With only a few more days until Black Swan is released in the UK, and with Natalie Portman recently winning a Golden Globe for Best Actress for her leading role in it, we decided to dedicate a post to some of our favourite films starring this lovely actress ♥
Léon: The Professional
Luc Besson’s Léon is Natalie Portman’s feature film debut. Starring alongside Jean Reno and Gary Oldman she definitely holds her own playing Mathilda, a 12 year old who is taken in by a hitman after her family are tragically murdered by corrupt police. Natalie said of her younger self that she was quite serious and hard working as a child, she knew what she wanted and she was very ambitious. I think this holds true throughout all of her films, as Natalie obviously chooses her roles very wisely and always gives an amazing performance; she is intense as she is playful. In Léon you can see that she is a star in the making! It is a classic film and her on-screen relationship with Jean Reno is just a pleasure to watch ♥
Closer
Closer is an intense drama starring Julia Roberts, Jude Law, Clive Owen and Natalie Portman (the latter both won a Golden Globe each for their supporting roles). What’s that I hear you say? Natalie and Jude? What a lovely combination! I think so anyway, but if you havn’t seen this then I won’t give much away because the interesting thing about this film is that there are quite a few twists and turns. It is probably a more realistic take on relationships, and yes it is quite shocking and unpredictable at times but I found that to be a good thing as it made the film stand out amongst others of the same genre. Natalie, as always, is stunning as her character Alice, and steals the show in the famous scene wearing a that famous pink wig ♥
V for Vendetta
What I love about V for Vendetta is that Natalie’s character Evey holds parallels to her role as Mathilda in Léon. Hugo Weaving plays V, a freedom fighter who rescues Evey from the secret police and in her he finds an unlikely ally. The film sparked many arguments from political groups, who thought that it was a statement about oppression by government. The story line may touch on sensitive subjects but Natalie stated that, being from Israel, she wanted to do the film because terrorism and violence have been part of her daily conversations since she was little. V for Vendetta is set in a dystopian Great Britain, so Natalie worked with a dialect coach in order to perform with a British accent, and it is the film where she famously had her head shaved on screen, now that is commitment! ♥
The Other Boleyn Girl
When The Other Boleyn Girl was released I was in awe of it just from seeing the trailer. A film starring Natalie Portman AND Scarlett Johansson playing the famous Boleyn sisters, with lovely sets and costumes, it looked perfect! However, I was still somewhat wary of it as I was already a big fan of the tv series, The Tudors (Natasha and I are big fans of this series and I’m sure there will be a post dedicated to it in the not so distant future). Once I had seen the film I realised that, although it is about the same historical figures featured in The Tudors, it was a completely different take. The Other Boleyn Girl is based on the book of the same name by Philippa Gregory. It focuses on the relationships between the sisters, Anne and Mary, and how they are pitted against each other in their attempts to gain the King’s affection. Although somewhat romanticised, the film is still gripping and intense even though we know where the story is going to end up. Supported wonderfully by Scarlett, Natalie is beautiful as the ill-fated Queen and second wife of Henry, and she plays Anne with intensity and defiance, yet she is still vulnerable and really makes you feel for her as things get out of her control ♥
No comments:
Post a Comment