Casting

By: Unknown on 01:45

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"Sometimes, it's all about the casting" - Roger Ebert

I've gotta agree with you there, Rog. It's hard for me to imagine American Psycho without Christian Bale, or on that note, The Dark Knight without Heath Ledger. Damn, I miss him... Although the saying does go "There are no small parts, only small actors", I'd like to say I disagree with that. Saying that almost implies that any role can be fulfilled better by the "best" actors, but like those roles I mentioned, it seems like those actors chosen were made for the role, and I don't think they could have been outdone by the likes of Daniel Day-Lewis, Marlon Brando or Laurence Olivier. This is why "it's all about the casting", because so much of the success of the movie is dependent on how believable the character is. It's the uniqueness of the actor's personality that assures me that no, Leonardo Di Caprio would not have been a better Patrick Bateman (Go watch Wolf of Wall Street if you don't believe me). This is exactly why actors like Day-Lewis, Bale and Ledger submit themselves to the process of method acting. They fully recognize the importance of the believability-factor and devote their everyday life to becoming this character they seek to emulate.

In the case of Atonement, the level of commitment to the roles is not of this same calibre, but, to be fair, neither is 95% of Hollywood. But, I do feel like it would be hard for me to imagine certain roles being played by many other actresses, and I stick with the feminine plural because the two that knocked it out of the park for me were Keira Knightley as Cecelia and Saoirse Ronan as Young Briony. For the sake of brevity I choose to focus on the brilliant performance by the 12-year old actress in this blog post.

Saoirse Ronan:

Don't panic. No that isn't a Douglas Adams reference because I realize that the pronunciation of Saoirse Ronan's name isn't a laughing matter, it gave me anxiety trying to figure it out. So when I finally realized that Google was a thing I did the job of finding it for you. So here. Thank me later. Alright, now that that's out of the way I can spend the next half an hour attempting to give this acting job justice by giving it as sufficient an amount of praise possible without sounding like I've got a crush on a 13-year-old. 

Wish me luck. 

To start off I think it's important to point out how difficult the casting crew found it to choose a suitable actress for this role because many actresses at this age can't possibly understand the level of acting required to portray the complexity of inner emotions that exist within Briony Tallis. Ian McEwan really didn't make it easy for any young actress because so much of the character's emotions are necessary to be portrayed without the use of words; that is, the introverted characteristics of Briony have to be portrayed through non-verbal expression mostly. Despite her age though, Saoirse is able to do this with the command of a fully matured actress in her 20's. I remember as I was taking notes for this blog upon watching the movie for the first time that I was made to feel that, more than just the "introverted loner", Briony was almost psychopathic. It was partly the way she walked around, back straight, in her petite frame - like dry spaghetti - as if to remind me of the twins from The Shining. 

From Stanley Kubrick's adaptation of  Stephen King's The Shining.

Eerily similar choice of wall paint in Atonement.

Partly that, but mostly her facial expressions: those depressingly emotionless eyes whose pale-blue irises reflect the lame personality so beautifully. McEwan himself even applauds this subtlety having said "She gives us thought processes right on screen, even before she speaks, and conveys so much with her eyes."

 

The complete lack of any muscular tension in the rest of her face that compliments these eyes so well again adds to this emotionless impression that is left for the viewer. All of this contributes to this image of psychopathy. To return again to my American Psycho, I take a quote from Patrick Bateman: "There is an idea of a Patrick Bateman; some kind of abstraction. But there is no real me: only an entity, something illusory... I am simply not there." In the same way, Saoirse's psychopathic emulation shows us just how empty the character of Briony Tallis really is.

Christian Bale as Patrick Bateman

Saoirse Ronan as Young Briony

As a whole, the cast of Atonement was very well chosen and played their parts magnificently, but it was Saoirse Ronan who was most deserving of the "Best Supporting Actress" nomination she received (one of the youngest actresses in history, might I add). It is true though that, more often than not, we choose to buy into watching these films because Roger was right when he said that "sometimes it's all about" who's acting in it and how much we like them. I can say that one upcoming film that has me itching to spend money on it, if only for the cast, has to be Grand Budapest Hotel. I mean, come on, it's a stacked bill: Ralph Fiennes, Adrien Brody, Willem Dafoe, Jeff Goldblum, Harvey Keitel, Jude Law, BILL MURRAY, Edward Norton (yessss), Jason Schwartzman, Tilda Swinton, Owen Wilson. Oh yeah, AND Saoirse Ronan. Here's hoping she gets the win this time.