Behavior over dialogue

 “Heaven knows we need never be ashamed of our tears, for they are rain upon the blinding dust of earth, overlying our hard hearts.”
― Charles Dickens, Great Expectations

No facebook status, no biography can really tell us how someone really is. You can describe someone, see a picture or hear gossip. But it’s not the same as watching them behave. Behavior is our best way to explain ourselves. If we are calm or having a bad day. Human is simplicity, drama, thirst, gestures, inflections, connections, comedy, complications, exploring, ignoring, hunger. These are some of my favorite behavior-performances I’ve enjoyed at the movies. Worth watching them again.

JACK "FUCKING" TWIST- Michelle Williams - BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN
All lights went to the controversy this movie made. What a lot of people (myself included) missed was ALMA.  An extraordinary portrail of a woman living a mountain of lies. Broken hearted just watching her house. And how empty it is. Her life will never be the same  after finding out her husband is having an affair. That scene is so filled with emotions. You cannot describe them, except when you see her face. She is not acting she is trully suffering.  After that, every time she shares a scene with Heath Ledger they are a time bomb waiting to explode.

DOWN ON YOUR KNEES RIGHT NOW- Edward Norton - AMERICAN HISTORY X
Derek Vinyard´s life is about to change. Feeling superior and speaking racial insults has become an every day rutine. And the worst possible example for his little brother Danny. Danny becomes aware of  what a hatred driven man can do. He is speechless as he watches how Derek kills another man on the street. The police arrest him. Yelling The complexity of the scene is in Derek´s eyes a  choir chant, black and white photography and the smile in Derek´s face... unforgettable.  So proud of what he did. Until that moment, Danny realizes he is following the wrong steps.

NO! THERE IS NO ESCAPING HERE! -Woody Harrelson – NATURAL BORN KILLERS
"MICKEY AND MALLORY KILL SIX TEENS DURING SLUMBER PARTY"… reads the newspaper that Mickey is holding in his hands, while he eats pie at a local dinner. As Mallory dances, Mickey contemplates. As two men enter the dinner looking for cold beers and trouble. Mickey is one cool dude. Before engaging in a  killing conflict, he corrects one of the men by saying... “Her name, is Mallory”. Gently drinking his glass of milk (WHILE having thoughts of murder) Takes a moment to say "its not pollite to point your finger"…before cutting the man´s finger with a knife.


FOR THEY NOT KNOW WHAT THEY DO- Juliette Lewis – CAPE FEAR

Outside a Ginger bread house, It is almost inappropriate to watch Max Cady and Dannielle Bowden (Robert De Niro and Juliette Lewis) sharing the theatre scene on Martin Scorsese´s  remake of CAPE FEAR. (MOVIE TRIVIA : The two original cast members that appear are Robert Mitchum and Gregory Peck) . The sexual tension caught on those frames of film are to this day, alive. A young girl in the hands of a predator. She will believe anything. He will do whatever it takes for revenge. Having scenes with ONE Robert De Niro is no easy task. Juliette owns that part. To make it believable enough to get us scared and unaware that we are just watching a movie. 

BURGLAR - Martin Freeman –THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY 

As Bilbo (Martin Freeman ) wakes up happy to find there are no dwarfs, nor Gandalf in his house. At first he is  thankful he didn’t join the adventure. But as seconds go by...we begin to see how empty Bilbo´s house is, how little he becomes. Every corridor, every corner seems LARGER and lonelier. There is no more life in there. Without saying a word Bilbo suddenly realizes that not everything unexpected is bad and that going on an adventure, might be worth the risk. 

To me the feeling you put into a scene is the most important part of film making, it might not have the best music or the best dialogue. But the emotion it transpires from filming and editing, to that unique moment when i am seated at the movie theatre, eating popcorn and believing this story i am told. If that actor can take me close to feel what he or she is going thru : fear, anger, loneliness, or happiness . That is movie magic.

“An actor’s talent lies in their choices “
-Stella Adler