BB reading.
My husband and I debate regularly whether Meryl Streep's ability to mimic any accent is to her detriment or to her strength. Certainly her Polish accent in SOPHIE'S CHOICE was a strength. But at other times, according to my husband, her accent shapes the whole role. She is so busy with how she sounds in her part that she creates a caricature rather than a character.
She hides behind the accent.
If you look at a list of all of her parts, she's chosen more international characters than most actors. But still the majority of of her parts do not rely on accents. The trailers have put my husband off seeing Julia and Julie. But Julia Child's voice was in itself a parody. Should M.S. ignore it? He thinks she should underplay the voice--not draw your attention too much to just one aspect of a character. But is that true to Julia Child? Was she defined by her voice? What do you think?
11 comments:
I don't think you could play Julia Child without that voice. It was a distinct part of her charm.
If an accent "sticks out" in a performance, and draws attention to itself rather than the words being spoken and the drama playing out on the screen, than it is obviously getting in the way. I live in the south and cringe at most actor's attempts to create it well. I can't tell you the number of movies i have bailed on because of the "over the top" and unnatural accents. An example is The Big Easy from a decade or so ago. Just horrible. Twenty minutes in, my wife and hit the stop button and reached for books.
I don't know much about Julia Child but I do know the accent. I probably wouldn't recognize the character without it. Although the previews for this movie do not make me want to watch it.
That's it, Sandra. Although I guess once she establishes it, she could let go of it a bit.
Yes, if an accent sticks out, that's all you begin to pay attention to.
The previews do not look good. Watching Julie cook the recipes doesn't interest me at all even though I like Amy Adams.
I agree with sandra, the voice is integral to the character in Child's case (the same was true with Howard Cosell). I've always found Streep's performances strong and engaging. She - no one - could play the part of Julia Child with out the accent and the way it was delivered. The film does interest me, but I watched her on PBS back when and I also love to cook and have her the cookbooks.
I just keep thinking about that imitation Dan Ackroyd used to do. A falsetto worked very well. I liked JC too; it's the other storyline that worries me. But I have committed to seeing it and I never miss a Meryl Streep movie so I will.
I even loved MAMA MIA. Strong and engaging even in that one.
Hmmm... I forget I'm watching Meryl when I see one of her films. The accents don't stick out in a negative way for me.
Well, Child's distinctive voice and her flamboyance among the pots and pans defined her for those who know her from the TV show in the 70's. Can't accurately portray Julia without the voice and the extravagant gestures. And I betcha Streep plays her as even zanier because what we'll be seeing in the Julia part of the movie is Julie Powell's idea of Julia Child.
I watched the old TV show just for entertainment, not cooking tips, and Meryl Streep's artistry dazzles me, so I'm really looking forward to this.
In which films does your husband think Meryl has made a caricature of her character?
--Kate
A recent example is Doubt. This was not so much about her accent as her portrayal of the num. We saw it as a play first and the actor playing the nun gave a very subtle performance, very controlled. Streep played her as larger than life character. I liked it-I didn't mind the change.
Also she drove him crazy in Prairie Home Companion although that was not a very good movie for anyone.
When acting is noticeable (as so often happens in the case of Streep), then it is not very good acting. In my humble opinion, Streep rarely disappears within or behind the character; I am constantly aware of Streep as an over-the-top actress who "chews the scenery" (as the phrase once had it).
My husband would agree. I guess we must all have actors who speak to us and those who don't.
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