Whether she's gasping for breathe in [safe]...
Erupting on a truly deserving pharmacist in Magnolia...
Or struggling to maintain the perfect image of wife and mother in Far From Heaven...
Her mouth is the core, the indicator for the rest of her performance. You can go further with her mousy Laura Brown in The Hours, how her lips struggle to utter a word, or her Barbara Baekeland in Savage Grace, where her mouth is more deadly than any weapon.
Moore's mouth is a cinematic treasure trove, and what makes it all the more delicious is that it is also responsible for one of the most infectious laughs I have ever heard and fortunately a reoccuring presence during her Screen Talk that coincided with the 53rd London Film Festival, where she screened not one but two new films, A Single Man and Chloe. (Both of which I was lucky enough to have seen, and will discuss later).
Humble to the point of frustration (how I didn't scream "YOU ARE A GODDESS" I am unsure), Moore was as intelligent, entertaining and enchanting as her film roles would suggest and any hints of superiority, in any capacity, were distinctly absent. In fact her message was quite clear, acting is simply a job and film is a director's medium, actors are only their vessel for which they can achieve their vision and be a cultural force. This was accompanied by an interesting ancedote of new-mum Moore on the set of Magnolia, where she would instinctively alternate from her role as gold digger in the midst of hysteria to mother rather than complaining "I can't mother my child, I'm in character!". Both interesting scenarios...that would surely scare any child senseless.
The questions - from the The Script Factory's director, Briony Hanson - played safe with general interest; how did you get into X character, how do you find working with X, etc. And the interview progressed rather smoothly (quite unlike my usual encounters with Moore in the cinema), only on a handful of occassions did Hanson trigger the unanticapated from Moore. And in a flash, she was gone. As this flash lasted approx an hour and a half I cannot complain, but the greedy film fanatic inside me naturally wanted more. What about Savage Grace?, future theatre work?, and - most importantly for me - talk about your mouth!
Fortunately there are always her performances to obsess over, and her work in A Single Manand Chloe are worthy additions to her astonishing array of characters. A Single Man is undoubtedly the greater film, and will surely land her a fifth Oscar nomination come March 2010 yet it is Chloe that proves more interesting from the perspective of Moore. It sums up my own feelings on her career; in 'indie' film she rules as Queen, but once she steps into the realm of the commercial she begins to struggle.
The first hour or so acts as a wonderful examination of long-term relationships that have grown loveless and the loss of sexuality. Then a 'twist', more a disjointed change of characters and genre, throws all this good work out the window (teehehe) in a desperate attempt to incorporate a bunny-boiler finale. It is an odd decision that reaps no rewards, unless you enjoy your paint-by-numbers Hollywood thrillers with lesbian overtones (I imagine, to my dismay, many do!). Only Moore comes out unscathed; she could anchor a ship with the automatic empathy she summons. Just look at this failed attempt at a smile for the 'unsuspecting' prostitute she is about to enlist in order to discover her husband's infidelities...
She is wonderful, no?
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