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Friday, February 2, 2007
Some children should be seen as well as heard
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Dear Mr. Smithee,
In your greater-than-considerable opinion, what are the greatest performances by child actors in movies? I also mean real children, like Henry Thomas in “E.T.,” not a corseted, hair-dyed 17-year-old pseudo-child like Judy Garland in “The Wizard of Oz.”
GEORGE BARTON, Sharpsburg
Dear Tiny Tim,
There once was a not-so-wee boy named D.W. Smithee who liked certain things - like little Natalie Portman in “The Professional.”
Now D.W. also likes really good movies, which is why he rooted for Roberto Benigni’s Holocaust film “Life is Beautiful” at the Oscars. Benigni won an acting Oscar playing the father of young actor Giorgio Cantarini in the 1998 film.
Now my point - and I do have one - is that a couple of years later my phone rang. It was D.W. calling. To tell me he saw little Giorgio again. Being run down by a vile Roman’s horse in “Gladiator.”
D.W. said he knew “Gladiator” was good, but that moment made it great because Ridley Scott had the guts to smash the precious, wee lad from “Life is Beautiful.”
I couldn’t agree more.
I want my drama tough, dark and smart. Which means Macaulay Culkin won’t make my list of best child actors. Dakota Fanning? She’s on the bubble, especially after her unfortunate appearance with Sean Penn in “I Am Ham.”
Here is a list of my 10 favorite performances by child actors. And when I say child, I say the cutoff is roughly 13. Like you stated so clearly, Garland was no “Oz” child.
1. Shirley Temple in “You Pick the Film Because Whichever One Simply Does Not Matter.” It really doesn’t.
2. Max Pomeranc in “Searching for Bobby Fischer.” He was 9 and outacted Joe Montegna, Joan Allen, Ben Kingsley and Laurence Fishburne.
3. Christian Bale in “Empire of the Sun.” He carried Steven Spielberg’s 154-minute World War II epic on his 13-year-old back.
4. Haley Joel Osment in “The Sixth Sense” and “AI: Artificial Intelligence.” I might have considered him amazing in “AI” if, when I met him, he didn’t already seem to be a robot.
5. Jamie Bell in “Billy Elliot.” A great invitation to the dance.
6. Victoire Thivisol in “Ponette.” I know, I know. She was 4. All I’m saying is trust me on this one.
7. Tatum O’Neal in “Paper Mooon.” Note the long exchanges with her real-life dad while riding in the car and then try to tell me she’s not wonderful.
8. Mary Badham in “To Kill a Mockingbird.” I don’t care how many takes were required to get the performance, the performance works.
9. Vinicius de Oliveira in “Central Station.” A heart-breaking story with a heart-breaking acting job.
10. Bertil Guve in “Fanny and Alexander.” This little actor doesn’t just witness the ghost of his father, he sees that ghost.
A few runners-up: Justin Henry in “Kramer vs. Kramer,” Henry Thomas and Drew Barrymore in “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial,” Sarah and Emma Bolger of “In America,” Keisha Castle-Hughes in “Whale Rider,” William Eadie in “Ratcatcher,” Alex Etel in “Millions,” Rory Culkin in “You Can Count On Me,” Abigail Breslin in “Little Miss Sunshine,” Elizabeth Taylor in “National Velvet” and Ivana Banquero in “Pan’s Labyrinth.”
ALAN
P.S. You get “Norbit” Valentine’s cards and an “Ask Alan Smithee” T-shirt.
Dear Mr. Smithee,
My husband and I noticed that when we watch a drama, more times than not there is a fan used somewhere in the movie. What is the significance of a fan?
NANCY HARDT, Fayetteville
Dear Fan of the Fan,
What was it Shakespeare wrote? “It is a tale told by an idiot, full of fans, signifying nothing.” Or close to that.
But you catch my drift.
Big, whirring fans signify danger. They can cut somebody.
They also indicate motion. Or, as in the opening of “Apocalypse Now,” one busily moving fan can morph into the whirl of helicopter blades.
Or, more specifically, it can mean that director Marc Forster, who used a fan to open “Monster’s Ball,” was sitting in Francis Ford Coppola’s home in New Orleans, which he was, and watching “Apocalypse Now Redux,” which he did, when he became inspired.
ALAN
P.S. You get a “Stranger than Fiction” watch and an “Ask Alan Smithee” T-shirt.
HAVE A QUESTION FOR MR. SMITHEE?
E-mail him at alansmithee@ajc.com or go to accessAtlanta.com and click on Movies. Please include your name, city and daytime phone number. Mr. Smithee can’t reply to every request, but inquiries chosen for publication will receive movie-related prizes.
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