I don’t get to all that many movies these days.  It’s a rare treat, indeed – I haven’t been in a theater since the last entry in the “James Bond” franchise, and that had been a while since my previous venture.

So I’m not so hip on who all the kids are watching these days.  Except Scarlett Johnannson.  And while she’s a fine actress (fantastic in Lost in Translation, among a few others), well, let’s just say my critique isn’t all that clinical, if ya catch my drift. 

Where was I?

Oh, yeah.  Heath Ledger.  I know I’ve seen a movie or two of his, but for the life of me I couldn’t remember which.  I know that in the back of my mind I knew “he’s not a crappy actor” – quite the opposite. Very good.

So I’ll just link to two people I know who do know their movies; First Ringer:

 Unlike [James] Dean, Ledger may not find posthumous Oscar glory unless a weak supporting actor field and a sympathetic Academy find something as mainstream as a Batman sequel worthy of a slice of acting immortality.  Despite all the logic against doing so, here’s hoping they do.

Surprisingly even to me, I find Ledger’s untimely death deeply disturbing on a personal level.  At 28 years of age, and as a struggling filmmaker who could only wish for 10% of Ledger’s professional success, I find myself tragically drawn to Ledger’s passing for reasons even I don’t yet fully grasp.  Having worked with plently of actors and other “talent” who vastly overestimate their skill, I am reminded of the few I have known who possessed genuine acting ability – and how so many of them wasted it on drugs, drink or a simple lack of ambition.  I’m also reminded – and horrified from seeing it firsthand myself – of the rigors that method actors like Ledger could put themselves through merely to entertain. 

and Red:

 I never ever had that thought [that he was “just acting”] with Ledger. And I remember, too, his couple of scenes in Monster’s Ball, another deeply portrayed kind of awkward guy, not used to speaking much – and given the right circumstances that character would probably be an awesome husband, partner … But as it was, he was relegated to isolation, stoic silence. I hadn’t seen Knight’s Tale when I saw Monster’s Ball, so that was my first impression of Ledger, and it has pretty much stuck.

And now, I’m impressed.

This entry was posted by by Mitch Berg on Thursday, January 24th, 2008 at 2:45 pm and is filed under A 'n E, Memoriam. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.