Tuesday, June 08, 2010

Meryl, Lit. Meryl En Français

Somehow I never saw this video interview with Meryl Streep from Oscar night parties and in case you didn't see it, I'm sharing it here. You might say it's old. But Meryl never gets old. Especially when she's drunk and singing acapella.



And here's one that I discovered a month back through film critic Mick LaSalle (who I follow on account of his Pfeiffer Pfandom). The video is of Streep winning her honorary Cesar (France's Oscar) seven years ago. I love watching various french goddesses (Huppert, Binoche, Ardant) watching her. Juliette Binoche is crying... but then y'all know she does that superbly.

If you examined all the great actressing in the world in the form of a pie chart, France's piece would be embarrassingly huge and tasty. Hollywood doesn't do as well because there's a lot of bad actresses dragging the general degree of awesomeness down. This is surely do to the delusion cherished American belief that you can be totally awesome at things you've never had any training in whatsoever ;)

Wildly unscientific/not meant to offend. Duh, it's for entertainment purposes only!

In other words, the Cesar is an incredible prize for an actress and Streep is cool enough to do her whole acceptance speech en français.



Believe it or not, Streep @ 60 (the series) is about to resume... and since she's about to turn 61, think of the title as a ballpark. I only tell you this because I'm currently typing the next article so it's an actual probability more than a horrible tease. It should be up this week.

13 comments:

Dominique said...

Her French is beautiful! Who knew??

James T said...

Thaaaank youuuu! I'll watch the video later because it's long but I'm sure I'll love the "French godesses watching The Queen of the Godesses" too.

And I love how she can become sober for a minute if she wants to :p

Love love love when it comes to Meryl :)

But I don't agree with you completely about the training thing. Winslet and Swinton were not properly trained but look at them now (and before and before that)

john said...

James T - not to be picky but Tilda herself has made it clear that she is not an actress, and that what she does on screen is not acting, despite what we or others think.
Nathaniel, you can take your point a bit further, france is the place to be if you are an actress, and even if you are not a french citizen, just learning the language means that you will suddenly become a talented actress. Here's an excerpt from an interview with KST on the guardian:

'By working there, she seems to have avoided the mid-life canyon that many Hollywood actresses fall into, because the French film industry "loves middle-aged women. They love us! They think we're sexy." I suggest that other actresses need to learn French. "No!" she says. "Keep away. Not on my patch. There are quite a lot of actresses who can speak really good French. Emma Thompson. Jodie Foster. Cate Blanchett. Keep out." '
Indeed, at the Cannes Opening Ceremony both KST and Blanchett were exhibiting their excellent french and great actressing in general, which is on the Cannes official site.

And here's the link if you want to read the rest of the KST interview, in which she also mentions Streep: http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2009/dec/21/kristin-scott-thomas-films

Jorge Rodrigues said...

I LOVE drunk Meryl :D

Oh I just hope I feel like her when I'm 60. She has such a joie-de-vivre... So enviable :)

Andrea said...

oh my god, you MUST see this one of Emma Thompson at the Cesar awards. Simply priceless.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZoXMf4dHncM

KTibbs617 said...

Love is too weak a word for what I feel for Meryl, and I luff drunk Meryl even more! Yes, 2 F's. At the TimesTalk she did for J&J Stanley Tucci mentioned her love for martini's - both making and drinking them. What a broad!

KarlaT said...

Love Her!
Simply the best!

vg21 said...

Thank you, Nathaniel, can't wait for the next post on Meryl! I miss her much nowadays. Her Cesar acceptance speech is wonderful with all the others being so moved by her words and presence. I guess I would be too, even if I were Juliett Binoche:).

Burning Reels said...

What a beautiful tribute and whilst my French is decidedly limited, one can see how appreciative she is for receiving such an award in the home of cinema.

Streeper said...

Meryl is the best, in english, french, polish, danish.

Sadner said...

I love how the french don't understand her American sense of humor. They can come off as arrogant , but they just have a whole different joking system. Just look at their comedies :D

JayJ said...

I don't think Juliette was crying she seemed to just be squinting. I mean what reason would she have to cry?

Brian said...

Nathaniel, have you posted anything about Meryl's Commencement speech at Barnard yet? If you haven't watched it, it's actually like an incredibly delivered seminar on acting and gender politics -- with some great personal anecdotes thrown in. One of the best addresses she's ever given!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-a8QXUAe2g