relationships with men (even with her father), b) she is coming off of a bad breakup when she meets Jackson a few moments later, and c) even when she is sidelined (corner of the screen, inside the bathroom cubicle, alone), the camera already evokes a sense of discovery as it gets closer to her. And in the final shot of that scene, when she screams, she is already a star before anyone even knew it yet, even Ally herself.
Melissa McCarthy as Leonore Carol “Lee” Israel in CAN YOU EVER FORGIVE ME?
Directed by Marielle Heller / Written by Nicole Holofcener and Jeff Whitty
McCarthy appears in the very first shot of the film, a closeup showing her busy with paperwork (we already heard the paper during the preceding title cards). She takes a sip of her alcoholic drink. But the next two shots reveal that she is in an office setting as opposed to a personal space. A coworker makes a side comment about her, she retaliates with an acidic reply. Two coworkers tell her she can’t drink in the office, she tells them to “fuck off”. Unfortunately, she unknowingly also says the same thing to her superior. She is let go on the spot. This is a loaded opening for the film and character introduction for McCarthy. Heller already establishes a heavy mood of gloom through visual design, but the writing makes it a point to highlight that Israel is already being seen as a (professional) disappointment by her peers. She is also effortless in destroying any civil relationship around, but she is good at her job and is committed to it if allowed to. Heller’s direction and the writing becomes a solid setup for the film’s central narrative.