Jan 7, 2022
Our Daniel Day-Lewis Acteurist Oeuvre-view gets started with the two 1985 films that established his range, giving a naturalistic portrayal of a working-class youth in the one and a caricature of an upper-class aesthete in the other: Stephen Frears' My Beautiful Laundrette, Hanif Kureishi's Oscar-nominated dark comedy about race, class, and sexuality in Thatcher-era England, and Merchant-Ivory's A Room With a View, Ruth Prawer Jhabvala's Oscar-winning adaptation of E. M. Forster's romantic comedy of ideas. We argue for Day-Lewis as the lynchpin of these ensemble pieces, providing the (problematic) heart of one and the void at the center of the other, and consider how they anticipate his future performances.
Time Codes:
0h 01m 00s: My Beautiful Laundrette (1985) [dir. Stephen Frears]
0h 44m 01s: A Room with a View (1985) [dir. James Ivory]
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* Marvel at our meticulously ridiculous Complete Viewing Schedule for the 2020s
* Intro Song: “Sunday” by Jean Goldkette Orchestra with the Keller Sisters (courtesy of The Internet Archive)
* Read Elise’s latest film piece on Preston Sturges, Unfaithfully Yours, and the Narrative role of comedic scapegoating.
* Check out Dave’s new Robert Benchley blog – an attempt to annotate and reflect upon as many of the master humorist’s 2000+ pieces as he can locate – Benchley Data: A Wayward Annotation Project!
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