I. INTRODUCTION
Auguste and Louis Lumiere were the pioneers of cinema, whose name comes from their invention, the cinematograph, which literally means "a movement recorder". The film presented on December 28th, 1895 recorded actually the movement only, without sounds. The development of cinema followed soon, as it had become a likeable pastime and spread worldwide with considerable dynamics. The first films made resembled contemporary documentaries and they based upon the novelty of the invention. This reflected their attitude towards the invention, with a reliable provision that common images filmed would be a temporary attraction and relatively short-lived. They did not do anything to modify the picture, shortly speaking, they could not avoid its banal character and for a time did nothing towards its development in other direction. The other film was famous for its realistic and dramatic picture of a railway engine moving towards the camera and taken so skilfully as to evoke an illusion of actually running into the audience. The advertisement followed of panicky reactions of the audience and they could be justified, as the image was something new and fresh. The dramatic aspect of the cinema and its power of illusion were noticed, and picture was followed by more than a century of new and shocking images based upon the same method in famous sequences remembered better than the plot of the films themselves. Contemporary films are addressed at a wide spectator population, differentiated with respect to age, experience and background. Like widely understood literature, whose part they really are in the same way as a printed copy of Othello and its performance. Either live or actually filmed, the productions are adapted, remade, quoted, mocked and actualized. Apart from its creative possibilities, film art can be an invaluable educational means for the perfection and accessibility of images presented easily to a wide audience. At this point the audiovisual aspect As a most widespread and enjoyed form of diversion, it proved extremely lucrative, with a guarantee of the highest income compared to investment. It attracted those who wanted to join the new entertainment industry with little attention to their previous experience. In order to attract young audience, many films of action were made, so actors dominated the screen, while actresses usually played smaller parts and had to wait for their big time yet. The presence of actresses as central characters was very symptomatic for the changing character of the cinema and the tastes of the audience. Young couples, for whom cinema was a favourite place to go out, expected not only adventurous action, but also idealized love and romantic plot from the legends of the silver screen. The role of actresses in the modern cinema is definitely different than it used to be a century ago, but the present state was achieved in the context of social changes followed by changing expectations of the spectators. It can be assumed that if the starting timeline for the contemporary cinema is1990, it is nevertheless based upon the heritage of several decades in which several strong personalities appeared in significant pictures, in that way creating the patterns to be followed or compared to when introducing changes or looking for the new means of expression.
II.BYGONES ARE NEVER FORGOTTEN
Vivien Leigh, Marilyn Monroe and Lisa Minelli
"Gone with the Wind" an intended melodrama produced in 1939 became a significant picture in the history of the cinema, and Vivien Leigh who won an Oscar for the part of Scarlett O'Hara became the one to set a new standard. Her suggestive acting associated her with the character of Scarlett O'Hara and each actress who would like to appear in a similar picture must remember the image deeply imprinted in common experience. A suggestive romantic topic was perfectly handled and if Clark Gable did not get the Academy prize, it was only for the magnitude of the new star. As Vivien Leigh was an actress from Europe, she evoked much envy in Hollywood, but the film's success silenced the malcontents. The picture became a symbol of everlasting love that overcomes all adversities and the woman character is very convincing indeed. The new image of a heroine was created.
The fifties brought many successful actresses; still there was no outstanding individuality that could be identified as a legend. Judy Garland, Lauren Becall, Deborah Kerr or Shirley Temple, were undoubtedly great actresses, but the cinema still awaited another extraordinary personality. Marilyn Monroe is considered to have completely transformed the film industry and each film in which she appeared was a success. There are numerous anecdotes about her behaviour on the film set, as she sometimes did not learn by heart what she was supposed to say, which does not mean that she was a silly blonde, pretended to be one or actually usually was employed to act a part like that. She chose her roles very carefully in order to avoid easy and obvious classification by the audience. Each of the characters she played had very much of her personality, and she quarrelled if the director wanted to impose his vision. Nevertheless, the image of a typical blonde was created by her and she hit the feminists much more painfully than the most aggressive redneck would do. By the way, a redneck should have rather bought a copy of "Playboy" with MM on the front cover and consciously or subconsciously evoke his positive emotions towards women to get at least a little more civilised.
Marilyn Monroe freed the sexy blonde image from the negative connotations and won numerous fans for the cause of women's lib.
The image left by Marilyn Monroe has long remained fresh because of the creativity she presented in every picture and the mastery of rendering the emotional truth. She contributed largely to forming the image of contemporary cinema and by means of her independence and creativity she made a pattern to follow. The biographical legend resulted from her mysterious suicidal death in 1962, but the immortality of her art is more significant than scandalous revelations trying to find their way to the public view. As an artist, she left a blank space that has not been filled by any other actress yet.
Lisa Minelli got an Oscar in 1973 for acting in the masterpiece "Cabaret." The picture of 1972 has already become classic and the critics claim that it is one of the best films ever produced. Sally Bowles was the central character in the film and the credit for her perfection goes to Lisa Minelli. A talented performer endowed with sonorous voice presented also a spontaneous talent for acting and created a model of an energetic and independent woman skilfully contrasted with an effeminate transvestite created by Joel Grey. Energetic and independent Sally is by no means a lesbian, and her love affairs have a direct connection with her screen career plans. The created pattern of a musical performer and actress has been followed by Nicole Kidman, Renee Zellweger, and Catherine Zeta-Jones. .
There are substantial differences among Vivien Leigh, Marilyn Monroe and Liza Minnelli just as the screen techniques they follow. The common quality of their creations is perfect imitation of the imaginary reality, very high verisimilitude. The characters created by them reflect certain schemes, followed by actresses who fit the pattern. The character created by Vivien Leigh is suitable for actresses who are convincing as stage beauties and appear in passionate and emotive pictures, Marilyn Monroe's characters are for intelligent and sexy blondes and Lisa Minelli's character is a standard for the actresses performing in musicals, with or without a scandalous atmosphere around private life. The three famous actresses and their characters created the image and reality of the contemporary cinema. Their position in the history of this form art is unquestionable and their names are unlikely to fade soon in the hall of fame. Women characters in contemporary films follow quite exactly the character types of Scarlett O'Hara, Sugar Kane or Sally Bowles. They are the most significant characters that were created in more than a century of cinema. As masterpieces, they are banal to copy but impossible to imitate. Something new must be created in order to be of original value.
III."THE SPARKLING DIAMOND"
Nicole Kidman
Almost forty by now, Nicole Kidman appeared on the film set in 1983. She featured as Helen in "Bush Christmas." Her acting practice was considerable, as she frequented in Sydney. As a fair-skinned redhead, she used to escape from the Australian sun to the darkness of the theatre building and took part in rehearsals, which became her regular pastime. She was connected with the Philip Street Theatre where she worked. Before she took up acting, she had practised ballet and mime. Nicole preferred acting to studying, so she began. Apart from the already mentioned debut, she appeared in several films, including miniseries "Vietnam," and won the Australian Film Institute Award. Her US debut was a thriller "Dead Calm" in which she appeared with Sam Neal as Rae Ingram who got rid of a psychotic murderer and savedher husband lost at sea. Then she appeared in the romance "Days of Thunder" with Tom Cruise, whom she married in 1990. She did not want to walk in his shadow and apart from films featured together; she appeared in several pictures with other actors. She won a Golden Globe for her role of a success-determined housewife, in "To Die For" which was considered a real step forward in her career. When she appeared as Alice Harford with her husband in Stanley Kubrick's "Eyes Wide Shut", rumours appeared that their marriage was a disguise for Tom Cruise's homosexuality. They denounced the media attacks, but eventually separated in 2001, officially because of career conflicts.
By then she had already been a famous American actress and her performance as "Sparkling Diamond" Satine character in "Moulin Rouge!" was her biggest success. She was extremely well received by the critics and had fantastic reviews. The film gained even more sympathy from the audience. The film was shown for the first time in Cannes, during the famous film festival. It proved to be Nicole Kidman's new conquest and another step ahead in her career. This time she had to handle a new character, as Satine, the best diva at the Moulin Rouge cabaret and a courtesan, who manipulates her fans. No wonder she is prosperous, independent and always achieves her aims. Starting her new affair proves a deadly trap. She falls deeply in love with Christian, a writer from Scotland and the whole previous arrangement breaks. From the point of view of a courtesan, emotional engagement is just recklessness, she is condemned and a high price must be paid. In this production, Nicole presented her wide range of acting skills and perfection of convincingly presenting both a cynical courtesan and an emotional, loving woman.
She had to employ her dancing skills, too, but she was the most afraid of singing. She worked hard to attain perfection in both and she managed to do it. Small accidents accompanied her preparation as she broke her rib (twice) hurt her knee and lost consciousness (reportedly of exhaustion) several times. One of the accidents could have proved quite serious, as she fell off the swing on which she hung while singing "Diamonds are a girls best friends", next time she tied her corset too tight, while the knee damage was the result of the extremely intensive dancing practice. Her involvement and hard work up to fifteen hours a day brought a spectacular result and strengthened Nicole's position as an actress.
"Moulin rouge!" significance was a little exaggerated but the picture did much to revive or at least enliven the musical. A possible comparison to "Cabaret" is rather superficial and far-fetched. Satine, though, was a significant role in Nicole Kidman's career and is believed, as it has already been noticed, to have confirmed her position as an independent artist. It is especially important that she presented what skills the actress needs to be versatile and did it in a perfect manner. The films that followed only confirmed her meaningful position in present-day cinema.
IV.'BLACKBERRY' FOREVER
Halle Berry
The legendary future of Halle Berry is unquestionable. In 2001, after she had appeared as Leticia Musgrove in "Monster's Ball" the Best Actress Academy award was given to the black (actually bi-racial) actress for the first time in its history. The role was really impressive, but the main role in a TV mini-series "Introducing Dorothy Dandridge" in 1999 that brought her a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a TV Movie was the one that gave her life a new meaning. When she got it, she had already been a famous model and started to be recognized as an actress. She took Dorothy Dandridge role and it proved a significant step in her career.
The person of Dorothy Dandridge was spectacular enough to make an interesting story. Her talent and beauty made her a film star who was nominated to the award that Halle Berry got almost half a century later. This biographical coincidence enabled Hale Berry to be a competent and suitable performer of the part of a black beauty. Dorothy was called a casualty of her own position, as the spectacular success had no follow-up when she was at the top. Her personal problems were not a less serious drawback to her career. The symbolic character deserved Halle's extreme concentration and personal engagement. According to the black Americans, numerous Dorothy's problems resulted from the colour of her skin and racial discrimination although it was the beautiful café au lait tan that added up to her beauty. Dorothy proved talented and experienced enough to incarnate in the character of her alter ego and the role proved very convincing. It is always the actresses dream to virtually become the character she acts and Halle's further life and career showed that it was even possible to improve that character. Just as Dorothy used to, Halle fights any signs of racism and is very sensitive to them. Biographical analogies and parallels are very numerous and the fate of each black beauty shows dramatic coincidence in many aspects. The other famous and honoured artist's personal life also abounds with problems. Even her success is partially the result of the success of her famous predecessor. The Golden Globe was indirectly the reward from the great actress who was fully appreciated in her perfectly made biographical picture. In that way, an analogy with the birth of a new star that appeared after the other one had faded is appropriate here. Time has proved that Halle Berry is still ascending.
V. A GREAT EXPECTATION FROM POLAND
Maja Ostaszewska
Born in 1972 in Kraków, Maja Ostaszewska has enjoyed artistic environment since her early childhood, as not only are her relatives artists, but also cultural life in Krakow is as rich as in no other city in Poland, which is Krakow's landmark.
She was noticed for her Her outstanding artistic endowment at the diploma performance of Anton Chekhov's "Platonov" at Theatre School directed by Krystian Lupa in 1996. The play was made in two versions which differed with symbolic colours and although Maja took quite different parts in each version, she was equally good in both of them. ,.
Maja Ostaszewska has enjoyed an abundance of roles and has worked with the most outstanding Polish directors: Krystian Lupa, Jerzy Jarocki, Jerzy Grzegorzewski and Grzegorz Jarzyna. She was invited to work at numerous Polish theatres and acted in the plays staged there. She appeared in many polish theatres.
Maja's film career has not been so rich yet, but the productions she was invited to appear in, required from her considerable flexibility and clearly defined artistic identity as an actress. Polish audience could enjoy her debut performance in the role of Karolina in "Przystań" (The Harbour) directed by Jan Hryniak in 1997 as a provincial girl confronted with the complexity of the world. . Maciej Maniewski, a "Kino" reporter, wrote that According to the critic's opinion, what appeals to the audience is her forthrightness and tender emotional engagement. Her other role in "Prymas - trzy lata z tysiąca" (The Primate of Poland - Three Years of the Millennium) is completely different, she plays the a nun who was the infamous security service informer and reported on Cardinal Wyszynski, the Primate of Catholic Church in Poland deposed by the communists and exiled to a provincial monastery. In the role of the nun Maja shows the weakness of human character depraved by circumstances. .Maja Ostaszewska's accuracy and professional attitude to the stage and film set are remarkable. She says that during the character study and role preparation a total identification is essential, with the minute details of everyday behaviour and psychological portrait. The same applies to other traits of character, likes and preferences. The psychological training is so intensive as to identify oneself completely with the character to be played. That kind of identification is so deep as to react in the realistic way during the performance. In that way the actress can imitate the character completely and create the illusion of incarnation. An actress prepared in that way can easily switch to the alter ego during the performance. Having perfected the secret of complete identification, Maja Ostaszewska evokes a perfect illusion of being the character she plays. A deep psychological insight allows her depict perfectly the outer features of the character. The greatness of Maja consists in the perfection of detail and profound knowledge. She is considered the great hope of Polish cinema as her professional preparation is outstanding. There are less and less opportunities for actresses in Polish cinema, but the roles played by Maja Ostaszewska prove that there is a hope for the future. At least there is a strong conviction that the situation in Polish cinema will get substantially better.
VI.THE POWER OF STILL WATERS
Kirsten Dunst
Kirsten Dunst is one more child prodigy. Born in 1982, she appeared as Campbell McCoy in "The Bonfire of the Vanities" when she was six years old and was noted for her talent again when she was ten. In her debut, he was lucky enough to appear at the side of Tom Hanks and Bruce Willis. But she showed her real talent five years later.
As natural talent and a child prodigy, she has been a proficient and expert actress since her first appearance on the film set. In her case it would be irrational to say that skills would come with age, as when she was ten, she got the role of Amy March in "The Little Women" and when she was eleven, she got a significant part of Claudia in "The Interview with a Vampire," that was her step forward. She was noticed among big stars, as not only Tom Cruise, but also Brad Pitt and Christian Slater appeared in that film. She won the sympathy and admiration of the audience as well as the press. The plot convened with her with respect to a contrast between her young age and experience. She made her major appearances as a girl and her life backs up the thesis that age alone does not determine somebody's endowment or achievement. Juvenile as she is in "The Interview with a Vampire" and entangled in a fantastic predicament of a beauty and a beast pattern, Claudia completely identifies herself with the beast only to discover that having been given wisdom and immortality, she still remains a child with overgrown self-consciousness.
Claudia was rendered with exceptional competence and Kirsten was definitely the right choice to incarnate in that complex personality. An exceptional verisimilitude of presentation won her sympathy of the audience and enthusiastic reviews. The list of prizes includes Young Star Award, Chicago Film Critic Association Award, Boston Society of Film Critics Award, MTV Movie Award, Saturn Award and Golden Globe nomination. The film had also one risky if not scandalous aspect, as Kirsten had to kiss Brad Pitt, which was rather unusual, considering her immaturity and the age difference. She saved her own moral and psychological image from denigration by saying that the experience was frightening and disgusting. She admitted, though, that even if it were pleasurable, she would never reveal that. Claudia was Kirsten's opening, really large movement towards prospective success. She depicts her types in a professional way, yet with no loss to the screen magic. At present she is regarded as a paramount Hollywood young star and is supposed to retain this status in future.
VII. CONCLUSION
Nowadays, at the commencement of the second century of the cinema, it is possible to look from the centenary perspective at the development of this art in its relatively short history. The significance of present-day cinema differs considerably from what it used to be at its initial stage, having developed from a curiosity and marketplace attraction to a serious and powerful medium that is also an extension of dramatic art and literature. It became also a considerable branch of entertainment industry and the way of living for a large number of people.
This kind of entertainment gained such a large popularity for the easy to perceive and realistic presentation that enables the audience identification with the screen characters. Calling Hollywood the dream factory had its deep meaning and the same name can be applied to Bollywood in India. It has its own stars that evoke public hysteria when visiting e.g. Guiana or some other quiet area with considerable Hindu immigrant population.
Widely watched productions spread ideas faster than propaganda does. They influence public opinion, introduce new fashion, change lifestyle, present alternative attitudes towards life problems. All of this is possible when the convincing screen personalities are created by better and better trained actors and actresses. Western cinema differs from those that are just discovering the dream factory idea with the awareness of subconscious perception that requires a perfect verisimilitude.
The actresses described created outstandingly presented characters with clearly defined personality and the style of acting was aimed at the closest psychological similarity. As entertainment is the basic purpose of the cinema, the characters were supposed to catch the audience's attention and enchant the spectators with their attractiveness.
Any comparison of the presented actresses must include a provision that their greatness is expressed in another way in each case, as the variety of characters requires an individual approach to each of them; still a common element must be present. There is an opinion that propaganda lies must look more realistic than reality, but what is despised in the world of reliable information, is praised in the world of entertainment. The most successful are those actresses who created idealized characters that have been universally accepted, as the legends of cinema live their own life as any literary character, no matter if fictitious, or not.
Table of Contents:
- Introduction
- Bygones Are Never Forgotten
- "Sparkling Diamond" - Nicole Kidman
- 'Blackberry' Forever - Halle Berry
- A Great Expectation from Poland - Maja Ostaszewska
- The Power of Still Waters Still waters run deep - Kirsten Dunst
- Conclusion 18
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