Clancy Brown did not receive an Oscar nomination for portraying the Kurgan in Highlander.
The Kurgan plays one of the leading candidates of the immortal battle royale who actually is the one who makes our strangest sounding Scot who ever lived, Connor MacLeod (Christopher Lambert) realize he’s immortal by stabbing him during a battle. Brown’s performance as Kurgan really has two phases, which story wise don’t exactly make sense, but I’ll get to those in a moment. The first phase is very much playing the barbarian throughout time, which is a natural fit through his imposing physique and his famously deep voice. Brown offers as such the right degree of sadistic intensity as we see massacre along the battlefield and just as quickly goes about stabbing Connor. The Kurgan continues throughout time to pester Connor, including murdering his mentor Ramirez (Sean Connery), where Brown is more beast than anything in his portrayal. Brown portrays just a vicious predator type of approach to each of these scenes with just focusing on just creating this demon that needs to be slayed, which he backs up with again his deep roar and his always slightly insane stare offering each time. There’s slightly more in his battle with Ramirez where Brown briefly though effectively portrays genuine surprise and fear when Ramirez almost pulls off a killing blow against Kurgan by slicing his throat. Although even modern day it is this same sort of beast mentality even when renting a sleazy hotel room his reaction to a prostitute Candy coming up to see him isn’t at all different from the breath of the monster of old as he notes “of course you are” when she tells him her name. The few scenes where he attacks Connor or kills a different immortal, Brown very much is the same character. That is until Kurgan stabs a man who interferes with a duel leaving him a wanted man, leading him to shave his head and go after Connor directly. Leading to a scene where they meet up in a Church for reasons unknown, but now Kurgan for the rest of the film isn’t just evil he’s wholly irreverent in his manner to everyone and everything. Although I would say the transformation doesn’t exactly make sense, who cares, Brown having a blast. As he brings just a sliminess to every manner in his putting out prayer candles just for fun, licking a priests hands with the most sleazy of smiles and loudly boasting about having murdered Ramirez and about having raped Connor’s deceased wife. Brown is putting all his energy being the absolute worst and is definitely entertaining as such, with a great capper to the scene, supposedly improvised by Brown, which is to exclaim “It’s better to burn out than fade away” while also essentially doing a dance movie. A theoretically silly moment, that is kind of amazing and probably the best part of the film just to the gusto in Brown’s performance and makes it work within the chaotic framework of this second phase to the Kurgan. Something we get more of when he kidnaps Connor’s new girlfriend to draw him out where Kurgan drives her around as recklessly as possible, where again Brown is having a blast in just being ridiculous but it works in creating the sense of the character’s psychotic nature. Leading to the final duel which is mostly just to expectation except for Kurgan’s death, where Brown gets a little more out of it when Connor gets the final blow, and Brown instead wrenching in pain or outraged at the loss, smiles as almost the Kurgan’s saying “good for you!” with the same type of chaos. While I wouldn’t say this is an unforgettable villain turn it is a fun one that is one of the genuinely worthwhile elements of the film. And yes, does he kind of change his performance midway, sure, but it makes the film better by doing so, so it's fine by me.
21 comments:
Oh man, The Wacky Misadventures of Dr Neo Cortex in their full glory...
But yeah, honestly he makes Christopher Lambert basically irrelevant when they share the scenes together and it's no suprise that this is probably the most famous performance from these cheesy 1980s fantasy films rivaled only by Tim Curry in Legend.
A .5 upgrade is better than nothing. I personally do love Brown's performance here.
Louis: Any other rating changes. I assume Lambert's gone down a tad.
Also watched Adolescence, material like this is so tricky as melodramatic or after school special is far more commonly the result, so the requirement is just to be so good that it feels absolutely real and authentic, something Adolescence achieves. Stephen Graham (who evidently not only is a writer but a great one at that) and Jack Thorne deal with multiple tricky issues, balancing it brilliantly by granting captivating procedural detail, moments of brief sort of just normalcy of living within all the trauma, but also make the most incendiary and traumatic elements steeped within such emotional honesty. Everything of course is bolstered by the incredible cast, where they breathe authentic life into every facet of the difficult piece. Much has been made by the filmmaking flex oners, which only really matter if the technique works or gives you something more. In this case it absolutely earns the choice, in part by its execution but more so the purpose of forcing you into situations where there is no escape, whether it is the beat by beat procession of a most unexpected arrest or just having to process every detail of an emotional breakdown.
Cast Ranking:
1. Owen Cooper
2. Stephen Graham
3. Erin Doherty
4. Christine Tremarco
5. Ashley Walters
6. Fatima Bojang
7. Amélie Pease
8. Mark Stanley
9. Kaine Davis
10. Faye Marsay
11. Austin Hayes
12. Jo Harley
Louis: Thoughts on the cast. Graham is one of the few actors that I would definitely recommend seeing as much of his TV work as possible.
Louis: Thoughts on Yul Vasquez and Jen Tullock in Severance?
For a while it was Benedict Cumberbatch but now currently it really has to be Stephen Grahams time to win a Bafta for acting, he has been nominated so many times.
I still have the final episode of Adolescence left, but wow Cooper, Doherty, Graham and Walters have all been phenomenal. Really hope Walters in particular gets more leading man roles, found him to be such an essential anchor for those first two episodes.
Louis: what category would you place Cooper and Graham in Adolescence? Are they lead or supporting?
Luke:
Definitely lowering Lambert down, because man that acting when he tips in the water with Connery is truly beyond dreadful.
I’ll do the top five:
Cooper - (First spoiler alert. His performance in many ways is the series, and this is one time where one cannot try to say a child performance was made in the edit, as Cooper not only had to be on point he had to be on point in one take. And in that sense this is absolutely stunning performance in every sense of the word. Because Cooper doesn’t just give a convincing portrayal of a kid who is struggling in a difficult situation, however he absolutely does do that in episode one, creating so much of the sense of anxiety within the situation, the fear that builds and just the struggle of trying to keep himself together where Cooper naturally plays towards an ambiguity that slowly leans towards the truth which is absolutely stellar work. His work in episode 3 though is the crowning achievement because he is so much, yet wholly cohesive at the same time. Because you do see moments where he just seems to be a scared kid in the situation where it feels absolutely the reality of his situation to which he cannot escape. He seems just as convincing though as a more unpleasant kid though in this instance maybe just a troublesome student where Cooper manages to engage in different ways of a frustrated energy that at times becomes hectoring and wise at others. There’s moments of the regretful kid where you do seem some idea of guilt overwhelms it at times. There’s times where he shows the deep insecurities where Cooper is exceptional in both creating the facade of the kid who has it together who is sexually knowledgeable, then breaking it down to show just the completely lost kid who has no idea what he is talking about other than his own self-loathing. But he is also absolutely convincing as the terrifying kid who could be capable of murder where Cooper is especially disturbing because he doesn’t play it as straight psychopathy, rather he plays it as this culmination of frustration and fierce desire to control. Where he is wholly scary because you see the sense of unpredictability and real intensity, where his violence seems especially possible because Cooper shows that much of it comes from a place of irrational thoughts combined with disturbing rational reaction. It is an amazing performance that brings to life every layer of the terribly broken barely teenager, and he is completely essential to making the series work because if you didn’t believe him you wouldn’t believe the show, however you absolutely believe him.)
Graham - (Graham on the other hand is great, and maybe more expected, one because I already knew Graham was extremely talented and obviously there’s less of a surprise element. But that should not for a moment diminish anything about Graham’s truly stellar work, where he too brings just an absolute reality to the piece. Again the first part you get so much between the lines from Graham in part just bringing to life a concerned dad not really knowing what to do, and also trying to be supportive towards his son best he can. Graham excels with every moment by playing very much to the discovery process of it and detailing each moment with an extra bit of life to the character. Particularly in the ending scene where Graham is outstanding in the combination between complete surprise and even fear, mixed in with trying to bring some kind of loving tenderness in the moment. His episode though Graham is just incredible in playing the layers of the man still living the situation and giving detail to every point. As we do get moments of respite where you do see the love the man has for wife, his daughter even for A-ha, where there is a great naturalism in the moments of earnest happiness that they do have. Graham’s equally great though in the moments of trying to hold it together when things happen where he shows the cracks of the frustration of a man who is going through too much and giving the punctuation to each moment. Then there are the extremes where Graham earns every outburst and shows so much of where it is coming from in such emotional frustrations, that do show anger to be sure but Graham always infuses it with immense heartbreak behind it all. Leading to his final moment that is just extraordinary work from Graham in depicting the emotional collapse so honestly with the most painful part being the quiet final yet so impactful delivery of the character’s apology to his son who isn’t there.)
Tremarco - (In some ways the more thankless role of the two parents because she doesn’t get the same level of focus as Graham in episode one or four, but I thought she was also great in managing to create the same sense of history even in her small bits of real estate to work with. You get a strong sense of her own relationship with Jamie in certain moments, and her own way of dealing with the situation where you see her bottling up, just the way Tremarco expresses it makes the trauma as real, just rather the mother is a bit better at keeping it together than her husband. She is also incredibly moving by creating those same layers of dealing with the situation, where she too breaks, however her break is always in heartbreak, and so often just in her deep penetrating sadness of her work. And I’ll quickly note, Pease has an even more thankless role in terms of how much she is given, though I thought she was just as authentic in filling in the blanks, even though she has even less to work with.)
Doherty - (A truly amazing work of reactionary moments and a confined emotional space. What she does is so effectively play the layers between the professional and the human in an extremely tough situation. Playing so well is the sort of way of delivering every question with such certainty where she is penetrating while also couching it in this certain attempt in softening the blow in order for her to dive a little bit deeper in every thing she says. She’s particularly good in her reactions where she manages to sort of tip toe around the emotion, conveying in moments as very much breaks where even she definitely feels fear in certain moments, even though we also see how good she is at holding it together for much of the time. That is until the ending of her performance where we see the release which is a stunning moment that shows essentially just how much she has been holding in this entire time.)
Walters - (A good performance that very much offers a bit of a stabilizing presence in the first two episodes as the cop character, where Walters very much presents someone who has been through this before, at least to some degree, but in no way is over what is going either. Rather what Walters does is bring this directness very much to the detective who will make his case and will do so successfully. Cutting through certain moments with his rather intimidating calm in a way, where Walters is fascinating in the way he both talks to Jamie as kid and adult in moments, but Walters makes it all part of the same prospect for him. Playing well though the sides of the man as the cop to the person and playing those naturally in their separation. Doing well with the purely human moments where he expresses a certain exhaustion and is moving in the simplicity he brings in the scenes with his son in presenting his own earnest want just to connect best he can even if, unlike when he is detecting, he is a bit lost for words more often than not.)
Harris:
Vasquez - (Should have gotten some sort of guest nod. Anyway brings so much in so little time in showing a combination of the strangeness of his situation between a physicality of someone falling apart, however combined with emotional distress, but also this certain emotional calm at the same time. He gives reality to the oddness, creating a convincing portrait of an unlikely situation and granting some tangible quality to the sci-fi idea he is working with.)
Tullock - (I think she is perfectly fine but not extraordinary in playing a straight man within the overall situation, and basically being this presence of urging Mark along in certain situations. I think she handles this well enough to be convincing but I wouldn’t say her work stands out beyond a certain point.)
Anonymous:
Pretty hard to say honestly. Because no one is in all four episodes. I guess you could say Cooper is the sole lead, or Walters, Graham and Cooper are all leads, though Graham feels more supporting in his first episode, though he is definitely lead in his last episode. Walters feels lead in both of his, Cooper feels lead in both of his. And then again, Doherty is also lead in her solo episode but is only in that episode. So maybe just Walters/Cooper in lead, though really I don’t have an easy answer.
I'd lean towards Cooper being the sole lead if just for thematic purposes, as nearly every single scene in all 4 episodes is about him, which is not something you can really say for when Walters or Graham don't appear.
Louis: Your thoughts on the Dying for Sex trailer?
Louis: Do you intend to watch Castle In The Sky by the end of this round. I'm a bit surprised you've left it this late.
Tahmeed:
That's a good point.
Harris:
Tonally seems a little twee despite the more tragic end of the subject matter maybe it will be a bit more balanced with the actual series.
Louis: Your thoughts on this interview with Rod Serling where he discusses censorship.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQlqjONEsKQ
Louis: What are your thoughts on Walter Salles' Behind the Sun (2001)?
Louis: Could I have your thoughts on these scenes from Adolescence, in terms of direction and acting?
The tape/"do you want to apologize?"
Chasing and arresting Ryan
"This is our last session" (Doherty's tranquil fury has to be the most earned thing ever)
Louis: Your thoughts on this Sopranos parody skit from SNL? Kate McKinnon's Carmela impression is spot-on. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PuWHYJF8Il8)
Post a Comment