In Defense of Anna Paquin:

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Andrew over at Encore's World of Film and TV is hosting a very extensive "Essential Performances of the 90s show down." Go over to his site and vote on your favorite performances.
Andrew has asked other bloggers to offer their defense on some of the performances in future polls. On Sunday, August 26th, and poll will go up between Anna Paquin in the Piano and Kate Winslet in Sense and Sensibility. Both performances are great, but I'm going to promote Anna here.


Not many young actors can deliver a powerhouse performance like then 11 year old Paquin did in The Piano. Especially on their first film. Flora, in my opinion was the most complicated character in the film. She is angry, she lies. (possibly as a way of coping.) She's drawn into some serious situations that she may or may not fully understand. Paquin really nailed this difficult character, and it's no surprise she's had lots of success since then. Not to mention her Oscar acceptance speech was the cutest thing ever.



Comments

  1. Andrew K.August 25, 2012 at 2:34 PM

    So true on the complexity of Flora. She's still a child, even as it's obvious that because her mother depends on her so much she's got this false sense of wisdom. And, some praise is due to Campion's direction but the performance itself is so much MORE than one expects/hope a child performer to do. And in a debut, too.

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousSeptember 8, 2013 at 4:28 AM

    Anna Paquin was downright AMAZING as Flora McGrath. In my opinion, she deserved every part of her Best Supporting Actress Oscar.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamSeptember 8, 2013 at 3:04 PM

      Thanks for reading! I agree, she deserved every bit of that.

      Delete
    2. AnonymousSeptember 14, 2013 at 4:22 PM

      And her Oscar speech WAS the cutest thing I've seen in a LONG time. Her stunned expression when her name is called out and her hyperventilating at the podium for 20 seconds after she was handed her Oscar was just adorable. Anna totally deserved it, her performance was one of the best of the best performances of 1993, and one of the best child performances I've ever seen.

      Delete
    3. Brittani BurnhamSeptember 16, 2013 at 9:32 AM

      Agreed. And how she walked back to her seat instead of going backstage? Loved it.

      Delete

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