The purpose of each of these picks is not just to single out great individual performances from women (which they all are fantastic) or to pick out great films in which women play the lead (which would be a totally different list). Thus this list is not a best-of or a list of my favourite films. The purpose is to pick out those performances that are indispensable to the concept or the success of the movie as a whole. Simply put, for each of these picks, the movie is not only made great by the leading lady but that their performance carries or simply is the movie. In each performance, the actress takes the role and embodies it completely, becoming the character, and making the movie.
In hindsight, I have realised most of these roles (including the honourable mentions) include as the bulk of their character some kind of mental anguish which more often than not also constitutes the centrepiece of the movie. Perhaps that kind of role is conducive to producing the kinds of performances that carry a movie in this way. (Indeed, if I was writing a list for men with the same criteria I would probably include David Thewlis for Naked (1993), Jack Nicholson for Five Easy Pieces (1970), and Harry Dean Stanton for Paris, Texas (1984) who all constitute similar roles, in form - so there may be some truth to that.) I won't really talk about the plot as you can look them up as they sound interesting. Some of these are not for the faint of heart (3 & 4 specifically)! In no particular order:
1. Liv Ullmann - Autumn Sonata (1978) dir. Ingmar Bergman
While I could have picked any performance from an Ullman/Bergman collaboration as they all stick out as just as incredible (Persona, Passion of Anna, and Scenes From a Marriage especially), those films shine more as Bergman films than they do as Ullmann films (though she is completely indispensable to his oeuvre as a whole). This, on the other hand really is a one-woman show. Flanked by an older Ingrid Bergman as her mother, Ullman delivers an absolutely heart-wrenching performance, beautifully shot almost entirely on one set in Norway at her characters home. Get the tissues out for this one, there is none of the trademark Bergman abundance for life in the face of despair (my favourite part of his earlier films), this one leaves little room for hope, but that life goes on.
2. Gena Rowlands - A Woman Under the Influence (1974) dir. John Cassavettes
Out of all the movies on this list, this is probably the one I like the least (less than all of the honourable mentions). I'm honestly just not a huge fan of John Cassavettes sprawling, loosely-plotted, handheld character studies (I do like it but from what I have seen so far I have not been blown away). That being said, I think I would be remiss in not including this movie on the list. One cannot watch this movie without having incredible respect for Gena Rowland's performance. She plays a mentally troubled housewife and mother where her children, husband, and family must continually grapple with her bizarre behaviour. It's bittersweet. Worth watching, if only for the performance.
3. Emily Watson - Breaking the Waves (1996) dir. Lars von Trier
I have an interesting relationship with Lars, he loves to be equal parts provocative and pretentious, which I quite like about him. While he has some duds and makes questionable choices (the last act of Melancholia (2011) which was incredible until then), he really does have some gems, whatever you think of him. One of those gems is Breaking the Waves and it succeeds almost entirely (in my opinion) on account of Emily Watson's incredible performance as Bess, wife of Jan, a worker on an oil rig (played by Stellan Skarsgard). Set in a religious community in Scotland, Bess is a deeply faithful follower of the Church and a cute, deeply devoted, loving, and happy-go-lucky wife wrought with separation anxiety and bouts of instability. Ultimately a pretty uncomfortable watch (I won't go into detail about the plot) so strap yourself in and marvel at her performance.
4. Isabelle Huppert - The Piano Teacher (2001) dir. Michael Haneke
This is perhaps the strangest and hardest to watch of any of the movies here. When I mentioned these are not for the faint of heart, this is mostly what I had in mind. Michele Haneke does not shy away from the darker parts of human psychology, violence, or sex and all the better for it. This is pretty comfortably my favourite of his films and a massive reason for that is Isabelle Huppert's incredible performance - I really can not imagine any other actress doing what she does in this movie, as convincingly and as well as she does (really I can't imagine many who would do it at all). She plays a middle-aged, prestigious, but extremely uptight, and cruel piano teacher, who still lives with and sleeps in the same room as her mother. (Freud would really eat this right up.) Most of the film is spent watching her sexual hang-ups and escapades play out, especially with one young man she teaches. Check this out if you like Schubert and feeling uncomfortable.
5. Sally Hawkins - Happy-Go-Lucky (2008) dir. Mike Leigh
Since we've been through the trenches a little in the last couple picks, this one should be a little pick-me-up. I've always thought of this as the counterpart to Mike Leigh's earlier film, Naked (1993), which portrays what may as well be Dostoyevsky's Underground Man. This film portrays essentially the opposite: someone wholly likeable, charming, and content. At no point does it come across as unbearably saccharine or unrealistic; Hawkins' character is grounded, admirable, and self-aware. It is impossible to overstate just how well cast she is for this role, let alone her incredible performance. This is the kind of movie that reminds you every time you watch it just how good it is and just how good her performance is. It really gets its finger on the pulse of something deeply human and I could not recommend it enough. Plus, unlike the last couple, I could probably recommend this to anyone.
Honourable Mentions (Vaguely In Order):
These are mostly a list of my favourite movies with excellent leading actresses that would come next on a longer list, but quite often don't reach the status of being a centrepiece the way the above movies do (though some definitely do).
- Naomi Watts in Mulholland Drive (2001)
- Monica Vitti in L'Avventura (1960)
- Sheryl Lee in Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me (1992)
- Catherine Deneuve in Belle de Jour (1967)
- Yeong-ae Lee in Lady Vengeance (2005)
- Monica Bellucci in Irreversible (2002)
- Isabelle Adjani in Possession (1981)
- Jennifer Lawrence in mother! (2017) (yes, really, its a great movie and she's fantastic in it)
- Laura Dern in Wild at Heart (1990) and Inland Empire (2006)
- Isabella Rossellini in Blue Velvet (1986)
- Nicole Kidman in To Die For (1995)
- Julie Delpy in Before Sunset (2004)
- Mia Farrow in Rosemary's Baby (1968)
- (Both) Min-hee Kim and Tae-ri Kim in The Handmaiden (2016)
- Maj-Britt Nilsson in Summer Interlude (1951)
- Diane Keaton in Annie Hall (1977) and Manhattan (1979)
- Harriet Andersson in Summer With Monika (1953) and Through a Glass Darkly (1961)
- Golshifteh Farahani in Paterson (2016)
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