Saturday 16 November 2019

Alternate Best Actor 1999: Ralph Fiennes in Sunshine

Ralph Fiennes did not receive an Oscar nomination for portraying Ignatz Sonnenschein, Adam Sors and Ivan Sors in Sunshine.

Sunshine is an effective enough film, though rather repetitive even if that is part of the film's intention, following three generations of a Hungarian Jewish family.

Ralph Fiennes is an actor I hold in a fairly high regard. He is though an actor who I feel is at his best when he is stretching himself in some way. Whether that is mining the depths of madness in Spider, bringing to life a disturbing real evil in Schindler's List, or his two brilliant largely comic turns of In Bruges and The Grand Budapest Hotel. In those performances Fiennes is more than sort of the generalized European leading man, which is not how he started, however it is how he gained some notoriety through his turn in The English Patient. Now, as the more expected role Fiennes is far from an underwhelming actor, he's good in "Patient", but it isn't the type of work that I consider to be Fiennes at his best. Of course, Sunshine does fall into the latter group, however the change here being he plays not one European romantic lead, but three. Here playing the three generations of men of a Jewish family that is slowly ingratiating itself into the Hungarian culture, potentially by losing their own heritage for the sake of upward mobility.

The first man Ignatz Sonnenschein is introduced to us initially as a humble romantic. Fiennes as to be expected does smoulder more than finely in his portrayal of the man wishing his romance with his cousin Valerie Sonnenschein (Jennifer Ehle). Fiennes portraying largely a modest charm of the man whose romance seems to be his greatest concern initially. There is a certain detachment through the film's approach within these scenes that are bridges through the narration of the grandson of Ignatz, also provided by Fiennes, that takes upon an observational tone that leaves the transitions of the man rather swift. This is as we witness quickly the man finding success within the Hungarian world by slowly giving up on his own family's life as a Jewish family. Fiennes portrays this initially with the earnestness of a need of a man just attempting to make headway in a world that he believes is impossible to overcome otherwise. This leaves the man first to change his last name, but this process continues as he begins to fully support the Hungarian political life despite its questionable morality.

We then witness the turn of the man as he becomes more intense and bitter, as his family questions his support for the emperor. Fiennes is effective in crafting that bitterness with that trademark intensity of his. The film's approach leaves him a limited range though as we see the parts of his transformation rather than the whole, until we are led with the ailing, angry man, we haven't really felt the changes just the end of it. It's fine work, but the limits are obvious. Well we then recent as we meet Ignatz's son we move to his son Adam, also played by Fiennes. Adam begins in a stronger position in the Hungarian society than Ignatz did, as a soon to be championship fencer. Again we see basically a reset with Fiennes as the humble, more charming man. Fiennes is indeed that once again however there isn't some great distance in character. He doesn't play it exactly the same, however the nature of the roles leaves Fiennes in a very similar part. This as we see the same trajectory as he becomes more confident through his successes, and in turn more intense in his moments of trepidation.

The major change is the man completely eliminates his history by converting to Catholicism, but this is done not as cold ambition, rather more as this lack of concern. Adam's story though faces a different tragedy as his intensity realizes itself as the fascist movement takes over and he, and his son, are sent to a concentration camp. It is here that Fiennes certainly does excel in the moment of portraying the adamant refusal to deny his stature, and that slowly crumbling physical will as the prison guards slowly torture him to death. This leaves his son Ivan, now played by Fiennes, to lead the film. This begins powerfully enough as we see a different gear in the grieving Ivan trying to explain the death of his father, where Fiennes effectively shows the anguish that penetrates his entire being, with a striking pain as he is unable to verbalize what happened. Again though the nature of the narrative switches from the humble broken man quickly to the revenge seeking policeman. Again Fiennes hits the gear as to be expected however it does feel very much the same. This final man being particularly limited as we see him just go from angry police man fighting against former killer of Jews, then against the Soviets who lashes against after he sees their oppressive ways. There is an intimacy lost here, and not on Fiennes but as the film examines it as this circular process. This circular process that is very much realized in Fiennes's work. This being we see the humble man, the confident man gaining status, the intense man fighting for or against some political upheaval, the lustful man in a forbidden romance, and then finally his end. Ivan having the least tragic end as he returns to his early humble ways attempting to once again regain his lost heritage. The sameness is not a criticism against Fiennes, as this is intended in the narrative and Fiennes does not portray man as exactly the same however every apple fittingly does not fall from the tree. This of course being already that romantic leading turn that I don't believe is Fiennes at his best, however here you have it three times over. Three good performances mind you, but only just that, which don't add up to some greater achievement in the end.

62 comments:

Luke Higham said...

Well, at least my 4+ record is still intact.

Your ratings and thoughts on the rest of the cast.

Luke Higham said...

Louis: Do you think Brandauer would've been ideal for an 80s version.

Bryan L. said...

Louis: What do you think The English Patient needed to become good in your view? Better direction perhaps? Also, thoughts on this 2010s version?

Directed by James Gray

Lazlo- Michael Fassbender
Hanna- Eva Green
Katharine- Rosamund Pike
Kip- Riz Ahmed
Geoffrey- Richard Madden
David Caravaggio- Romain Duris

Tahmeed Chowdhury said...

Louis: Could Fiennes go up for Spider?

Calvin Law said...

Bryan: that’s an amazing cast. I’ll take a crack at an 80s version directed by Nicolas Roeg.

Lazlo - David Bowie
Hanna - Catherine Deneuve
Katharine - Maria Aitken
Kip - Roshan Seth
Geoffrey - James Fox
Caravaggio - Donald Sutherland

RatedRStar said...

Luke: My 4+ record is definitely not intact lol xD

RatedRStar said...

Thank you Liu-Kai Chi, and soon thank you Daniel Wu lol xD

RatedRStar said...

Louis: Funnily enough, with Tony Leungs 2004 request, this will mean that you will have nearly watched an entire Hong Kong Best Actor lineup.

Luke Higham said...

RatedRStar: Having known your passion for the HK industry for at least 5 years now, it must feel abit disappointing to see some of them not work out the way you would want.

Luke Higham said...

And I always fear making a request that would completely underwhelm, that's why I switched McDowell in Caligula to Time After Time because I had more confidence in it.

Calvin Law said...

RatedRStar: You could always switch to Tse cause it’s the same year/category, he’d be a 3.5 at the very least. Wu isn’t terrible or anything but I’d be hard pressed to give him anything more than a 3, if even that.

Calvin Law said...

I’m actually quite interested to see what Louis will make of Chan in that film. It’s probably some of his better acting overall.

RatedRStar said...

Calvin: With Supporting 2004 being pretty weak, I think that there is a chance that both Daniel Wu and Nicholas Tse get in that lineup. Robert McFarlane probably doesnt want Garden State in that lineup lol xD.

I reckon Louis will repeat what he said about Nick Cheung in regards to Daniel Wu, why did Daniel Wu recieve the Golden Horse Award and the HK nomination (he was the favorite to win)

RatedRStar said...

Stephen Chow in Kung Fu Hustle is a fun performance in a fun film, as for Jackie Chan in New Police Story, I have very mixed feelings towards his performance, it isn't like his serious turn in Crime Story or even the original Police Story which starts comedic but then becomes more serious as it goes along.

Louis Morgan said...

Saw Ford v. Ferrari, it would be a rather enjoyable 90 minute movie, 2 hrs at the most, unfortunately made to a long lasting 2 hours and thirty minutes, sadly for a film about racing it is abysmally paced. The racing scenes are terrific, and I like the general feeling/dynamic of the main duo, and technically the main story. It sadly just has way too much repetition (how many schemes of Josh Lucas did we really need?), threads that didn't really need as much time as they are given, and just scenes that are way slower then they need to be.

I think theoretically Bale could be nominated, as it is a different side of him, though I don't think he will be at the moment.

Damon - 3.5
Bernthal - 3
Balfe - 3
Letts - 3.5
Lucas - 3
Jupe - 3
McKinnon - 3

Luke:

Ehle & Harris - 3.5(Mother and daughter are both quite effectively luminous in their roles. This offering though the right understated warmth and sense of empathy that defines their performances. This with a specific concern for all beyond their husbands/sons.)

Louis Morgan said...


Hurt - 3(Strange to see him appear so late in the film, though he gives a fine turn in portraying the strict convictions of the man who does want to use his power for good. He's particularly effective in the interrogation scene in the way he puts forth back the situation showing only honesty and never fear in his manner and delivery.)

Unger - 2.5(Fine as a very limited romantic interest.)

Wesiz - 1.5(Thought she was kind of atrocious here. This in overplaying every moment of her character's lust into this ridiculous caricature.)

Yes.

Bryan:

Well the story is the biggest issue I have, and to specify the main romantic plotline, I actually don't think the Dafoe and Binoche is bad at all. The main romantic plotline though I find so rote and uninteresting in every respect. The whole historical upheaval has no proper presence, to the point that working as a Nazi spy is attempted at hand waving. Of course I don't think the romance itself works though, as I find the relationship is defined by just really their lust for one another and other man Colin Firth has such a terrible one note to play. I mean what I'm trying to say is I wish he'd stop telling his stupid story about the stupid desert and just die already, just die!

Fine cast, but I imagine my issues may be fundamental within the source material.

Tahmeed:

Probably not.

RatedRStar said...

New Police Story is a film that cannot get a hold of what tone it wants to be, so you have the lighthearted (Nicholas Tse), the totally serious (Daniel Wu) and the man in between (Jackie Chan) and even though there are some good scenes there is wonky tone, especially since the film starts so seriously with half the police force dieing, and Chans alcoholism following.

RatedRStar said...

Luke: To be fair, Louis have been pretty positive for all of the HK performances I requested aside from Liu Kai Chi which I made a mistake on, Louis actually did like him in his HK winning performance for Beast Stalker, the others that I have requested have been all positive so far, Big Tony Leung and Little Tony Leung, Alex Fong, Sam Lee, Nicholas Tse and Lau Ching Wan.

RatedRStar said...

Jacky Cheung, Roy Cheung, Chan Sang for the Longest Summer and of course the likes of Anthony Wong and Chow Yun-Fat have done fairly well so far.

Calvin Law said...

I’m still gonna see Ford v Ferrari next week to see what I think, hopefully I’ll at least enjoy the racing bits.

RatedRStar said...

My friend asked me to see Ford V Ferrari and I flinched, its one of whose films you wish was shorter.

RatedRStar said...

Louis: OMG how can I forget Liu Ye, he was requested about 4 years ago lol xD

Bryan L. said...

Calvin: There's some entertainment to be had with the racing scenes, but eh, not enough to justify a movie ticket.

Louis: I knew you were going to work in the Seinfeld reference about the film at some point lol. Thoughts for the cast of Ford v. Ferrari sans Bale?

Louis Morgan said...

Bryan:

Damon - (Fine straight forward leading turn from him, with some decent chemistry with Bale to boot. It isn't anything too notable from him overall, but he's fine as the determined straight man against Bale's more wily and eccentric character)

Bernthal - (Basically doing his typical thing, but it works for the part)

Balfe & Jupe - (Both do the concerned and caring family routine well enough.)

Letts - (Once again adds a lot to a role that could've been a one note throwaway character. Letts though offers a bit more depth than that, while also adding sort of the right sense of intensity to the character's specific determination.)

Lucas - (I actually think he does a fine sleazy self-serving turn, but they overuse his character.)

McKinnon - (Does a fine one of the boys, style supporting turn as just the consistent hardworking type.)

Calvin:

Well I seem to be in quite the minority opinion when it comes to Ford V. Ferrari, so hopefully you'll like it more than I did overall.

Michael McCarthy said...

This seems pretty in line with what I've heard of the performance. Though I still disagree about The English Patient, I believe Fiennes is EXCELLENT in that.

At least I can safely assume Ledger isn't getting anything less than a 4 now. For me his deft realization of a rom-com lead essentially trapped in a crime drama is an easy 5.

Michael McCarthy said...

I saw Ford v Ferrari yesterday and liked it a lot more than Louis did. It definitely didn't need to be that long but I ended up not minding that it was. For me Damon is a 4 and Bale is a *strong* 4.5.

I recently watched The Art of Self-Defense as well. Overall I found it quite entertaining, though I don't think it fully earns the darkness of its final act. Nivola is terrific.

Emi Grant said...

I watched Ford v Ferrari as well. A bit too long, but I also didn't mind it that much even if it did border on becoming dull at times. I did mind the overuse of Josh Lucas's character though, as it definitely was becoming a nuisance by the end.

Bale: 4.5 (wouldn't mind if he made the alternate line-up)
Damon: 3:5/4
Letts: 4
Bernthal: 3
Lucas:3
Balfe:3
Jupe: 3

Michael McCarthy said...

Oh and Luke, since you asked a while back:

Erivo: 4.5

Schoenaerts: 5
Dern: 3.5

Tahmeed Chowdhury said...

Michael: Your ratings for Nivola and Eisenberg?

Luke Higham said...

Does anyone think Ana De Armas could be Louis' Supporting Actress winner this year for Knives Out.

Bryan L. said...

Luke: Perhaps, since she might have a bigger role than the trailers imply.


Also, just posted a Coen bros ranking on my blog if anyone wants to take a look

Michael McCarthy said...

Tahmeed:

Eisenberg: 4
Nivola: 4.5

Lucas Saavedra said...

Louis: your thoughts on the Seinfeld episode 'The English Patient'?

RatedRStar said...

Luke: Maybe, that film looks like it will be so much fun, my parents want to see it so I will actually go with them.

Luke Higham said...

RatedRStar: As much as I have Joe Pesci as favourite to win Supporting Actor, I don't think we should rule out Daniel Craig who I could see getting runner-up at least ahead of Pacino.

Robert MacFarlane said...

By pretty much every account I’ve heard from, both Craig and de Armas sound like unambiguous leads.

Calvin Law said...

I think Hanks could easily end up as Louis’ win too.

Tahmeed Chowdhury said...

Louis: Your thoughts on the fourth episode of the sixth season of Silicon Valley once you see it tonight, and your episode MVP.

Robert MacFarlane said...

Oh my God, Tim Blake Nelson. Also, the show continues to subtweet Snyder with actually showing the damn squid.

Michael McCarthy said...

For what it's worth, I saw The Irishman today and I thought Pacino was MVP. I need to think a little harder about De Niro and Pesci's ratings.

Calvin Law said...

Robert: he was amazing. I kinda love that each episode spotlights different characters, gives everyone a chance to shine.

Michael: Hello fellow Pacino-er I entirely agree although the other two are easy 5’s for me (though De Niro isn’t in my top 5 which I kind of hate).

Luke Higham said...

Louis: Your thoughts on The Irishman and ratings & thoughts on the cast.

Anonymous said...

Louis: Your thoughts on the cinematography of Motherless Brooklyn?

Calvin Law said...

That recent Silicon Valley episode was funny but a bit all over the place. But damn if that Jared scene wasn't the most depressing scene I've seen all year.

Louis Morgan said...

Regarding Watchmen, I was waiting for them to really properly use Nelson, and it did not disappoint. Also loved all Irons had to offer, once again showing what a waste of a great character Ozymandias was in the film, both due to performance and Snyder seemingly not understanding the character.

Lucas:

One of the funniest episodes, though truly excelling in Elaine's plot, which sums up a minority opinion beautifully when it comes to film, particularly the utmost disdain. Although also love one of the greatest fake movies ever in the Dabnmey Coleman vehicle Sack Lunch, which was clearly robbed of every Oscar the English Patient won. Although as much as that's the highlight, I also love Jerry's accidental rivalry with the Mandelbaum clan, particularly the #1 dad rankings, George's Mr. Peanut counterpart and Kramer's off-brand "Cubans", especially trying to sell them as rollers for Castro's brother Dwayne.

Anonymous:

Beautiful work by Dick Pope in creating sort of the "too perfect" technicolor style New York per the 50's. This is the intention though and in this regard Pope excels in every regard. Whether that being the absolutely pristine lighting of every single shot, the grand scale granted to the city that is just beautifully realized, and just a gorgeous look to every locale. There's a richness of every frame, and I quite honestly wish the rest of the film was able to fully back up what Pope was doing. Where he did almost literal paintings in Mr. Turner, this isn't far off in basically being one elegant landscape painting of 50's New York after another.

Tahmeed:

Indeed a scattershot episode, though funny in its various beats me for me, even if they all seemed like fits and starts. Whether that be Gavin's romance novel, Richard's power struggle, Gilfoyle's odd friendship and yes Jared's relentlessly sad story. Zach Woods easy MVP there, though not really for humors sake.

Calvin Law said...

Woods was great but I almost thought that scene was way too dark for the series’ standards. I do appreciate that Amanda Crew is being very well used this season. L

Calvin Law said...

Also agreed on Irons, I actually think this might be the best performance he’s given in a long time.

Mitchell Murray said...

Lucas/Louis: I love that episode of Seinfeld as well, and Elaine's angry rants are really are some of my favourite lines from the character/Drefus' performance.

Mitchell Murray said...

Also, I just watched "Stand and Deliver" today, and it was fine. Definitely an "80s" movie in many regards, which can be both a good thing and a bad thing depending on the story. In this case I simply found the film to be a very straight forward, paint-by-numbers "real life story" picture; Not anything terrible, mind you, but also not anything to memorable/amazing. The film unfortunately suffers from some pacing issues, I feel, as well as some weak supporting performances that really didn't draw me into the lives of Escalante's students. Also I would've liked to have seen more detail given to Escalante himself, namely what he was like outside the classroom or even before getting his job at the school. Again, the movie isn't without merit, but I just wished it stood out a little more among the "inspirational teacher" sub-genre.

Olmos - 3.5/4
Phillips - 3
Garcia - 2.5
Everyone else - 2 to 2.5

Tahmeed Chowdhury said...

Louis: Can't believe this slipped my mind, but could you give me your thoughts on the score for Spirited Away, and the track 'The Name of Life' as well?
https://youtu.be/ImPM5IDIYPs
It's probably one of my favourite tracks in any movie score, ever.

Anonymous said...

Louis: Looking back on Avatar, is it bad to say that I was rooting for the colonel and the other humans to win? At least Lang wasn't bland unlike the other actors.

Luke Higham said...

Anonymous: No, I couldn't stand Saldana in Avatar and Worthington just didn't have a compelling enough presence to overcome the blandness of his leading role.

Anonymous said...

Louis: I was reading your old comment where you ranked Spielberg's films and noticed that in your small review of Munich, you said that you felt at times that Spielberg was trying to be Oliver Stone. What would be your cast for a 90's version of the film directed by Stone?

And I suppose your pick for DP in a 50's Motherless Brooklyn would be Robert Burks?

Calvin Law said...

Louis: apparently Nicol Williamson was going to play McKellen’s role in Apt Pupil in an earlier 1980s version that was never completed. Do you agree that he’d probably have killed it?

Anonymous said...

What are everyone's thoughts here on how the Supporting Actress lineup is going to be? I was making a list of probable roles that will be nominated at the Oscars but I couldn’t come up with more than 3 at Supporting Actress. I only reckoned Laura Dern and maybe Scarlett Johansson are a certainty, and Jennifer Lopez if she still has enough buzz when the awards start, but other than that the category is a big blank to me.

Bryan L. said...

Anonymous: I'll say...

Laura Dern in Marriage Story (Winner)
Scarlett Johansson in JoJo Rabbit (This years Jamie Foxx)
Florence Pugh in Little Women (Welcome-to-the-club)
Meryl Streep in Little Women (Duh)
Margot Robbie in Bombshell (I think the film will steal the buzz away from Hustlers, since Theron also has a good shot of getting in for Lead, has a better release date, and is more "timely")

Mitchell Murray said...

Anonymous:

Dern
Johansson
Lopez
Pugh
Streep

Dern has to be a lock at the very least, and lets not forget her nomination for "Wild" despite her small role, which means she has firm support. Johansson has a banner year going for herself, and Lopez has strong enough buzz for her film, not to mention a sort of "career achievement" status working as well (Many people viewed "Hustlers" as her finest work). Pugh I can see as a, to quote Bryan, "welcome to the club" nod, while Streep simply seems to be an automatic contender with every film she does.

Now this line up depends on "Little Women" really making an impact, since Pugh is still a rising star and even Streep can miss out from time to time (She didn't get nominated for "Mary Poppins Returns", thank god). Also with regards to Robbie, unlike Johansson where she has a notable leading role and a notable supporting turn, Robbie has two supporting roles that simply aren't being pushed as the selling points of their films. That could work against her, though if has to get nominated I'd rather it be for "Bombshell" since I've heard its the meatier part between the two.

We also can't rule out the fringe contenders i.e Bening, Zhou or Mckenzie (Jojo Rabbit). I say this as the last two supporting actress races offered some surprises of their own (Manville in 2017, and de Tavira in 2018), so never rule out a surprise nominee.

Mitchell Murray said...

Also, I just realized now that having seen "Stand and Deliver", I've almost watched the entire 1988 best actor line up (Excluding von Sydow).

I suppose my ranking at the moment would be this:

4) Hoffman
3) Hanks
2) Olmos
1) Hackman

Matt Mustin said...

I watched Gods and Monsters last night and really didn't like it. The fact that it won Beat Adapted Screenplay is a joke.

Calvin Law said...

I saw Ford v Ferrari/Le Mans '66 and I have to say besides the kinda annoying autobiography traps (it is a shame they made Leo Beebe the heel because by all accounts he was nothing like that in real life), I really loved it. I actually think this is Mangold's best directed film, and actually I do think he managed to somehow have two great endings in one, it would've been greater if he'd ended with the first ending but the second ending was great too.

Bale - 4.5 (and could easily go up, I was very surprised by how much I cared for Ken Miles by the end. And even though that accurate was inaccurate as hell to the real Miles I didn't care, he made it his own and it really added a lot to the character)
Damon - 4
Bernthal - 3
Balfe - 3.5
Jupe - 3
Letts - 3
Lucas - 3
Girone - 3 (love that they didn't make Enzo Ferrari into a caricature)
McKinnon - 3

Anonymous said...

Bryan: Yeah, I could see Dern winning this year. Great, underrated actress that's been ignored many times, plus she is pretty influential at the Academy, seeing as she's one of the founders of the Museum. However, I find it possible that Johansson could pull a Jessica Lange in 82 instead of a Jamie Foxx, winning Supporting so the Lead win could go to someone else. If that happens, then I truly don’t knkw who could win in Lead. I suspect it'll be a very split category when the award season comes.

Louis Morgan said...

Tahmeed:

The score is absolutely gorgeous, and essential in creating the film's atmosphere and mood. This sort of pleasant misterioso, that is both warm, yet haunting in a rather astonishing way. This almost use a relatively minimalist orchestration much of the time, with the focus on the keyboard/piano though as really the "heart" of the score, with the grander elements of strings seeping in so gently. It is a masterclass of the calmest builds to realize, as each still maintains an ease even in its most spectacular nearly operatic pieces by the end of the selection. The Name of Life may indeed by a highlight of it, truly focusing most on that heart and so beautifully so. This crafting such a simple yet spirited element, that carries this unmistakable if so effortless melancholy.

Anonymous:

Avner Kaufman: Willem Dafoe
Steve: Sean Bean
Carl: Rutger Hauer
Robert: Francois Cluzet
Hans: M. Emmet Walsh
Ephraim: Elliott Gould
Papa: Alain Delon
Louis: Dominique Pinon

I would say, yes.

Calvin:

Definitely so on his voice alone, though would've also a far better film with Alan Bridges as director, not that he is a great filmmaker, however he was far more deft than Singer.