The Academy Award season is creeping upon us again. . . and as I am running out of time, I’ve decided to combine and condense two reviews that feature stellar Lead Actress performances of 2019 (that also happen to be about real women), Rupert Goold’s Judy and Kasi Lemmons’ Harriet.
Judy tells the tragic story of Judy Garland, flashing back and forth between the way she was mistreated during the filming of The Wizard of Oz, and how that, along with poor life choices, brings her to a point where she is forced to take an extended stay in London in 1968 (away from her children – who she dearly loves) in order to earn enough money to be able to purchase a home (so that she might win custody against her ex-husband).
Centred on Renée Zellweger’s transformational turn as Judy Garland (Darci Shaw plays young Judy), it is an intimate look at a complex human being. Both fearing and relishing the stage, she yearns for the love of the crowd (that bond, an adrenaline and ego booster), yet doesn’t truly want that life anymore (if she ever really did). A wreck due to her frequent pill popping (something shown to have started by her handlers while shooting the iconic 1939 film) and drinking, she struggles to sleep, eat, or even be in a controlled mental state.
Zellweger, who trained with a vocal coach for a year (and a musical director for four months) to master her voice, captures the soul of the pained legend of stage and screen. Featuring a full array of emotions, this is a powerful, dynamic performance that is the frontrunner for the Oscar next week. An enhancement to the performance, Gabriel Yared’s score subtly tinkers with motifs from some of her most famous songs (“Somewhere Over the Rainbow”), darkening them, playing a few notes in a unique way to capture the sombre, unhappy state this woman is in. Also look for a moving moment where Judy heads out after a show with two of her adoring fans (who have had their own set of problems in life).
It must also be mentioned that this is a tale of how the Hollywood machine can suck you in and spit you out. It is a cruel business, addicting, yet estranging itself when your star no longer shines strong enough to make it some cold hard cash. It warps and distorts, the applause and adulation a form of drug as you journey further and further down the rabbit hole.
A very different story, Harriet follows historical figure Harriet Tubman (Cynthia Erivo – Bad Times at the El Royale), a slave in Maryland in the 1840s. Following her harrowing tale, it is one of the most impressive stories in American history. Surprising that it has not been made before now, we watch as she escapes her oppressive situation, making a one hundred mile journey (avoiding her ruthlessly desperate slave owners and the elements) north to Philadelphia.
Finding freedom (something she has never known), if you don’t know the story, you could almost believe that it would end here. Yet, this is not enough for the woman (who, after a head injury inflicted by her masters, has visions from God), heading back out (much to chagrin of those who have taken her in) to rescue her husband, family and friends still enslaved in the southern state.
Through many trials and tribulations, twists and turns, she makes the trek multiple times, each journey bringing with her more and more freed slaves. Though the film has some flaws (pacing, flow – some of which come by way of the narrative’s composition), it is worth the price of admission for Erivo’s performance (channelling a guiding strength and beauty while surrounded by a hopeless landscape with no foreseeable future – that she herself through sheer willpower and force begins to change) and the harrowing historical story.
Becoming a part of the Underground Railroad, Tubman continuously trusts in herself and her God, a vision to this day for women’s rights, freedom, doing what is right (even if it is difficult), and so many other life lessons.
With both featuring an excellent supporting cast, in the former look for Rufus Sewell, Michael Gambon, as well as Richard Cordery and Gus Barry (who play Louis B. Mayer and Mickey Rooney respectively), and in the latter, Leslie Odom Jr., Janelle Monáe and Henry Hunter Hall (as a slippery, tough to read African American slave trader).
Two worthwhile features with excellent female leading roles, Judy and Harriet succeed on the backs of their main protagonists. Channelling two very different women, Judy is a melancholic look back at a celebrity icon’s difficulties in life, while Harriet is an enlivening vision that comes from one of the darkest times in American history. So, discover these two 2019 motion pictures, they bring history back to life – in glorious Technicolor.