Hi all, what do you think are the greatest acting performances in film history?
Preferably looking for top 10s, top 25s, or even top 50 type lists, but if you want to mention just one or a few, feel totally free to do so.
I am also interested in your criteria for selection, whether brief or more explanatory, if you have one that you want to share. But if not, no worries.
Btw, I am sure this has been done before (or very similar). For instance: I shared my picks on this forum some years back and various users shared theirs in reply (thread is locked). Plus, I recall a poll or two. Regardless, I am curious about your most updated picks anyway, including those of any newer users.
My selections... so far... very much in progress right now. There are many missing selections that I need to revisit (yes, Peter O'Toole for Lawrence of Arabia is one of them ). I am mid revising my list and am interested in your selections out of curiosity about both your point of view plus as possible reminders of those I should include, or for new ideas that I should check out.
My basic criteria lies in the creativity (unique, singular nature) of the performance combined with the impact and/or depth of emotional (or conceptual, thematic) expression. By "emotional" I mean it can be any type of emotion (whether comedic or cheerful emotions, more reserved emotions, hostile emotions, madness, power, pathos, etc). Depth is primarily indicated in the expressive range of the performance. And/or less varied range, fewer expressions, yet taken to a very full extent. I am not necessarily as impressed by the most "flawlessly honed, realistic" performance IF it isn't particularly creative/unique/singular and if it doesn't try and pull something extraordinary out of the portrayal, beyond that. No doubt these can be impressive but I personally don't feel they remain as fascinating or compelling, especially with multiple viewings or in the context of film history, as more singular performances that reach beyond this.
Best Acting Performances in Film History (MID REVISION / IN PROGRESS)
Isabelle Adjani - Possession - Andrzej Zulawski (1981)
Laura Dern - Inland Empire - David Lynch (2006)
Orson Welles - Citizen Kane - Orson Welles (1941)
Bibi Andersson - Persona - Ingmar Bergman (1966)
Denis Lavant - Holy Motors - Leos Carax (2012)
Al Pacino - The Godfather, Part 2 - Francis Ford Coppola (1974)
Gena Rowlands - A Woman Under the Influence - John Cassavetes (1974)
Renee Falconetti - The Passion of Joan of Arc - Carl Theodor Dreyer (1928)
Dustin Hoffman - Tootsie - Sydney Pollack (1982)
James Stewart - It's a Wonderful Life - Frank Capra (1946)
Giulietta Masina - Nights of Cabiria - Federico Fellini (1957)
Warren Oates - Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia - Sam Peckinpah (1974)
Marlon Brando - A Streetcar Named Desire - Elia Kazan (1951)
Takashi Shimura - Ikiru - Akira Kurosawa (1952)
Gloria Swanson - Sunset Boulevard - Billy Wilder (1950)
Martin Sheen - Badlands - Terrence Malick (1973)
Emily Watson - Breaking the Waves - Lars Von Trier (1996)
Bette Davis - Hush... Hush Sweet Charlotte - Robert Aldrich (1965)
Marlon Brando - On the Waterfront - Elia Kazan (1954)
Nicolas Cage - Leaving Las Vegas - Mike Figgis (1995)
Elizabeth Taylor - Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? - Mike Nichols (1966)
Bette Davis - What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? - Robert Aldrich (1962)
Mia Farrow - Rosemary's Baby - Roman Polanski (1968)
Al Pacino - Dog Day Afternoon - Sidney Lumet (1975)
Charlize Theron - Monster - Patty Jenkins (2003)
Marlon Brando - Last Tango in Paris - Bernardo Bertolucci (1972)
Vivien Leigh - A Streetcar Named Desire - Elia Kazan (1951)
Malcolm McDowell - A Clockwork Orange - Stanley Kubrick (1971)
Alexander Kaidanovsky - Stalker - Andrei Tarkovsky (1979)
Erland Josephson - The Sacrifice - Andrei Tarkovsky (1986)
Tom Hanks - Forrest Gump - Robert Zemeckis (1994)
Jack Nicholson - One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest - Milos Forman (1975)
Al Pacino - Scarface - Brian De Palma (1983)
Catherine Deneuve - Repulsion - Roman Polanski (1965)
Irene Jacob - The Double Life of Veronique - Krzysztov Kieslowski (1991)
Orson Welles - Touch of Evil - Orson Welles (1958)
Dustin Hoffman - Straw Dogs - Sam Peckinpah (1971)
Joe Pesci - Goodfellas - Martin Scorsese (1990)
Dennis Hopper - Blue Velvet - David Lynch (1986)
Harry Dean Stanton - Paris, Texas - Wim Wenders (1983)
Setsuko Hara - Late Spring - Yasujiro Ozu (1949)
Adam Sandler - Uncut Gems - Josh and Benny Safdie (2019)
David Thewlis - Naked - Mike Leigh (1993)
Richard Burton - Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? - Mike Nichols (1966)
John Travolta - Saturday Night Fever - John Badham (1977)
Gene Hackman - The Conversation - Francis Ford Coppola (1974)
Daniel Day-Lewis - There Will Be Blood - Paul Thomas Anderson (2007)
Holly Hunter - The Piano - Jane Campion (1993)
Robert De Niro - Raging Bull - Martin Scorsese (1980)
Montgomery Clift - Wild River - Elia Kazan (1960)
Charlie Chaplin - The Great Dictator - Charlie Chaplin (1940)
Carroll Baker - Baby Doll - Elia Kazan (1956)
Orson Welles - Chimes at Midnight - Orson Welles (1965)
Natalie Wood - Splendor in the Grass - Elia Kazan (1961)
James Stewart - Vertigo - Alfred Hitchcock (1958)
Cary Grant - North By Northwest - Alfred Hitchcock (1959)
Andy Griffith - A Face in the Crowd - Elia Kazan (1957)
Michael Gambon - The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover - Peter Greenaway (1989)
Jonathan Pryce - Brazil - Terry Gilliam (1985)
Cary Grant - Notorious - Alfred Hitchcock (1946)
Anthony Perkins - Psycho - Alfred Hitchcock (1960)
Robert De Niro - The Deer Hunter - Michael Cimino (1978)
Liv Ullmann - Persona - Ingmar Bergman (1966)
Tom Cruise - Magnolia - Paul Thomas Anderson (1999)
Aleksey Kravchenko - Come and See - Elim Klimov (1985)
Robert De Niro - The King of Comedy - Martin Scorsese (1983)
Jon Voight - Midnight Cowboy - John Schlesinger (1969)
Ellen Burstyn - Requiem for a Dream - Darren Aronofsky (2000)
Ronee Blakley - Nashville - Robert Altman (1975)
Al Pacino - The Godfather - Francis Ford Coppola (1972)
Monica Vitti - L'Avventura - Michelangelo Antonioni (1960)
Sean Gullette - Pi - Darren Aronofsky (1998)
Peter Finch - Network - Sidney Lumet (1976)
Faye Dunaway - Network - Sidney Lumet (1976)
Richard Widmark - Night and the City - Jules Dassin (1950)
Dustin Hoffman - Midnight Cowboy - John Schlesinger (1969)
Orson Welles - Compulsion - Richard Fleischer (1959)
Marlon Brando - The Godfather - Francis Ford Coppola (1972)
Samuel L. Jackson - Pulp Fiction - Quentin Tarantino (1994)
Klaus Kinski - Aguirre, the Wrath of God - Werner Herzog (1972)
Paul Newman - The Hustler - Robert Rossen (1961)
Robert De Niro - Taxi Driver - Martin Scorsese (1976)
Moira Shearer - The Red Shoes - Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger (1948)
Martin Sheen - Apocalypse Now - Francis Ford-Coppola (1979)
Gene Hackman - The French Connection - William Friedkin (1971)
Robert Mitchum - Night of the Hunter - Charles Laughton (1955)
Warren Beatty - McCabe & Mrs. Miller - Robert Altman (1971)
Again, selections are not final and I will be adding to this to fill it out more...
POSSIBLY / RANKING UNDECIDED
Gibson Gowland - Greed - Erich Von Stroheim (1924)
Brigette Helm - Metropolis - Fritz Lang (1927)
Janet Gaynor - Sunrise - F.W. Murnau (1927)
Charlie Chaplin - City Lights - Charlie Chaplin (1931)
Peter Lorre - M - Fritz Lang (1931)
Katherine Hepburn - Bringing Up Baby - Howard Hawks (1938)
Cary Grant - Bringing Up Baby - Howard Hawks (1938)
James Stewart - Mr. Smith Goes to Washington - Frank Capra (1939)
Cary Grant - Suspicion - Alfred Hitchcock (1941)
Humphrey Bogart - Casablanca - Michael Curtiz (1942)
Ingrid Bergman - Casablanca - Michael Curtiz (1942)
Barbara Stanwyck - Double Indemnity - Billy Wilder (1944)
Joseph Cotten - The Third Man - Carol Reed (1947)
Humphrey Bogart - The Treasure of the Sierra Madre - John Huston (1948)
Humphrey Bogart - In a Lonely Place - Nicholas Ray (1950)
Bette Davis - All About Eve - Joseph Mankiewicz (1950)
Toshiro Mifune - Rashomon - Akira Kurosawa (1950)
Machiko Kyo - Rashomon - Akira Kurosawa (1950)
Humphrey Bogart - The African Queen - John Huston (1951)
Katherine Hepburn - The African Queen - John Huston (1951)
Glenn Ford - The Big Heat - Fritz Lang (1953)
Laurence Olivier - Richard III - Laurence Olivier (1955)
Toshiro Mifune - The Seven Samurai - Akira Kurosawa (1954)
Giulietta Masina - La Strada - Federico Fellini (1954)
Max von Sydow - The Seventh Seal - Ingmar Bergman (1957)
Kirk Douglas - Paths of Glory - Stanley Kubrick (1957)
Toshiro Mifune - Throne of Blood - Akira Kurosawa (1957)
Emmanuelle Riva - Hiroshima, Mon Amour - Alain Resnais (1959)
Peter O'Toole - Lawrence of Arabia - David Lean (1962)
Peter Sellers - Dr. Strangelove, or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb - Stanley Kubrick (1964)
Catherine Deneuve - Belle de Jour - Luis Bunuel (1967)
Lee Marvin - Point Blank - John Boorman (1967)
Al Pacino - The Godfather - Francis Ford Coppola (1972)
Ellen Burstyn - Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore - Martin Scorsese (1974)
Peter Falk - A Woman Under the Influence - John Cassavetes (1974)
Jack Nicholson - Chinatown - Roman Polanski (1974)
Faye Dunaway - Chinatown - Roman Polanski (1974)
Christopher Walken - The Deer Hunter - Michael Cimino (1978)
Peter Sellers - Being There - Hal Ashby (1979)
Jack Nicholson - The Shining - Stanley Kubrick (1980)
Meryl Streep - Sophie's Choice - Alan Pakula (1982)
Klaus Kinski - Fitzcarraldo - Werner Herzog (1982)
Tatsuya Nakadai - Ran - Akira Kurosawa (1985)
Dustin Hoffman - Rain Man - Barry Levinson (1988)
Jeremy Irons - Dead Ringers - David Cronenberg (1988)
Daniel Day Lewis - My Left Foot - Jim Sheridan (1989)
Denzel Washington - Malcom X - Spike Lee (1992)
Sharon Stone - Basic Instinct - Paul Verhoeven (1992)
Brenda Blethyn - Secrets and Lies - Mike Leigh (1993)
Jean Reno - Leon: The Professional - Luc Besson (1994)
Natalie Portman - Leon: The Professional - Luc Besson (1994)
Woody Harrelson - Natural Born Killers - Oliver Stone (1994)
Juliette Lewis - Natural Born Killers - Oliver Stone (1994)
>>>>>Funny Games - Michael Haneke (1997)
Tony Leung - In the Mood for Love - Wong Kar-wai (2000)
Maggie Cheung - In the Mood for Love - Wong Kar-wai (2000)
Bjork - Dancer in the Dark - Lars Von Trier (2000)
Audrey Tautou - Amelie - Jean-Marie Jeunet (2001)
Adam Sandler - Punch Drunk Love - Paul Thomas Anderson (2002)
Philip Seymour Hoffman - Synecdoche, New York - Charlie Kaufman (2008)
Ensemble (Rough Draft)
Persona - Ingmar Bergman (1966)
Cries and Whispers - Ingmar Bergman (1972)
Nashville - Robert Altman (1975)
Rashomon - Akira Kurosawa (1950)
The Godfather - Francis Ford-Coppola (1972)
The Godfather, Part 2 - Francis Ford-Coppola (1974)
A Woman Under the Influence - John Cassavetes (1974)
Funny Games - Michael Haneke (1997)
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? - Mike Nichols (1966)
Holy Motors - Leos Carax (2012)
Satantango - Bela Tarr (1994)
Underground - Emir Kusturica (1995)
The Passion of Joan of Arc - Carl Theodor Dreyer (1928)
Stalker - Andrei Tarkovsky (1979)
The Sacrifice - Andrei Tarkovsky (1986)
Repulsion - Roman Polanski (1965)
Goodfellas - Martin Scorsese (1990)
Midnight Cowboy - John Schlesinger (1969)
Pulp Fiction - Quentin Tarantino (1994)
Brazil - Terry Gilliam (1985)
The Kingdom - Lars Von Trier (1995)
A Streetcar Named Desire - Elia Kazan (1951)
Mean Streets - Martin Scorsese (1973)
Apocalypse Now - Francis Ford-Coppola (1979)
Written on the Wind - Douglas Sirk (1956)
Citizen Kane - Orson Welles (1941)
Raging Bull - Martin Scorsese (1980) _________________ Best Classical Best Films Best Paintings
Last edited by AfterHours on 02/11/2022 21:52; edited 78 times in total
This is a really interesting idea that I've never really thought about ranking before. Acting tends not to be my focus when watching a movie, I tend to focus on plot, production, setting/staging, cinematography/framing (interestingly, I tend not to focus on directing either, other than that the director...directs all these things I mentioned other than maybe plot). On the other hand, bad acting can totally ruin a movie, and good acting can be impossible not to recognize, especially if the movie is otherwise not particularly interesting.
I'll have to think about this for a bit and come back, this will be very interesting to dive into. _________________ 51 Washington, D.C. albums!
This is a really interesting idea that I've never really thought about ranking before. Acting tends not to be my focus when watching a movie, I tend to focus on plot, production, setting/staging, cinematography/framing (interestingly, I tend not to focus on directing either, other than that the director...directs all these things I mentioned other than maybe plot). On the other hand, bad acting can totally ruin a movie, and good acting can be impossible not to recognize, especially if the movie is otherwise not particularly interesting.
I'll have to think about this for a bit and come back, this will be very interesting to dive into.
Right on, looking forward to what you come up with!
I am pretty much in the same boat as you. I don't think acting is quite as important as some do (for instance, I have friends that will go to a movie because it has a certain actor in it, whereas I would go much more due to its director), I would also agree that it can enhance or disrupt a film if it is great or noticeably poor. For the most part, I too, am more interested in those other factors you mention (visual design of the film, themes or plot, etc). Though in the end, I would just say that it (usually) comes down to the director, more than any single factor, because he/she tends to be (through coordination of those various aspects) directing the audience to what is being made important. So there are, of course, more script-heavy, acting-heavy films where the acting would matter above other factors (like, say, All About Eve...). So it depends, but yeah, generally I'm pretty much in the same boat as you. _________________ Best Classical Best Films Best Paintings
Takashi Shimura (Ikiru)
Peter O'Toole (Lawrence of Arabia)
Charlie Chaplin (City Lights)
Peter Lorre (M)
Klaus Kinski (Fitzcarraldo)
Tony Leung Chiu-wai (In the Mood for Love)
Henry Fonda (12 Angry Men)
Al Pacino (The Godfather: Part II)
Orson Welles (Chimes at Midnight)
Donald O'Connor (Singin' in the Rain)
Gloria Swanson (Sunset Boulevard)
Ingrid Bergman (Autumn Sonata)
Setsuko Hara (Late Spring)
Yalitza Aparicio (Roma)
Jeanne Moreau (Jules and Jim)
Maggie Cheung (In the Mood for Love)
Giulietta Masina (Nights of Cabiria)
Claudia Cardinale (Rocco and His Brothers)
Scarlett Johansson (Lost in Translation)
Janet Gaynor (Sunrise) _________________ I wanna take Sean Penn
And take Sean Bean
Put 'em in a blender
And make Sean Pean
[quote="BozoTyrannus"]My personal top tens for actors and actresses:
Takashi Shimura (Ikiru)
Peter O'Toole (Lawrence of Arabia)
Charlie Chaplin (City Lights)
Peter Lorre (M)
Klaus Kinski (Fitzcarraldo)
Tony Leung Chiu-wai (In the Mood for Love)
Henry Fonda (12 Angry Men)
Al Pacino (The Godfather: Part II)
Orson Welles (Chimes at Midnight)
Donald O'Connor (Singin' in the Rain)
Gloria Swanson (Sunset Boulevard)
Ingrid Bergman (Autumn Sonata)
Setsuko Hara (Late Spring)
Yalitza Aparicio (Roma)
Jeanne Moreau (Jules and Jim)
Maggie Cheung (In the Mood for Love)
Giulietta Masina (Nights of Cabiria)
Claudia Cardinale (Rocco and His Brothers)
Scarlett Johansson (Lost in Translation)
Janet Gaynor (Sunrise)[/quote]
Thank you, and way to go on those choices, Bozo! (couldn't resist)
Several of these are among my own favorites and you reminded me to immediately include Hara's (from Late Spring, which I just revisited a couple days ago) and Masina's. While others you list both remind and intrigue me and may just need a revisit or more thought before I decide placement.
Pacino's GF 2, for one, is a pretty glaring omission from my own list... (Not to mention GF 1, Dog Day Afternoon...) _________________ Best Classical Best Films Best Paintings
For me, it is everything that we have received from actor Bronson Pinchot, I love him so much.
God bless you and him always!!!
Holly
Thanks JOS, I used to catch Perfect Strangers sometimes as a kid. I'm not that familiar with him as a film actor, but I think the best films he has been in were probably Risky Business, Beverly Hills Cop, and True Romance. _________________ Best Classical Best Films Best Paintings
P.S. His favorite film is The Wizard Of Oz which is why I have this gift for him in this clip here. A poem that I wrote for him is underneath the clip at the website.
Link _________________ Me & my favorite singer James Otto
Check him out here when you can!
P.S. His favorite film is The Wizard Of Oz which is why I have this gift for him in this clip here. A poem that I wrote for him is underneath the clip at the website.
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). I am mid revising my list and am interested in your selections out of curiosity about both your point of view plus as possible reminders of those I should include, or for new ideas that I should check out.
