Catharsis and Natural Law

Rating: Null/10 (1 January 2004)

There's an old Aesop's fable where a known imitator gets more applause imitating a pig than a farmer pretending to imitate one while actually making a real pig squeal. Plus ça change...
When I'm more conscious of the actors in a movie than the characters they play, I'm disappointed. Unfortunately, Kidman and especially Zellweger had that very effect on me. Zellweger overacted, but may win an Oscar anyway. Both did a good job, but aren't there competent actors who don't have to affect NC accents? Well, then it wouldn't be such an acting performance, would it? I don't doubt for a minute that a strong director can draw excellent performances from little-known actors. However, we all know that a big budget movie needs big names.
Slight spoilers
The movie was very good. We often think of the backdrops subtending the story, yet this time I often thought of the beauty of the landscapes and their constancy, giving form to the ephemeral void in which the characters, now all long dead, turned their tragic pirouettes. It's a movie that slowly pulls a long blade out of a wound only to use it again in a merciless blow as the price of catharsis. We are treated to little foretastes of this catharsis, one of which even explains the Natural Law that makes it necessary.