well, i guess some might say the best performance is one which doesn’t seem like a performance. But at times larger than life, e.g De Niro in Raging Bull (method tradition), Day Lewis in There will be Blood (o.t.t theatricality?), Hopkins in Silence of the Lambs (enjoyable ham?), can be very impressive. One thing i don’t like is “models” wiped clean of expressiveness, which can be a distracting mannerism., but others think it helps concentrate the mind on the purity of the image etc.
I think a great performance is one where you stop thinking of the actor as an actor acting a part, but see them as a real character that has a life outside of the film. It always annoys me when larger than life characters win Oscars over realistic characters. One of the best (American) actors around for the last few years I think is Philip Seymour Hoffman – check out Owning Mahowny.
I guess what makes a good performance for me is seeing on screen how the actor blends with what’s around, so I start thinking about what the character is thinking or what’s happening ti him/her. I also admire performances with not that much dialogue, since it’s harder to convey feelings and thoughts, though some talky performances well executed are among my favorites.
I can never tell what is good acting, only bad acting. Err… so maybe good acting is the non-presence of bad acting? Because personally, the heavily dramatic inspired-monologue-stricken kind of performances that the academy loves I find rather trite and the awkward low-key performances one might find in Jarmusch films I love, yet I cannot see many student films without cringing to the point of facial scarring.
a good performance: Jeanne Moreau walking down the Champs-Élysées at night with Miles Davis music playing in the background
Howard Fritzson
I don’t think anyone knows anymore. There is no criteria. You like what you like and you can’t explain why. Everyone has some kind of theory about films and the directors…but the actors…? In these threads, no one can say why they think someone is great. I love Juliette Binoche in “Rendez-vous” because she is raw and exploratory. She is not certain about anything she is doing and, from later interviews, I have learned that she is a little embarrassed about being so naked in this film. You can feel her sense of discovery. That is what makes this performance wonderful.